(The following story by Bill Salisbury appeared on the Pioneer Press website on November 4.)
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The railroad that owns the tracks for Minnesota’s first proposed commuter rail project on Monday estimated it would need $136 million in new tracks and other capital improvements to handle the new passenger trains. That’s more than double the cost that proponents projected several years ago.
Opponents of the Northstar rail line between Minneapolis and St. Cloud seized on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway’s new cost estimate to accuse the project’s supporters of deliberately low-balling the price tag.
But a Northstar spokesman said the critics were comparing apples and oranges, and a representative of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s administration agreed.
Sen. Mady Reiter, R-Shoreview, said at a Capitol news conference that the Northstar Corridor Development Authority had estimated the track could be upgraded for $57 million. She suggested the proponents deliberately underestimated the costs to win legislative approval.
Rep. Phil Krinkie, R-Shoreview, likened the Northstar project to the Hiawatha light-rail line under construction in Minneapolis and Bloomington. In 1999, light-rail backers predicted that line would cost $446 million, but the actual price will exceed $715 million, he said. “Let’s not make that same mistake again.”
But Tim Yantos, Northstar Corridor project manager, said the $57 million figure is an “old, outdated number that was based on some very, very preliminary discussions.” He said they no longer use that figure. Burlington Northern thinks significantly more track and signal improvements need to be made than the Northstar Corridor authority projected before 2001, he said.
“The differences in the cost estimates between Burlington Northern and the NCDA have long been known,” said Robert McFarlin, assistant to state Transportation Commissioner and Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau. “The number released today doesn’t make the differences any more acute or apparent than they were before.”
The railroad and the development authority have honest differences of opinion over what track improvements need to be made if the project proceeds, McFarlin said. “We have to resolve those differences.”
Pawlenty is expected to decide by early next year whether he believes the Northstar rail project would be a cost-effective way to relieve traffic congestion in the Interstate 94 corridor. If he concludes it is, he will ask the 2004 Legislature to help fund it.