The success of Amtrak's Borealis route to Chicago has passenger rail advocates thinking about expansion.
They're proposing a similar route from St. Paul to Kansas City, because at the moment, riders have to travel east to Chicago and then catch a different train westbound.
Brian Nelson with All Aboard Minnesota says that this proposed route would eliminate unnecessary travel.
“One of the major reasons is that it would connect with the Amtrak long distance network from Chicago to Los Angeles and Chicago to San Francisco,” says Nelson, “ We’d connect with those long distance trains giving people a direct North-South connection.”
He says to make the route a reality two bills at the Capitol need to pass first.
“What those bills would do, is direct MNDOT to apply to the Federal Railroad Administration for the corridor ID program to begin studying those corridors,” says Nelson “ which would, if approved, allow the state to apply for federal matching dollars to implement that service.”
Nelson says he's optimistic, but there's still a long way to go.
“To apply for those federal dollars that I mentioned, then it would be a matter of sitting down with Union Pacific Railroad,” says Nelson, “which owns the line to negotiate the service.”
He says the proposal is still in its early stages and could take between three to seven years to complete.
