I hear
the train
a-comin’

Duluth’s railroad past and its future are about to come together as the high-speed inter-city train linking Duluth~Superior and the Twin Cities rolls round the bend.

By Wendy Webb

How’s this for irony? Not long ago, my spouse and son suggested we head down to our duplex in Minneapolis for the weekend. But, I had work to do, and I didn’t want to waste the five hours I’d have to spend driving.

The irony? The work I had to finish was this story. If the train was here, I’d have taken my computer along and worked for five hours. Then, I would have had the weekend to spend with my family.

And that’s the whole idea behind this train. It’s about using transportation technology to its fullest – a high-speed train equipped with Internet, cell service, printing, fax and copy services and, happily, a bar car – to allow people to make the most of their travel time, and by extension, their lives.

It’s rolling round the bend
The reason we’re even talking about a train connecting the Twin Ports and the Twin Cities is because of a rare alignment of stars – a political, economic and environmental costellation that is signaling the need for a rail renaissance in Minnesota. For rail proponents like Jim Oberstar, Don Ness, and Ken Buehler, it’s long overdue.

Our highways are over-burdened and clogged with traffic. The environment is choking on all of the exhaust from our cars. Also, oil prices are rising as is our dependence on foreign oil.

Furthermore, urban expansion up the 35W corridor is exploding. People are moving out of the seven-county metro area and commuting longer distances each day.

Then there are the casinos in Hinckley and Black Bear, which draw millions of visitors each year.  The Twin Ports, the Twin Cities, and the Twin Casinos mean six places for tourists to stop.

Oberstar points to a similar line in Dallas, the DART, as an example of the kind of economic impact this train will have on our region.

“There’s a billion dollar increase in development there,” he says. “They’ve got 18,000 riders per day. They’ve seen millions of dollars in investments in housing, grocery stores, shops, stores, and other businesses in clusters around the stops on that line.”

He wants to see that same type of development here, in Duluth.

When this train is up and running, I can’t say I’ll never drive to the Twin Cities again, but you’ll have to give me an awfully compelling reason to do so.

Keep listening. In 2012, you’ll hear that train a’comin’.

 

This article appears in its entirety in the April 2008 issue of Duluth~Superior Magazine.
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