Supporters say those efforts have been bolstered by the recent success of Amtrak’s new Borealis service between St. Paul in Chicago, which has surpassed ridership projections.
NLX trains are expected to travel up to 90 mph and take 2.5 hours to reach downtown Duluth from Target Field in Minneapolis, with stops in Coon Rapids, Cambridge, Hinckley, and Superior, Wis. A one-way ticket is estimated to cost between $30 and $35.
The project is currently included in the FRA’s Corridor Identification and Development Program, a pipeline for new and expanded passenger rail service across the country, according to MnDOT.
It’s unclear how the Trump administration will land on funding passenger rail service in general. It wasn’t a focus during Trump’s first term, but that changed during the Biden administration.
Late last year, Trump nominated former railroad executive David Fink to lead the FRA, a move Amtrak supported. (Amtrak could be the operator of NLX.)
What opponents and boosters seem to agree on is that federal funding is critical to NLX — FRA money could make or break the project. A decision on federal funding could come this spring.
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