As we have for many years now, All Aboard Minnesota attended the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commisions annual meeting, which was held at the St. Paul Union Depot in November 2024 Here are some of the highlights from that meeting about what is happening for passenger rail expansion in states around us:

In addition to Minnesota progressing on the Twin Cities to Duluth service (NLX) there is a great deal happening in the states around Minnesota to advance passenger rail. Here are some of the highlights:

1. Michigan seeks to expand service frequencies on all three of their current state corridor routes, extend service into Canada, establish service in the Detroit - Toledo - Cleveland corridor, add more new equipment, and increase speeds to 110 mph

2. Wisconsin which wants to extend service from Milwaukee to Green Bay, and Madison, along with a third Twin Cities to Chicago train routed through Eau Claire, and looking to add a second Borealis frequency

3. Oklahoma which seeks to connect the Heartland Flyer with the Southwest Chief in either Kansas City or Newton

4. Indiana which wants to increase speed between Indianapolis and Chicago, making the Cardinal long distance train daily, establish daily service between Indianapolis and Chicago, establish service from Indianapolis to Louisville, and is in Step 1 of the Corridor ID program to establish service in the Chicago -Ft. Wayne - Columbus - Pittsburgh corridor

5. Missouri wants to add additional frequencies to the Missouri River Runner and increase speeds to 110mph from Lincoln

6. Iowa is in step 1 of the Corridor ID program to establish service from Chicago to the Quad Cities. Plans are to establish two roundtrips daily

Many of these services are planned to be operational by 2027 if all goes well. Lots happening, lets hope many of these plans come to fruition. We will keep you posted.

Trains Article Analysis - WASHINGTON — The increases weren’t large compared to pre-pandemic 2019, but more Northeast Regional frequencies enabled Amtrak to capture enough travel demand to beat the company’s previous overall record ridership in fiscal 2024. Also, a 24% gain in ticket revenue from long-distance trains compared to 2019, in spite of constricted coach and sleeping car capacity, generated a 6% rise in total revenue.

These are among the takeaways from Amtrak’s fiscal year ending Sept. 30, as revealed in the 2024 monthly performance report released late last week. A table below provides a closer look at how price and patronage interact on some services.

The money generated on trains that travel more than 750 miles (even if passengers aboard might not) is up sharply from 2019. Diminished capacity led to fewer riders on trains like the Texas Eagle, which operated with more sleeping car capacity (it had a transition sleeper) and additional coaches. The situation has recently been partially rectified [see “Amtrak adds to Texas Eagle capacity …,” Trains News Wire, July 29, 2024]. Southwest Chief patronage suffered because, until recently, it was routinely assigned only two Superliner coaches when the train previously had three or four in peak season. On the other hand, the Capitol Limited’s expansion of coach and sleeping car capacity between 2023 and 2024 paid immediate dividends. Another success story is Auto Train, the only long-distance train that maintained daily frequencies throughout the pandemic. It capitalized on higher gas prices in 2023 but marginally lost clientele in 2024 when gas prices retreated.

Added frequencies create exponential ridership gains

Hands-on management and a reliable funding commitment at the state level have allowed Virginia, North Carolina, and Maine to actively promote their service and add round trips. Price reductions coupled with more Virginia-sponsored frequencies to Norfolk and Roanoke have resulted in sustained growth, while additional Piedmonts between Raleigh and Charlotte, N.C., have made the service more relevant. Both Wisconsin’s Hiawathas and California’s Pacific Surfliner were among the operations hurt by a change in commuting patterns; landslide disruptions on the route to San Diego also injected cancellations. But the introduction of the Borealis as an extension to one of the Hiawatha round trips, providing an extra frequency on the previously once-daily Empire Builder route to the Twin Cities helped counteract that shortfall.

Capacity, frequency yields dividends

The complete document available on Amtrak’s website contains a variety of other “route level results.”

The table below, derived from that section, shows that a key factor in the Northeast Corridor’s strong performance is how the number of train starts grew from fiscal 2023 to 2024 (comparable data was not provided in the 2019 report). This was accomplished by introducing quick terminal turns with push-pull equipment for Northeast Regional trains and squeezing more departures out of an Acela fleet in which trainsets have been permanently sidelined. The small increases in the other categories were the result of Amtrak’s belated return to daily operation of some long-distance trains in the fall of 2022, and more Cascades, Piedmont, and Virginia round trips.

