Northstar commuter trains from Minneapolis to Big Lake could be replaced with bus service
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After more than 15 years, the days of Northstar commuter rail service between Minneapolis and Big Lake may be numbered.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Council on Monday issued a joint statement stating that they’ve started to study replacing those Northstar trains through the northwest Twin Cities metro area with buses.
The agencies said a recent study “makes it clear we can provide more cost-effective transit service in the corridor currently being served by Northstar Commuter Rail.”
“We must be willing to be flexible and innovative to offer better service while saving dollars. We have jointly started the process to explore transitioning to bus service in this corridor,” the two agencies reported.
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Pre-pandemic, the Northstar line carried 2,000 to 3,000 riders each weekday in addition to service for special events such as Twins and Vikings games. Since the pandemic, that’s dwindled to only a few hundred riders a day.
MnDOT and the Met Council said they’ll work with federal partners as well as BNSF Railway, which operates Northstar under contract.
“In the coming months, we will have more information, including timeline information and projected future savings,” the agencies said. “For Minnesotans who currently utilize this service, we are committed to working with you to ensure you have access to high-quality transportation in this corridor.”
According to a MnDOT study released this month, it cost about $11.6 million to operate Northstar in 2023, while the line collected $323,589 in fares. The report found that replacing the commuter trains with bus service of similar frequency would cost about $2 million a year.
Monday’s statement comes amid renewed attempts at the Minnesota Capitol to terminate Northstar service. A bill authored by Rep. Jon Koznick, R-Lakeville, requiring MnDOT and the Met Council to seek federal approval to end Northstar operations without having to repay past federal investments in the line was up for a committee hearing on Monday.
“Northstar has been an over $320 million failed experiment in commuter transit,” Koznick said in a news release. “Taxpayers have been forced to subsidize a rail line that continues to underperform year after year, and it’s time to stop wasting $11 million annually on a project that simply doesn’t work to reduce congestion or move people.”
The Northstar commuter rail line started operating in 2009. It was originally envisioned as a line connecting the Twin Cities with St. Cloud — but was later scaled back so its northern terminus ended up in much smaller Big Lake.
A 2024 study on the possibility of extending the line to St. Cloud estimated that project would cost in excess of a half-billion dollars.
