The Minnesota Department of Transportation updated its Minnesota State Rail Plan, a long-term strategy for improving the state’s rail system, in late April.
“Minnesota’s rail system provides efficient, cost-effective and environmentally responsible transportation, and we’re working hard to make it even better for passengers and freight operators,” MnDOT Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger said. “This plan demonstrates how key investments can improve the mobility of goods and people. It serves as a 20-year guide to enhance economic development, provide critical connections for Minnesota residents and businesses and continue to support the state’s economic competitiveness.”
The plan examines the need to improve safety, expand services and improve transportation options and is used as a tool to identify needs and project recommendations when securing federal grants and informing state funding decisions. It is the result of extensive outreach with railroads, local governments, tribes, the public and other key stakeholders.
The plan advances several key initiatives including detailing additional funding needs to support freight rail operations, expanding passenger rail service by extending or adding more service along existing corridors, and updating the process to analyze the expansion of passenger rail in new or additional corridors throughout the Midwest.
Minnesota’s rail system includes more than 4,000 miles of rail lines.