(The Associated Press circulated the following article on October 26.)
DODGE CENTER, Minn. — One more transportation official is on board with the proposed expansion of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad.
Emil Frankel, assistant secretary for transportation policy in the U.S. Department of Transportation, said development of the DM&E railroad means jobs.
“The importance of the railroad to rural manufacturing means it is important to strengthen the DM&E,” he said Friday. He visited McNeilus Steel in Dodge Center and the Al-Corn Clean Fuel ethanol plant in Claremont.
Frankel, who was appointed to the post by President Bush, lauded the rural jobs tied to DM&E’s current operations. He said rural communities along the DM&E line want the railroad to grow.
The railroad has proposed a 680-mile rebuild of its southern Minnesota main line. That would include 280 miles of new construction across western South Dakota and into Wyoming. Several cities along the line support the expansion, but the city of Rochester and Mayo Clinic have worked to stop it because the tracks run through downtown Rochester.
When asked about the apparent conflict between rural jobs and Rochester, Frankel said, “It’s not for me to get into those specifics, but the growth of this railroad means jobs.”
Al-Corn officials said DM&E cars deliver animal-feed byproducts from the ethanol-refining process to markets. The company employs 31 people.
And officials at McNeilus Steel, which employs 220 people, said the company relies on 20 rail cars a week to deliver 2,000 tons of steel.