MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota’s Northstar commuter rail line, launched in 2009 with service between Minneapolis and Big Lake, Minn., made its final run Sunday (Jan. 4), with a special-event round trip to the Minnesota Vikings’ season-ending home game against Green Bay.
The Metro Transit service was ultimately done in by low ridership along a shorter route than was originally envisioned. Once planned as a more than 80-mile line between Minneapolis and St. Cloud, Minn., it was cut back to 40.1 miles after the Federal Transit Administration declined to provide requested construction funding, determining the route would have insufficient ridership to qualify. The federal government did ultimately help fund the abbreviated route. Ridership never matched projections, peaking at just under 794,000 in 2017, plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and never recovered. Through the third quarter of 2025, it was averaging about 400 riders a day, compared to pre-pandemic projections of 5,590 daily.
In announcing the decision to end service, Metro Transit officials said the subsidy for each rider was about $233; in 2023, it was $116.60, compared to $16.07 for bus service [see “Minneapolis to end Northstar …,” Trains.com, Aug. 7, 2025].
Beginning today (Monday, Jan. 5), the train will be replaced by two bus lines, one providing half-hourly service on weekdays during morning and evening rush hours, and another — a two-year pilot program — offering three weekend round trips between Big Lake, Elk River, and Minneapolis. Metro Transit says the switch will allow it to “better meet the needs of more riders, more often, at a lower cost” by replacing roughly 40 train trips per week with almost 400 weekly bus trips. More information is available here.
— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
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