Even at the height of its ridership (pretty much throughout the 2010s), the Northstar commuter rail was a financial boondoggle. But when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred in 2020 it was the first domino to fall in what resulted in the train being an irreversible money pit.
The powers that be who oversee public transportation in this state can no longer bury their collective heads in the sand.
The long-struggling Northstar Commuter Rail line between Minneapolis and Big Lake may be shut down and replaced with bus service, according to a joint announcement Monday from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the Metropolitan Council.
“As the world and consumer demand changes, we must be willing to be flexible and innovative to offer better service while saving dollars,” the two bodies said in a statement.
A firm timeline for a possible closure has not been determined.
The news comes after a MnDOT report released Monday found that transitioning to bus service between Minneapolis and St. Cloud would cost millions less than the status quo. It costs about $12 million annually to operate Northstar, a budget that would shrink to $2 million if buses were used.
When I worked in downtown Minneapolis from 2012 thru 2014, I rode the Northstar rail on a daily basis. Even though it was quite busy during commuting hours it, the per rider subsidy was still sky high. I would often ask local politicians why we just didn't cut our losses and shut the thing down completely. I was told that turning it off would be even more of a financial calamity than continuing with the subsidies. The fact shuttering the Northstar is even being considered now gives us the clearest indication of it being in dire straits.
Another issue the Northstar faced was the unrealistic expectations (or perhaps delusions of grandeur) of planners and elected officials. Many of those folks expressed a belief that young people would occupy luxury apartments built near the train's multiple platforms, thus making it easy to hop aboard the train to downtown Minneapolis and indulge in a night on the town. Problem was there was no service to downtown after about 7 PM and the only service out of downtown in the evening was 30 minutes after the final pitch of a Minnesota Twins baseball game. So unless you wanted to party in downtown Mpls on the night of a Twins game (and plan do be done carousing by about 10:30 PM), you were outta luck.
In order for a commuter rail to be even remotely successful, major employers would have to be located near the rail lines. Given the largest Twin Cities companies' headquarters are predominately located in suburban areas meant there wasn't nearly the demand for such a mode of transportation (short of it being force fed to us like the various light rail lines).
In the end, the pandemic didn't kill the Northstar line as much as it just put out its misery.
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