Minnesota's Northstar Train Ends Service

The Northstar commuter rail line ran its last route on January 4 after years of declining ridership, reports Nathaniel Minor in the Minnesota Star Tribune. Although the 40-mile line was initially meant to connect Minneapolis to St. Cloud, it never made it as far as the latter. 

While some rail advocates worry this spells the start of a troubling trend, other train services in the state, such as the Borealis line between St. Paul and Chicago, are seeing much more success. The Borealis line exceeded ridership projections in its first year with over 200,000 boardings as of April 30, 2025.

“Metro Transit officials, meanwhile, have characterized Northstar’s demise as a ‘transition’ to more frequent and flexible bus service.” Instead of just four round trips during weekdays, the new replacement buses will run as often as every 30 minutes at rush hours. amounting to 10 times as many trips per week.