In the first eleven days of its operation in May 2024, Amtrak’s Borealis service between St. Paul and Chicago generated a “profit” of $100,000, which excited a few local people.…
Photo: AMTRAK MIDWEST “Profit” A couple of weeks ago, I noted the flurry of excitement in the local media over the news that the new train service between St. Paul…
On May 21, Amtrak launched its new Borealis service, a second daily train running between St. Paul and Chicago. Amtrak has released its monthly performance report for May, so it only…
Plans to revive a failed Twin Cities-to-Duluth train service ignore history.
Last week I took the train from the Twin Cities to Chicago for a work trip. I enjoyed it, and it set me wondering whether we ought to expand rail…
One of my favorite replies to my last article about the Northern Lights Express was “Have you ever been to Europe?” Well, yes, actually, I lived there for the first…
I’m always surprised at the amount of pushback that criticisms of the Northern Lights Express draw. I write about a number of contentious topics here — taxes, spending, regulations, for…
In 1985, Amtrak ended all passenger rail service to Duluth. It did so because hardly anyone was using the service anymore. Now, nearly 40 years on, there are proposals to…
In 1985, Amtrak ended all passenger rail service to Duluth. It did so because hardly anyone was using the service anymore. Now, nearly 40 years on, there are proposals to…
Earlier today, the Senate passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill to fund infrastructure projects for the next five years. Of the $1.2 trillion, $550 billion adds to previously projected federal…
NLX shows how pork barrel projects get sidetracked but rarely derailed. Biden's $2 trillion grab bag of infrastructure projects before Congress gives meritless projects like NLX new life.
It says a lot when a pet project backed by well-connected lobbyists fails to make the cut in the $1.9 billion bonding bill passed by the Minnesota Legislature filled with…
Taxpayers would spend $17 million a year to subsidize Duluth train.
For years backward-looking bureaucrats and local officials have sought to revive the failed passenger rail line between the Twin Cities and Duluth. But a legislative hearing in Duluth this week…
The Walz administration’s attempt to get Minnesota taxpayers to subsidize a proposed $550 million passenger train to Grand Casino Hinckley and Duluth-Superior came up empty with the failure to pass…
Amtrak prepares to soak Minnesota taxpayers.
Amtrak continues to lose passengers in Minnesota, even as DFL Governor Tim Walz, MnDOT and the national rail service continue to pursue a partnership to initiate two new Amtrak-operated but…
Minnesota taxpayers dodged another bullet with the collapse of a bonding bill at the state legislature this session. Among the pet projects thankfully left in limbo? The so-called Northern Lights…
Most Minnesotans have likely never heard of the proposed $550 million Northern Lights Express (NLX) passenger rail line from the Twin Cities to Duluth-Superior. Yet MnDOT has been quietly laying…
Most Minnesotans have likely never heard of the proposed $550 million Northern Lights Express (NLX) passenger rail line from the Twin Cities to Duluth-Superior. Yet MnDOT has been quietly laying…
The Star Tribune editorial board carries considerable weight as the voice of Minnesota’s biggest media outlet. But the paper’s recent endorsement of bringing back the failed Amtrak Twin Cities to…
Old rail lines never die. They keep chugging along, powered by just enough taxpayer funding for the required environmental and operational studies to maintain bureaucratic momentum over the years. Then…
Amtrak’s operating loss for 2018 came in at $168 million–and they’re proud of it. Never mind that the passenger line would be even more in the red if the cost…
MnDOT wants to add a second Amtrak train between Chicago and the Twin Cities. By the front page story in the Star Tribune, you’d likely think ridership on the taxpayer-subsidized…