Northstar Commuter Rail Opens Monday

BIG LAKE, Minn. (AP) - After a weekend of grand-opening fanfare, the Northstar commuter rail line opens Monday with hopes of easing the commute for Minnesotans from Anoka to Big Lake and beyond.

The 40-mile line - running from Big Lake to Minneapolis - was over a dozen years and $320 million in the making. Supporters are hoping enough commuters will climb aboard to justify even more expansion.

"I think that the Northstar commuter rail line will be judged on a number of levels, and the key one is ridership," said Bob Gibbons, spokesman for Metro Transit, which will operate the line.

The Northstar line has stops in Elk River, Anoka, Coon Rapids and Fridley. Most of the service goes into the city in the morning and back out in the evening, but there is also a daily round trip for reverse commuters and weekend runs in both directions.

St. Cloud commuters can take buses from a park-and-ride lot to the Northstar station in Big Lake and once the train arrives in Minneapolis - the stop is next to Target Field, the new ballpark for the Minnesota Twins - riders can transfer to light-rail and buses.

Supporters are confident the passenger cars will attract commuters tired of fighting traffic, bad weather and high gas prices. Metro Transit expects about 1,700 riders per week each way in the first year. The number is expected to surpass 2,000 in the next year or two.

Some say Northstar's success could be limited because it doesn't go farther than Big Lake.

Felix Schmiesing, a Sherburne County commissioner who wants to extend Northstar northward, said Monday's opening would be "very exciting, but bittersweet."

"We have only accomplished 40 miles of what ultimately needs to be an 80-mile line," Schmiesing said.

If the rail line had been built years ago, it would have cost less and would extend to St. Cloud or Rice, St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis said. The project was cut in half when it failed to meet federal funding criteria.

"Unfortunately, now it's more expensive and travels less of a distance," Kleis said. "I still feel strongly that it is needed and it needs to go to St. Cloud. It makes no sense to stop in a

nonregional area."

It would cost an estimated $150 million to extend the line to St. Cloud.

Some believe the federal formula that determined it would not be cost-effective to build to St. Cloud or Rice does not accurately predict ridership, said Anoka County Commissioner Dan Erhart, a longtime Northstar advocate.

An expansion to St. Cloud could depend on the success of a commuter coach service between St. Cloud and Big Lake, known as the Northstar Link. Those buses also begin operating Monday and coincide with the train schedule.

"Hopefully, it's the 'build it and they will come' theory," said Tom Cruikshank, planning director with Metro Bus, which is operating the Link.

Northstar's success also could be swayed by gas prices, weather and public acceptance of commuting. Even supporters say a double-digit unemployment rate and continuing layoffs could keep initial ridership levels low.

But Erhart said in the long run, more people will turn to public transportation to increase their quality of life.

"They're looking at different ways of living - quality items not measured entirely in dollars and cents and how many toys we own," Erhart said.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)