The City of Duluth pays $50,000 a year to be part of the Northern Lights Rail Alliance, a joint-powers board looking at ways to get passenger train service running again between Duluth and the Twin Cities, yet the Duluth paper reports that city representatives have attended only two of the monthly meetings since January 2008. And one of those two was held in Duluth.
That rankles some city officials, especially those who’ve been against paying the fee:
“At some point in time, the days of careless spending have to come to an end, and yet we want to spend money willy nilly and not participate in the process?” said 1st District Councilor Todd Fedora, who has long opposed the train spending. “All we’re doing is tossing money out the window.”
Some Duluth alliance representatives said their full-time jobs kept them from attending the meetings, and while city staff members don’t attend the actual meetings, they do keep up by checking “agendas, minutes and other correspondence with the group,” Duluth Mayor Don Ness told the paper.
But the alliance is disappointed in the city’s lack of input:
“Duluth does stand to be one of the biggest economic benefactors of the project and they have yet to take a role in the planning.” said Steve Rauker, alliance board chairman and a St. Louis County commissioner.
Other entities on the alliance are:
- St. Louis & Lake Counties Regional Railroad Authority
- Anoka County
- Douglas County
- City of Minneapolis
- Pine County
- Isanti County
- Hennepin County
- Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
In what way would Duluth benefit economically from a few dozen people taking the train every day?
Sounds like typical MN indifference to rail travel and the future of such here in Minnesota. Instead of complaining about wasting money for this ersatz alliance let’s get on the tracks for progress and get the trains rolling again. Put those dues to work!
First and foremost find representatives who believe in the future of rail travel to the Northland; ones who care for the future and progress. Not shallow milquetoast types who only want resume credits and a stipend check for doing nothing.
Second, put that yearly alliance dues money and connect resources with the adjacent organizations from other states, IE Midwest High Speed Rail Association [MHSRA]in Illinois and Wisconsin, to make rail travel[especially HSR-high speed rail] a reality.
Third, ‘quit your belly aching’ about rail travel etcetera. Negative shortsighted Karma never made any successful idea come to fruition. Make lemonade when all you have is the lemons and the sugar. There is a great opportunity here to put Duluth and Minnesota on the Progress map. The more you complain the worse it gets.
Fourth, look to the future and benefits to the region. Yes, times are tough at present but Minnesotans are not wimps when putting their hearts, minds, and souls together to accomplish a common beneficial cause.
Now is the time action for creative thinking and action for a better future. A little optimism works wonders. Minnesotans have a great track record of accomplishing the implausible. In these economic times miracles can happen if we all put our minds to the tasks at hand. Rail travel, especially HSR [high speed rail], has come of age, enjoys a global Renaissance, and is feasible in the very country which made rail a technological wonder.
Actions speak louder than words. Let’s get to work on the future.
I strongly believe that we need to expand the use of both light rail as a means of commuting and high-speed rail as an option for traveling between big cities. I have no idea, however, why there is any need to build a train between the cities and Duluth.
It is very easy to get to Duluth by car, and I am not sure I would want to spend any time there without a car. Unless you are traveling alone, it would probably be cheaper to drive, and depending on the number of stops and how “high speed” the train is, it would probably be faster to drive as well. What is the incentive to take the train? Duluth also just isn’t that big and there isn’t that much traffic back and forth to the cities. Does anyone really commute back and forth to Duluth every day? I don’t get it – who would ride the thing?
Run a light rail line up to Forest Lake or somewhere around there. That is probably about as far out as regular commuters go and where the congestion begins. Then run a bus (I am sure there is already bus service) from the last stop back and forth to Duluth every day. There just isn’t a need to build a train that goes all the way to Duluth.
I would love a train that commuted to the cities. I work down there quite a bit. It would be great if it had a stop at Black Bear Casino. I live right by there and I bet people would jump on the train to go have fun for the night!