Northern Lights Express

Northern Lights Express

Overview

Type

Inter-city/commuter rail, higher-speed rail

Status

Planning (pending preliminary engineering phase)

Locale

Minnesota and Wisconsin, United States

Termini

Minneapolis, Minnesota
Duluth, Minnesota

Stations

6 (proposed)

Services

Ridership

700,000 annually (projected)

Operation

Opened

2020 (proposed)

Owner

BNSF

Operator(s)

Amtrak (?)

Character

Surface

Technical

Line length

155 miles (249 km)

Track gauge

4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

Operating speed

Maximum: 90 mph (145 km/h)
Average: 60 mph (97 km/h)

Route map

North Shore Scenic Railroad (summertime heritage railway)

Duluth, Minnesota

Saint Louis Bay

Superior, Wisconsin

Sandstone, Minnesota(layover facility)

Hinckley(proposed Rush Line Corridor)

Interstate 35

Cambridge

U.S. Highway 10

Empire Builder and Northstar Commuter Rail

Coon Rapids - Foley Blvd

Minnesota State Highway 610

Interstate 694

to St. Paul (Empire Builder)

Mississippi River

Minneapolis - Target FieldNorthstar and Blue and Green lines

proposed Norwood/Young America corridor

The Northern Lights Express (NLX) is a planned higher-speed rail service that would run 155 miles (249 km) along the corridor between Minneapolis and Duluth primarily in the U.S. state of Minnesota. A portion of the proposed line would run through neighboring Wisconsin to serve Duluth's "Twin Port" of Superior. Plans are to upgrade an existing BNSF Railway freight line to allow trains to travel at up to 90 miles per hour (145 km/h). The train service is said to provide an alternative to traveling Interstate 35 between Duluth and the Twin Cities or to other destinations along the line such as the casino in Hinckley.

The proposed service's trains would mostly follow the same route as Amtrak's former North Star, except that it would originate in Minneapolis rather than neighboring Saint Paul, and it is planned to stop at a suburban Twin Cities station (probably constructed at Metro Transit's Foley Boulevard bus station). The proposed route follows part of the Northstar commuter rail route which opened in 2009, and would contain the entirety of the proposed Bethel Corridor commuter route, although that service is not expected to be operational by the time recent estimates of when NLX might open.

The Northern Lights Express would be the first passenger rail service to Duluth since 1986, when Amtrak discontinued the 50-mile-per-hour (80 km/h) North Star. Alternatives analysis and a corridor assessment report were complete as of summer 2010. The line had initially been projected to open as early as 2012, though more recent sources had stated 2013 or 2014 as start dates. As of 2010, the project was entering either an 18-month Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process or a shorter Environmental Assessment (EA) review, but it was unclear which path was to be taken. The shorter EA process was strongly advocated by former Rep. James Oberstar, former chairman of the U.S. House Transportation Committee, who represented northern Minnesota.

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Wikipedia