Is The Northern Lights Express Closer To Becoming A Reality?

Yesterday (Monday) was a busy day at the Historic Depot in Downtown Duluth as they welcomed Amtrak Vice President Joe McHugh who held a press conference regarding the future of The Northern Lights Express. For residents of the Twin Ports there has been chatter of this for many years, but is it any closer to becoming a reality?

According to The Duluth News Tribune a group of elected officials along with McHugh discussed the plans for what this service could mean to this area and the route to and from the Twin Cities. Amtrak's Joe McHugh told the crowd at the press conference "We're going to work with this team,and we're going to deliver this service."  No deals were signed or financial commitments made at this time but McHugh did say he would be back.

The $550 million dollar project has jumped over many hurdles already and now the funding to make the project get off the ground needs to start. This route would also service Superior as well and mayor Jim Paine said "Every time we have put this project in the news it has gained more and more support," The project is proposed to use BNSF tracks, which would go from Duluth through Superior and back into Minnesota on its way to Minneapolis. The wheels are in motion so we will just have to wait and see if and when this ever comes to fruition.