Dakota Rail Corridor
Posted: March 30th, 2016, 1:57 pm
Hello all! I've researched the possibility of regional rail on the Dakota Rail Corridor between Minneapolis and Hutchinson for some time and was wondering what you guys think.
There are currently no plans or proposals for this, with only a tiny mention in, I believe, a transportation plan from the Met Council awhile ago. With a schedule similar to Northstar it would have a projected ridership of 1,000 weekday riders. Unfortunately I can't find the link but I'm sure it's out there. Didn't go into further details and it has never been mentioned again.
The Great Northern Railway built the Hutch Spur between their secondary mainline in Wayzata to Hutchinson sometime in the 1880s. After the merger that created Burlington Northern they owned the tracks until 1985, in which it was bought by Dakota Rail for freight service and the dinner train known as the Minnetonka Zephyr. I believe the Minnetonka Zephyr ended in the late 80s but freight service continued until 2000. The Hutch Spur was officially abandoned in 2001 after no new operator could be found. Since 2008 the Dakota Rail Trail has occupied the right-of-way, and last I checked it stretches as far west as Lester Prairie.
The Dakota Rail Corridor would use BNSF's Wayzata Subdivision between downtown Minneapolis and Wayzata and then use the Hutch Spur to Hutchinson. If you walk along the Dakota Rail Trail you'll see a few signs of its past as a rail line. By coincidence, or keeping the future in mind, the Mound Transit Center abuts the right-of-way. I asked my professor, Frank Loetterle, about this and he said it was most likely cheap land sold by the railroad to the city and it ended up being a transit center and public parking ramp. However, if regional rail were proposed through this corridor at least one station has already been built. Getting over the obvious fact that there would be local opposition, I could see this being a great transit line for people who want to go to Lake Minnetonka as well as for commuters with all-day service using DMUs or EMUs. Higher frequency (every 30 minutes) as far west as Mound (or St. Bonifacius) and then lighter frequency all the way to Hutchinson.
I also made a Facebook page about it: https://www.facebook.com/DakotaRailCorridor
There are currently no plans or proposals for this, with only a tiny mention in, I believe, a transportation plan from the Met Council awhile ago. With a schedule similar to Northstar it would have a projected ridership of 1,000 weekday riders. Unfortunately I can't find the link but I'm sure it's out there. Didn't go into further details and it has never been mentioned again.
The Great Northern Railway built the Hutch Spur between their secondary mainline in Wayzata to Hutchinson sometime in the 1880s. After the merger that created Burlington Northern they owned the tracks until 1985, in which it was bought by Dakota Rail for freight service and the dinner train known as the Minnetonka Zephyr. I believe the Minnetonka Zephyr ended in the late 80s but freight service continued until 2000. The Hutch Spur was officially abandoned in 2001 after no new operator could be found. Since 2008 the Dakota Rail Trail has occupied the right-of-way, and last I checked it stretches as far west as Lester Prairie.
The Dakota Rail Corridor would use BNSF's Wayzata Subdivision between downtown Minneapolis and Wayzata and then use the Hutch Spur to Hutchinson. If you walk along the Dakota Rail Trail you'll see a few signs of its past as a rail line. By coincidence, or keeping the future in mind, the Mound Transit Center abuts the right-of-way. I asked my professor, Frank Loetterle, about this and he said it was most likely cheap land sold by the railroad to the city and it ended up being a transit center and public parking ramp. However, if regional rail were proposed through this corridor at least one station has already been built. Getting over the obvious fact that there would be local opposition, I could see this being a great transit line for people who want to go to Lake Minnetonka as well as for commuters with all-day service using DMUs or EMUs. Higher frequency (every 30 minutes) as far west as Mound (or St. Bonifacius) and then lighter frequency all the way to Hutchinson.
I also made a Facebook page about it: https://www.facebook.com/DakotaRailCorridor