Met Council Chair Zelle celebrates Northstar’s 15 years of failure
Northstar Commuter Rail has never come close to meeting the rosy ridership projections touted at the $320 million line’s kick-off 15 years ago this month. Not before the pandemic, certainly not since. But the Star Tribune notes the rail line’s abysmal track record didn’t prevent Met Council Chairman Charlie Zelle from celebrating his agency’s success in enabling Northstar to sputter along anyway, instead of being shut down.
As harried commuters arrived on the Northstar Commuter Rail platform in Minneapolis last week, Metropolitan Council Chair Charlie Zelle and other Metro Transit employees met them, bearing cookies and words of thanks.
The celebratory sweets marked Northstar’s 15th birthday this month, a quiet milestone for rail service between Target Field and Big Lake that has struggled for relevance from the very beginning, especially after a precipitous decline in ridership during the pandemic.
After a decade and a half of operations, Northstar costs taxpayers more than ever — a $116 subsidy per ticket for everyone getting all aboard. That’s no typo, $116 a seat. Zelle fully acknowledges his rail line from Big Lake to Minneapolis has always fallen short of the hype, yet blissfully continues to go along for the ride, dragging taxpayers with him.
“Northstar has never lived up to its aspirations,” said Zelle, who, as the head of the Met Council, oversees transportation planning in the metro.
While Northstar has been successfully ferrying suburban Minnesota Twins and Vikings fans downtown on game days, Zelle said daily commuter service “falls into the challenges of express routes in general.”
Some still blame Northstar’s underwhelming performance on the failure to connect with St. Cloud. Currently estimated price tag for the extension? Up to $690 million.
“It could be a very, very strong corridor,” said Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee at the State Capitol. “It’s the train to nowhere right now.”
Dibble said business communities in St. Cloud and along the route, as well as grassroots support from others are needed to rally support behind the connection. In addition, “the state plays a key role leading that effort and engagement,” he said.
But many of those commenting on the Strib want to see more accountability from the Met Council.
“For $116 you can get a limo to take you door to door anytime you like.”
“The largest % increase in my property taxes for 2025 is the amount funding the Met Council. Any surprise?”
“In the real world, sponsors of something that has gone as far off the rails economically as this has would have found a way out a long time ago…But that would mean making nice with Republicans. We can’t have that, Not with the DFL trifecta.”
“A whole lot of money that could be spent elsewhere.”
A whole lot of money that will continue to be spent on a “train to nowhere” and Charlie Zelle’s cookies for the foreseeable future.