Northern Lights Express

Northern Lights Express

Overview
Service type	Inter-city, higher-speed rail
Status	Planning
Locale	Minnesota and Wisconsin, United States
Predecessor	Arrowhead (1975–1978) North Star (1978–1985)
First service	To be determined
Former operator(s)	Amtrak
Annual ridership	700,000 annually (projected)
Website	https://www.dot.state.mn.us/nlx/
Route
Termini	Target Field Station, Minneapolis Duluth Depot, Duluth
Stops	6 (2 existing, 4 proposed)
Distance travelled	152 miles (245 km)
Average journey time	2.5 hours
Service frequency	Four daily round-trips
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed	60 mph (97 km/h) (avg.) 90 mph (140 km/h) (top)
Track owner(s)	BNSF, North Shore Scenic Railroad
Route map Legend Duluth Transportation Center Duluth Depot North Shore Scenic Railroad Grassy Point Bridge over the Saint Louis Bay MN WI Superior WI MN Kettle River High Bridge over the Kettle River Hinckley Cambridge Empire Builder and Northstar Line Coon Rapids–Foley Boulevard Empire Builder Minneapolis BNSF Rail Bridge over the Mississippi River Minneapolis Target Field Metro Blue & Green lines All stations are accessible This diagram: view talk edit

The Northern Lights Express (NLX) project is a planned higher-speed rail service that would run 155 miles (249 km) between Minneapolis and Duluth primarily in the U.S. state of Minnesota. A portion of the proposed line would run through neighboring Wisconsin to serve Duluth's "Twin Port" of Superior. Plans are to upgrade an existing BNSF Railway freight line to allow trains to travel at up to 90 miles per hour (145 km/h).^[1][2] The train service is said to provide an alternative to traveling Interstate 35 between Duluth and the Twin Cities or to other destinations along the line such as the casino in Hinckley.

The proposed service's trains would mostly follow the same route as Amtrak's former North Star, except that it would originate in Minneapolis rather than neighboring Saint Paul, and it is planned to stop at a suburban Twin Cities station (probably constructed at Metro Transit's Foley Boulevard bus station). The proposed route follows part of the Northstar commuter rail route which opened in 2009.