“Better late than never” may be the best that can be said for the Metropolitan Council’s announcement it’s finally pulling the plug on the failed Northstar commuter rail line, following…
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…
The Minnesota Legislature is about to build another new office building for themselves, and the Golden Turkey committee is here for it. Without a single vote on the floor of…
The Golden Turkey committee tried to get through the nomination process this year without choosing a rail or bus project, but those plans were derailed (get it?) when the legislature…
Time to pull the plug on the Northstar Commuter Rail.
A glance at Metro Transit’s chart below tells you all you need to know about the viability of the failing Northstar commuter rail line. While ridership never met expectations, it…
The Minnesota Twins have canceled the opening game of the 2022 Major League Baseball season due to bad weather. Accordingly, Metro Transit canceled Northstar commuter rail service to the stadium…
Northstar Commuter Rail never did hit the rosy ridership projections officials promised at the line’s inception in 2009. But even Northstar’s most ardent critics must find it hard to believe…
The coronavirus pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to public transportation. The Metro Transit, for example, recorded a 55 percent ridership decline between 2019 and 2020. According to the Metropolitan…
The Northstar commuter rail line in the northwestern suburbs has been a loser from the start of service in late 2009. The 38-mile line from Big Lake to Minneapolis never…
The Northstar commuter rail line never has lived up to ridership expectations. It’s always been a huge loser for taxpayers, who have heavily subsidized every ride taken on the train,…
The last time cheerleaders for the Northstar commuter train made a move to extend the massively subsidized line beyond Big Lake to St. Cloud, the 2008 Great Recession doomed their…
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…