RR JohnsonThe Twin Cities has more population than the combined total route of the Empire Builder in between Chicago and the coast, including Milwaukee. By the way, would the Texas Eagle stop only at Fort Worth and not Dallas??
BaltACD I think that Amtrak thinks Minneapolis-St.Paul is a single city for their purposes and their current arrangement is what they want.
I think that Amtrak thinks Minneapolis-St.Paul is a single city for their purposes and their current arrangement is what they want.
CMStPnP: There is presently considerable "delay and hassle" trying to get to and from the Empire Builder at SPUD (St Paul) and downtown Minneapolis without a long LRT ride (nearly 1 hour) and then a many hours long wait in Mpls to reach the Northstar trains; or if your're wiling to get up before 5:00am to do the same thing in reverse to in order, hopefully, to reach #8 at SPUD, otherwise, you will sit there many hours waiting for #7. As I said in my original post, downtown Mpls. had an excellant facility (the old GN Station) with Amtrak until 1978, and is the center of the largest metro area on any of the 3 daily Amtrak trains connecting Chicago with the West Coast cities and has a larger population than the entire route, in between, of either the Empire Builder or the Southwest Chief!! As I have said before, there is currently plenty of padding in the schedules of both #7 & 8 in the Twin Cities/St Cloud area to accomodate this extra stop, the infrastructure is already entirely in place, and the demand for this stop is out there, it just needs to be tapped!!
Please note: This is not yet an official position of All Aboad Minnesota or any other group or agency. But, your right, MikeF90, the congestion keeps getting worse, whis why I live in downtown St Paul now. Unlike the other Northstar sations, Fridley has lots of excess parking space that could accomodate short and long term parking, and is much closer to downtown Minneapolis than other stations.
I would agree and I am pretty sure it is based on total population of just 3.6 million for both cities which ain't a lot. Dallas-Ft. Worth is 7.1 million which is almost twice as much. Plus DFW are further apart. To me Amtrak's current strategy of one station for one train makes sense and if folks are not willing to drive in then, they should choose another mode more convienent. Now if there were multiple train frequencies than maybe but there is only one train.
Also in the case of DFW, Amtrak smartly mentions that Amtrak passengers can board the TRE Commutter train to travel from Dallas to Ft. Worth for the Heartland Flyer and some do that. Likewise I have seen folks detrain the Texas Eagle and board TRE for intermediate points between Dallas and Fort Worth that Amtrak does not serve. So I am all for the Empire Builder mentioning the local rail alternatives in the Twin Cities and I would even go so far as support a thruway bus connection but another train stop is just going to lengthen the Empire Builder schedule and I am not sure whatever additional passengers the train gains are worth the delay and hassle.
MikeF90When I last visited the Twin Cities ~15 years ago, I was astounded at the traffic congestion and today I can only imagine. Another stop seems like a good idea to encourage new riders, but IMO driving less toward downtown might be better. Are the Riverdale / Coon Rapids or Anoka stations less desirable than Fridley in some ways?
Another stop seems like a good idea to encourage new riders, but IMO driving less toward downtown might be better. Are the Riverdale / Coon Rapids or Anoka stations less desirable than Fridley in some ways?
It's been the same amount of time since I was last there. As to your question, my uneducated guess is that Coon Rapids and Anoka are probably more desirable areas than Fridley.
The Empire Builder route has always skirted Minneapolis, whereas it has always went right through St. Paul. Now that the lone Twin Cities Amtrak stop has moved from the "middle" to the "east", it would make sense to have a second stop in the "western" half.
While Coon Rapids and Anoka are maybe more desirable areas than Fridley, they are further away from Minneapolis and some of the "southwestern" suburbs.
This is a good idea, in my opinion. The infrastructure is already there.
When I last visited the Twin Cities ~15 years ago, I was astounded at the traffic congestion and today I can only imagine.
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Minneapolis has not had an Amtrak stop since 1978. There is an excellent stop in downtown St Paul (where I live), at marvelous grand old Union Depot (SPUD), but it is located 10 miles east of downtown Minneapolis, which is in Hennepin County (populaton well over 1 million) and is the population center of the greater Twin Cities metro Consolidated Statistical Area of about 4 million. This presents a problem for the western and northwestern metro area. There is no stop after leaving SPUD until you arrive at St Cloud, MN which is 75 miles further northwest. Since it is very difficult to get anything built for passenger rail anymore with goverment money (endless bureaucratic hurdles), I was thinking and talking to my friends at All Aboard Minnesota about the possibility of getting the Empire Builder to stop at one of the Northstar Commutor Train Stations, none of which the EB currently stops at. We so far, have thought that Fridley might be the best current option, since to reach the downtown Mpls Northstar Station, the EB would be required to back up over 2 miles across the Mississippi River, which the BNSF and Amtrak have said absolutely they will not do, even though long back up moves are currently being done by the California Zephyr at Denver and the City of New Orleans, in and CUS to reach the St Charles Air Line in Chicago. So, our next best option might be the station at 61st & Main St in Fridley, MN at Mile Post 16 on the BNSF Staples Sub. inasmuch as the Midway Station in St Paul is too close to SPUD for consideration (7 rail miles). Fridley is about 17 rail miles from SPUD and is ADA compliant with many safety features such a an underground tunnel, elevators, fencing, etc. It also several heated platform waiting rooms and could be a bare bones unmanned station, as it currently exists. It is also within a quarter mile of several Metro Transit bus lines. It is closer to downtown Mpls than SPUD is and would serve the northwest metro area quite well, as it is located in extreme southern Anoka County, near both Hennepin and Ramsey Counties, just a mile from the I-94 & I-694 freeway hub. Both eastbound and westbound Empire Builders could stop here without delay of schedule because there is plenty of padding in the Twin Cities area including 25" for #7 and over an hour for #8 in St Paul. The only necessary change in the schedule would be for #8 because of the weekday morning Northstar rush hour, which would require #8 to wait at St Cloud for 40" until 6:00am. Then departing Fridley at about 7:00am. Still departing SPUD at 8:00am. What do you folks think??
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