He's trying to kill me! I asked for the salted nuts. He brought me the unsalted nuts. The unsalted nuts make me choke!

I am jazzed! This train is going to change my life. No more sitting, crammed next to my fellow passengers, on the Skyline Shuttle, unable to even think, hoping I don't have to pee before we get to Hinckley. No more having to turn down party invitations, b/c it's a pain in the ass driving down and from the Cities, and it costs to stay overnight. I think this train is coming at the right time, and will do good things for Duluth.

Duluth is too far from the TC to become a suburb. What I see happening, actually, is more people like myself, continuing to telecommute from Duluth, and traveling back and forth as needed. This will just make it easier on us telecommuters. It'll be interesting to see if NWA posts more reasonable fares from DLH, if it's easier for people to simply fly out of MSP. That'd be great.

Ken Beuhler said it would be like this.
Oh, wait, wrong weatherman.

I would've loved this around Christmas when I had to go to La Crosse and a lot of snow was predicted. Count me in as a frequent rider. Also, you wouldn't believe how many U of M people travel back and forth between the campuses every day. The train would be fantastic for that!

I'm curious what people would be willing to pay to ride a high-speed train between Duluth and the Cities. 

A one-way car trip costs $20 - $40 in fuel, depending on your MPG, plus another $46 in wear and tear at the current-standard of .29/mile. So, that's $66 to $86 one-way.

I would think the train would have to be in $60-$70 range one-way to be viable for most people.

vicarious:

Using your viability logic with the ticket costs you are assuming just one passenger in the car driving to the twin cities, correct?

You know, think of it this way. Riding in a train instead of driving a car could save your life. How many times have you driven to the Cities in the winter, and been terrified for your life, that you might slide off the slick road? I know I have, just this past December, when we drove down to MSP to save several hundred dollars on airfare. Look at Sharla Gardner. I heard her story of her recent car accident, and she is damned lucky to be alive. It's not just the environmental factor, the commercial factor -- it's also the safety factor people should be considering.

> ...stop thinking about your wallet and start thinking about the earth your grand kids will have to live in

Hear hear!

The train will change our world!  Being able to get back and forth from the TC will be a boon to Duluthians, but even better for the poor folks stuck in the metro.  Imagine being able to hop on a train after work on Friday and be on the shore of our lake in just a couple of hours.  They'll flock here, spend money and be able to get home without sitting in traffic on Sunday afternoon.  Plus, in the summer, the tourist train will connect them to the North Shore, so they won't need a car to get around to the top sites in the area.

As Chester says, this has a lot of potential for expanded access. A few weeks back I saw a map of the likely hi-speed routes originating from the stimulus bill from MN eastwards, and there would seem to be all sorts of possibilities. It was similar to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:High-Speed_Rail_Corridor_Designations.png  only with a bit more connectivity, can anyone say Duluth to Montreal? Not as fast as airplane, but hopefully cheaper.

The only way this thing will be commercially viable is if it 
1) Is cheaper than driving an average car
and 
2) Is faster than driving a car

With a train, I could stop using my laptop while I drive.

Didnt we have Amtrack out of Duluth at one point?

it was Reagan who slashed funding for public mass transit and passenger rail. at the time, i think detroit was getting pummeled by the japanese auto makers and ron was always a friend to the big three, even going as far as to toss out a lot of pesky auto safety regulations set up during carter so's his big auto buddies would get to put millions into their pockets instead of into the quality and safety of their increasingly shoddy product.

Tang, I doubt everyone would want to rush down and work in the Cities. As it is now, there are just too many underemployed and unemployed people living here b/c they're willing to make that sacrifice. God knows how many people who've told me their kids would love to live here after college, but can't, because there are no jobs for them here. This train is going to be so advantageous to people like that. It's also going to be great for people like me, with a spouse who works here in the Twin Ports, while I tele-commute. It's going to make life a lot easier -- and a lot safer, b/c I *really* hate to drive.

