[...]
Planning for the line received a big boost at the end of September 2008 when U.S. Transportation Secretary
Mary Peters announced that the federal government would contribute $30 million to passenger rail projects across the country. The contribution included $1.1 million for the
Northern Lights Express.
[11] On September 9, 2011, Transportation Secretary
Ray LaHood announced a grant of $5 million to fund environmental and engineering studies for the project.
[12] On March 18, 2013, the Environmental Assessment was completed and released on the Minnesota Department of Transportation website.
[13]
In 2015 a press conference revealed an updated look at the NLX plan. The train would operate at 90mph and use the
Siemens Charger locomotive instead of the Talgo. This proposal included 6 stations served 4 daily trains in each direction. Tier 2 studies of the line would continue until 2017, and construction could be completed by 2019 with testing the same year. The Northern Lights Express is expected to now begin service in 2020.
[14][15][16]
Required track improvements
The
Northern Lights Express is planned to use several segments of BNSF track. Starting from the south, it will run along the
Wayzata Subdivision from Target Field to Minneapolis Junction, the
Midway Subdivision to Northtown Yard, and then enter the
Staples Subdivision—the same as the current Northstar commuter line. However, the
NLX will turn north at Coon Creek Junction in
Coon Rapids to enter the
Hinckley Subdivision, which it will follow to Boylston Junction between
Foxboro and
Superior, Wisconsin. From Boylston, the train will use BNSF's
Lakes Subdivision to reach Superior. From Superior to Duluth, the train will be on BNSF again, crossing the Grassy Point swing bridge back into Minnesota and then turning northeast to travel along the shore of St. Louis Bay. The train would exit BNSF rails at Rice's Point and would then run along the
North Shore Scenic Railroad for a short segment into the Duluth Union Depot.
A preliminary study from around the year 2000 projected a cost of $79 million to purchase rolling stock and upgrade track along the existing line, though this apparently only anticipated 79 miles per hour (127 km/h) service.
[3] The cost projection grew to $320 million in 2008, and $615 million in 2009, with a "worst-case scenario" number of $990 million.
[17][18] Up to 80 percent of the cost may be covered by the federal government, only requiring 20% from state and local sources. This is comparable to highway projects which often receive 80% or 90% funding from the federal government,
[19][20] and is in contrast to the Hiawatha light rail and Northstar commuter lines which received 50% matching federal funds.
The wide range of cost estimates relates to how much of the 140 mi (230 km) line between Coon Creek Junction and Duluth will need to be upgraded from the current single-track configuration to a double-track corridor. Running double track all the way to Duluth may bring the cost to $990 million, but the NLX organization has preferred to only run double track north to
Sandstone. It was also considered key to upgrade the rails to let trains make the trip in two hours or less. At that pace, the trains could do more than one round trip per day, reducing the number of trainsets needed to provide frequent service. However, the NLX organization revisited some slower options in 2010, and is now leaning toward "Option 2" that would mostly run at 90 mph north of the Twin Cities, but would support speeds up to 110 mph between Cambridge and Hinckley. This would significantly reduce the cost and lead to better benefit-cost calculations, but would also reduce the operating margin to barely better than break-even.
[21][22] Option 2 will have trains take 2 hours and 17 minutes to make the trip, and drop the average speed from about 78 miles per hour (126 km/h) to about 68 mph (109 km/h). This still compares favorably with the scheduled 3 hours 35 minutes scheduled for the
North Star in 1985—a mere 43 mph (69 km/h) average.
[23]
As of 2009, the line hosts 12 to 15 freight trains per day.
[24] It had at least some
Class 4 track[25] which limits freight 50 mph (80 km/h) and passenger traffic to 79 mph (127 km/h), but this would need to be upgraded to Class 5 and Class 6 in order to support 90 mph and 110 mph speeds, respectively.
[10] There are more than 150 grade crossings and 12 bridges on this segment which would need to be improved (or eliminated, in the case of some grade crossings). The line has
automatic block signaling, but needs
centralized traffic control and
positive train control installed to support speeds above 79 mph.
[26] There are also several sidings along the route which only have manual switches and will need to be automated.
[10]
The double-track main line south of Coon Creek Junction is the busiest rail corridor in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. In July 2009, before the
Northstar commuter line began operation, this segment hosted 63 trains per day.
[24] There are already plans for BNSF to construct a third main line in the area from the junction south to East Interstate (the bridge over
Interstate 694). BNSF would then allow 22 more passenger trains per day for Northstar,
NLX, Amtrak, and possibly other services.
[27] The Northstar's
Fridley station was built with the future third main in mind, and was initially built as an
island platform with track only on the east side, requiring the Northstar train to be on that track when traveling inbound to or outbound from Minneapolis.
