The Northern Lights Express Rides Again!

 

 

 

"On the road again -
Just can't wait to get on the road again"

 

On the Road Again

Willie Nelson

 

 

This is an update from a post I did last March. I really thought this thing was dead, dead, dead. However, last week I heard there may be some life left in this turkey. This one defies logic. If you think LRT or the Northstar is a boon doggle, those are minor league compared to this monster. Yes, this is truly the "train to nowhere". It is an express line from Minneapolis to the casino then on to Duluth with a viable purpose yet to be defined.

 

Last spring I went on the Northern Lights Express (NLX) propaganda website and pulled these wonderful factoids. It will:

 

• Spur approximately $2 billion in development along the 155 mile corridor
• Encourage about 13,800 jobs
• Provide an environmental sound alternative to automobiles that can be used for business and tourism
• Offer 2 1/4 hour service between Minneapolis and Duluth with top speeds of 110 mph

What is not to love? This sounds like a great deal to me. My wife and I are frequent visitors to Duluth and the North Shore and always crab about the fact we have our car with us. It would be much better to take a train, get off at Duluth, and then walk up to Two Harbors, Split Rock or Grand Marais. I mean the car, it just gets in the way (sarcasm included for free).

When we venture to the North Shore anytime of the year, we are always amazed at the number of rigs pulling impressive toys. In the summertime, because Superior is really an inland sea, many of the boats going up there are huge. Also, because it is a gateway to the BWCA, many are towing camping stuff and canoes. People are also pulling their fishing boats, trailers, fifth wheels, ATVs, and so on. Basically, all kinds of things you could not put on a train.
 
In 2009, a study was done to ascertain the true cost impact of construction. That was four years ago, and the costs then were expected to be $1B. I can't imagine what they are in 2013. No worries mate - the powers to be also estimate there will be 3,000 daily riders on this train. Really? I would like to meet some of these 3,000 and ask them the purpose of going up to Duluth in early November with no car. That is, unless the majority of the 3,000 will just travel as far as Hinckley. By the way, most of the people going to Hinckley are not just going to Tobie's to get a messy caramel roll - they are going to the casino using a train paid for by the rest of us. When summer stuff is over and the leaves have fallen, and the ski areas are not yet in their season, then who would go to Duluth?. Anyway, even if you were going up to Duluth to ski, how in the world would you get from Duluth to Lutsen? Duh!

Being an old business guy, I always look at TCO (total cost of ownership). What are the annual operating costs? The annual maintenance costs? The costs to service the debt to build it? To make this line profitable and not to soak the taxpayers, I wonder how much a ticket would cost. Maybe $1,000? In the world of bad ideas, this is a whopper. Aside from the fact they are huge financial losers, I can see some logic in LRT, and some in Northstar. I can see no logic in NLX. The truly unfortunate part of this story is the Federal Government has already sunk millions into the study of this mess. Oh well, like many of the financial gurus who run the state like to say - "Its free money - it comes from the Feds!"