Not to be an a-hole, but doesnt the idea of a train that would take people into metro areas to work and out to the outskirts to live encourage urban sprawl?

This article in today's NY Times is pretty interesting, it's a report by a guy who traveled cross-country on AMTRAK.
http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/travel/08amtrak.html?ref=travel

NYC...

probably a poor example, but the ratio of driver to public tramsportation in new york city is astronomical. same thing for cities like chicago and seattle. seattle, IMO based on having used thier system for many years, is tops in the realm of mass transit...

i'm beginning to think that this whole anti-rail thing's got some sort of neocon conspiracy/phobia tinge to it along the trains = socialism.

in our quest to be better than the rest of the world we've kinda shot ourselves in the foot. our current rail infrastructure is decades out of whack. oddly, this country was built on the rails. you'd think that type of mentality would still prevail...

Duluth is just too far from the TC for us to worry that a train would bring urban/suburban sprawl. I just can't see it happening.

Again, the word is multimodal. Seriously, the face of Downtown is about to change...for the better. The question is not if...

Given the state of things, perhaps we'll be able to go skip back to using boxcars for passenger travel.

They've got light rail in the Cities. Most of the main attractions have or are going to have light rail platforms near by.

Crap, I cannot type.  I meant use not us...

don't like the idea of taking a cab. or a bus? hard cheese. plan ahead. have a car rented. have a buddy pick you up. people that give a crap about wether or not they'll have a car or have to take a bus at the other end of the connection aren't the ones you'll typically see riding mass transit.

though one could conceivably have a rental waiting at the other end of things, sure...if you need four doors to help you feel more secure, that is. happens all the time at airports, right? take a plane to L.A., rent a car.

the bosses have passcards when they're in NYC for cars located in garages around the city. in this instance, there's really no need to actually OWN a car, when they can pick one up as they need it and return it when they're done.

Check this Mpls. thing out.

hourcar.
"Car-sharing gives you access to cars on a per-trip basis. HOURCAR gives you the freedom to use a car when you need it, and you only pay for what you use. Car-sharing works for people and businesses."

When I was living there, I found Mpls to be one of the most bike friendly cities I've ever been in. How about packing your ride (bike, scooter, motorcycle, even car) ON THE TRAIN WITH YOU? Like a ferry. Let's think BIG here people.

i should have prequalified my mention of *the bosses* as they only use the hourcar when they're travelling outside manhattan for reasons other than coming back to duluth...when in the city, they walk or use the subways or busses.

> love to explore new cities, and find that the best way to really learn your way around a strange place is to take public transportation -- like the locals. It's fun, it's cheap, and it always gives me a sense of satisfaction when I successfully navigate myself around town on buses or subways.

Agreed.  The weekend trip my family took to Chicago (via Amtrak) was far more rewarding because we used the public transportation to get around.  My folks still talk about it to this day how cool they thought that was.

> I'd rather get some reading or writing done during that 2-1/2 hours than have to stare at the road and avoid Tim K weaving all over the place, as he plays computer games while driving his car. BTW, the shuttle is $42 OW, $69 RT. I'd gladly pay that to take the train, that shuttle is becoming like the Grehound bus, it's always packed when I take it!

A similar length trip in the UK (London to Sheffield) goes for £13 one way, which is less than $20 ($18.04 to be exact). It takes 2 1/2 hours but makes many stops and is limited in its speed. A train to/from TC to Duluth at an average of 90mph (service over 120mph) would take 1hr 40min. Many highspeed trians these days have internet, so you can play games with your friend. The Skyline shuttle is really expensive. Even the Greyhound fares are more than typical Greyhound fares for that distance.

For a frightening read, check out the comments here on the same topic: http://www.topix.com/forum/city/minneapolis-mn/TFK1FLCLKMQVLJ0C5#comments

we need to constantly bring this up and support it!!

Katie N the comment sections of nearly all TM (traditional media) outlets are near universally bad. Anonymity + free time + big name sites + ? = a bunch of wankers jerking off rather than actually doing anything constructive.