micheal_can
Senior Member
With the current political climate, this will only make things worse. And,not just in Canada and for Canadian politics.
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- Thread starter Urban Sky
- Start date
Bordercollie
Senior Member
Does that include the workers in the US or only in Canada?
micheal_can
Senior Member
No idea if the CN workers in the USA will be on strike. My response has more to do with when they are on strike,, forcing them back is going to be a challenge. And if it lasts a while and affects anything in the USA, the President will jump on this as to one more reason Canada should become the 51st state.
Bojaxs
Senior Member
Minnesota is looking to end the Northstar commuter rail due to low ridership. Replace it with a bus.
www.trains.com
en.wikipedia.org
State legislator seeks to kill Twin Cities’ Northstar commuter rail, which could be eliminated regardless (updated) - Trains
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The chair of the transportation committee in Minnesota’s House of Representatives is leading a legislative effort to kill the Northstar commuter rail service — which could be destined for replacement with bus service anyway. HF 269, introduced by Rep. Jon Koznick (R-Lakeville...
www.trains.com
Northstar Line - Wikipedia
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Jonny5
Senior Member
"According to a MnDOT study released this month, it cost about $11.6 million to operate Northstar in 2023, while the line collected $323,589 in fares"
That's all the fare they collected in a whole year? Are they charging like $1.00 per ride?
crs1026
Superstar
See https://www.metrotransit.org/fares
Fares run from $2 to $6.25 by distance for cash fare, but an all day fare is $4 and a tap on fare is discounted.
The point is, their ridership crashed during covid and has not recovered.
- Paû
Metroscapes
Active Member
I checked out the built form around the line and it's not shocking Northstar doesn't have big ridership. Lots of highways and stroads, single-family homes for miles.
Northern Light
Superstar
The service was sabotaged. They gutted the service level going from 72 weekly trips down to 20. No wonder they gutted the ridership!
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From Wikipedia:
On October 2, 2023, service was increased to four round trips every weekday, including one reverse peak trip
So 4 in, 1 back in the AM, 4 out, 1 back in the evening. No weekend service at all.
Northstar Line - Wikipedia
ShonTron
Moderator
It might have worked if it extended as far as St. Cloud and become an intercity train, like RailRunner in New Mexico or FrontRunner in Utah. Metro Transit has done a pretty good job of operating transit within the Twin Cities area (I took a bunch of buses and rode the LRT in 2023), so it’s a very specific problem there. .
micheal_can
Senior Member
I read somewhere that the West Coast Express in Vancouver also tanked and hasn't fully recovered too. Northstar may be the first, but others may soon follow.
drum118
Superstar
It been planned to go to St Cloud for decades, but BN is the major problem doing so.
We rode the line back before COVID and ridership was poor for the 5pm trip and mostly empty on the return trip, The trains are 3 cars long including cab car.
There are next to no development long the line with huge parking garage at the stations except for the end one that had surface lots and bus connections to St Cloud with most riders from the train getting on them.
It was cool going through BN main yard to see the amount of train moment, store motor power, CP passing over the yard and CN trains in the yard, but no place for a station where there was development to support the line.
Not sure if the line could go south where there is development as well being an intercity line.
RailRunner has had its issues from day one for ridership and hasn't return to pre COVID levels with poor service. Looking at FrontRunner, its the best of the 3 with 30-60 minute service 7 days a week. I saw Nashville commuter line last years that runs a peak time only every 30 minutes with 2 coaches/cab car and the ridership was poor
Allandale25
Senior Member
micheal_can
Senior Member
Could this open up the potential of extending GO to Uxbridge?
smallspy
Senior Member
No. Metrolinx owns the track, so the existence (or lack thereof) of a heritage railway on part of it was always going to be irrelevant.
Dan
micheal_can
Senior Member
So,if that is the case, 10-20 years from now what should we expect of that section? Will it be pulled up? Left as is? I don't expect anything to happen overnight.