(The following story by Paul Walsh appeared on the Star Tribune website on February 25, 2010.)
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — A minor derailment of freight cars gummed up the works Thursday morning for many commuters who use the Northstar line in the north metro, transit officials said.
The disruption occurred about a half-mile south of the Fridley station, when two freight cars derailed overnight and blocked tracks in both directions, said Steve Forsberg, a spokesman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF).
That meant Metro Transit’s Northstar riders heading into Minneapolis could only get as far as Coon Rapids. From there, buses took them into downtown, said transit spokesman Bob Gibbons.
Overall, Gibbons said, commuters experienced 20- to 30-minute delays in completing their trip.
The two cars that derailed were empty, and there were no injuries, Forsberg said. BNSF has yet to determine what caused the derailment.
The BNSF-maintained tracks should be clear in plenty of time for Northstar to run its service normally in the afternoon, Forsberg added.
Metro Transit was notified of the problem shortly after 4 a.m., Gibbons said.
There are five inbound Northstar runs each weekday, starting in Big Lake, and one outbound run each morning. The outbound service was canceled Thursday because of the derailment and a bus filled in, Gibbons said.
Commuters were informed of the disruption by staff members at the stations, audio platform announcements and by conductors on the trains, Gibbons said. Many riders then chose to drive, he said.