Also note the relationship between length of trips and frequencies. The Northeast Corridor’s 24,530 trains produced 2.5 billion passenger-miles while the long-distance network generated about 2.2 billion passenger miles with 13,047 fewer departures. Meanwhile, state-supported service delivered the fewest passenger-miles with almost 70% of the trains. While all these numbers may make eyes glaze over, they show the ways beyond ridership and revenue that Amtrak’s network can be valued.

Well, we did it!! Citizen advocacy paid off and we finally have our 2nd Twin Cities to Chicago train, the Borealis. Since All Aboard Minnesota’s inception, we have worked with you, our members and friends, to get this service started and to make your voices heard. The Minnesota Legislature fully funded the Borealis and the state share for the Twin Cities to Duluth service – Northern Lights Express (NLX). Several legislators credited the voices from AAMN and the Great River Rail Commission in turning the tide towards more rail passenger service.

Our work has continued in earnest this year, with investment in expanding our social media platforms to reach new audiences. Additionally, we’ve met with mayors, city councils, business organizations and other leaders on the St. Paul to Fargo/Moorhead corridor to extend the Borealis on a daytime schedule. We’ve met with more than 35 of these civic and business leaders, all of whom recognize and support the need for more rail passenger service in this corridor.

With the success of the Borealis, we believe the time is now for more expansion. At the time of this writing, there have been more than 120,000 riders since May (two thirds of them in the Milwaukee to St. Paul corridor alone) In addition to extending the Borealis to Fargo/Moorhead on a daytime schedule, we believe that service from the Twin Cities to Kansas City through southern Minnesota and Des Moines would greatly benefit our region. We project that 190,000 riders would patronize this route, offering connections to the Amtrak network serving Denver, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

We are grateful for your past contributions, and we ask for your continued support. This work takes volunteer time and money. If you are inspired by the accomplishments to date, and what we can do together to further expand passenger rail in our region, please consider making an end-of-year contribution to propel our mission forward.

We wish you a happy and healthy holiday season, and best wishes in 2025.

Recently, Brian Nelson from All Aboard Minnesota was contacted by the StarTribune, the Minnesota News Network, and KVRR TV News in Fargo ND on the possibility of extending the Borealis Twin Cities to Chicago train to Fargo/Moorhead through St. Cloud, which is the same route as the Empire Builder. Extending the Borealis on a daytime schedule to Fargo/Moorhead is a service All Aboard Minnesota has been advocating and educating on for some time. Also, there is a lot of on line community support. We hope the success of the Borealis will enable its extension on this important corridor serving Minnesota and North Dakota. The stories are posted here:

StarTribune Borealis Story

Minnesota News Network Borealis Interview

KVRR TV Fargo ND

Now is your chance! MnDOT is in the process of updating the Minnesota State Rail Passenger Plan and is seeking input from the public. See their email and links for input below. All Aboard Minnesota is actively educating and advocating for extending the Borealis on a daytime schedule to Fargo/Moorhead on the current Empire Builder route through St. Cloud, and new service from the Twin Cities to Kansas City through southern Minnesota and Des Moines. These two routes alone would serve about 70% of the states population (50 mile radius of each route) and provide significant east-west and north-south connections for Minnesotans. Please support us in our advocacy for these routes with your input. Thank you for your time and participation!

MnDOT Email -

The MN State Rail Plan needs your input Thank you to everyone who has participated in the Minnesota State Rail Plan update process thus far. We still need your input! The Minnesota State Rail Plan addresses a variety of topics important to the future of rail including safety, economic development and possible expansion of passenger rail. With more than 4,000 miles of freight and passenger rail lines in the state, the MSRP provides an overall vision for future development of the rail system and identifies priority rail corridors. Take our passenger rail survey Our current survey focuses on passenger rail with a goal of understanding needs for improved connectivity, safety and sustainability. Your input is critical to ensuring that the Minnesota State Rail Plan reflects the needs and priorities of our communities. By taking this survey, you will have a direct hand in crafting a transportation system that serves the needs of Minnesotans and shapes the future of passenger rail in Minnesota. How to participate Visit the project webpage: talk.dot.state.mn.us/state-rail-plan Complete the survey: It will take approximately 10 minutes of your time Subscribe to State Rail Plan email updates to participate in future public meetings or events More information To learn more, visit the plan webpage at: talk.dot.state.mn.us/state-rail-plan.

We have just learned that the 2nd Train to Chicago will begin May 21, 2024! This is the first new passenger train service Minnesota has seen since the discontinuation of the North Star passenger train to Duluth in 1985! The new train is named "Borealis" and is available for booking on Amtrak's website.

This new daily dedicated passenger train will originate at St. Paul Union Depot and departs at 11:50am and will arrive in Chicago at 7:14pm. Westbound, the new train will depart Chicago at 11:05am, and arrive at St. Paul Union Depot at 6:29pm. It serves the same route as the Empire Builder.

This schedule compliments the existing Amtrak long distance Empire Builder train which departs St. Paul eastbound for Chicago at 8:50am and arrives in Chicago at 4:45pm. Westbound, the Empire Builder departs Chicago at 3:05pm and arrives in St. Paul, MN at 10:56pm. The Borealis schedule is approximately 30 minutes faster than the Empire Builder in both directions.

This is a huge deal for Minnesotans, and it's something All Aboard Minnesota has worked towards for the past ten years! Citizen advocacy has paid off in this instance, and we thank all of our members and friends who have spoken out to local and state officials to make this happen! We also sincerely thank our state legislators to provide funding for this service and begin building out multi-modal transportation choices for Minnesotans.

We need to make the Borealis a success, as it will lead to more service around the state and connecting us to the upper Midwest we strongly believe. Tell your neighbors, friends, family, and anyone else you can think of! This is an exciting event and development for our transportation future and increasing passenger rail travel options.

There will be an event at St. Paul Union Depot for the first run and we will keep you posted with details. Join us for the first departure at St. Paul Union Depot! Several of us plan to be there at approximately 10:30am to give the first run a great send off!

Additionally, All Aboard Minnesota is actively promoting the new service with notifications, Press Releases, Podcasts, Facebook posts, a new video, and more. Stay tuned and we will keep you posted on the success of this train.

Thank you again for all of your help and support. Most importantly, on your next trip to Wisconsin and/or Illinois, ride this new train if you possibly can!

This invitation from MnDOT below provides AAMN members with an opportunity to attend meetings to discuss the update of the State Rail Plan. Please consider attending one of the meetings and expressing your support for AAMN Passenger rail priorities, including:

• Getting the 2nd train to Chicago underway

• Studying the extension of the 2nd train to Fargo/Moorhead

• Implementing the NLX to Duluth

• Including the Twin Cities - Des Moines-Kansas City Route and other Long distance routes proposed by the FRA in the State Rail Plan

• including new proposed corridor routes from Chicago & Eau Claire

Thanks for your support of Passenger Rail and your membership in AAMN!

AAMN Board of Directors

Legislation has been introduced this session to license Railroad Police Officers as Peace Officers in Minnesota. All Aboard Minnesota strongly supports this legislation, we urge you to contact your legislator and the Governor's office to ask for their support. We have sent letters to Rep. Hornstein, Speaker Hortman, the Governor, and have copied MnDOT and Amtrak Government Affairs.

Here is the letter we sent to Governor Walz:

Dear Governor Walz:

We urge you to support HF 1718/SF1786, which authorizes railroad police as peace officers. In November of 2023, we reported crime and other problematic issues at St. Paul Union Depot which were documented by an Amtrak employee at that time and reports from our members and friends. We believe these issues are ongoing. Making railroad police licensed peace officers is integral to keeping tracks safe from obstructions and vandalism as well as protecting passengers.

With over half of Minnesota police departments understaffed and increasing amounts of passenger rail that are planned for Minnesota, the need for officers to protect the rail network from crime and vandalism and promote safety has grown. This legislation comes at no extra cost in dollar or resources to the state, counties, or cities. For these reasons we ask that you support HF 1718/SF 1786. We all have worked hard to bring more passenger rail in Minnesota, and you have been instrumental in making that happen. We believe that rail passengers must have a safe experience and we believe this bill can assure that will happen.

The Police Chief of Winona, home of an Amtrak station, states, “Our department has had the opportunity to work directly with the railroad police and have found them to be extremely courteous, professional, and welltrained. As a local law enforcement agency, we would also welcome the additional resources of the railroad police to assist us with police response and equipment.” Every state in the US that hosts passenger trains has allowed for licensed railroad peace officers, except Minnesota. It is time for Minnesota to add this essential element of rail safety.