After a decade of passenger rail service between the Twin Ports and the Twin Cities, Amtrack ran the last Northstar train on Easter Sunday, 1985.  Twenty-one years later, Minnesota Congressman Jim Oberstar kickstarted the formation of a grassroots organization tasked with seeking to renew passenger rail service between Duluth and Minneapolis.  That organization, the Minneapolis-Dulut/Superior Passenger Rail Alliance, first convened in 2008 and has tirelessly advocated for what became known as Northern Lights Express, or NLX.  The Federal Railroad Administration give the Northern Lights Express proposal a green light to move forward in 2018.  The NLX project is eligible to apply to the federal government for up to 80 percent of the funds needed to finish the engineering and to build the service at an estimated cost of $550 million to $600 million.

Come hear Ken Buehler (Executive Director of the Lake Superior Railroad Foundation and Chair of the NLX Technical Advisory Committee) and Dr. Richard Stewart (Professor of Transportation & Logistics Management at the University of Wisconsin- Superior and Lake Superior Railroad Foundation Board Member) provide an update on the NLX and discuss their viewpoints on how to bring about rail passenger service linking the Twin Ports and the Twin Cities.

Event takes place at 5:30 PM, October 20th at the Duluth Depot.
The Cost is free.
5:30-6 pm: Social Hour
6 pm: Presenation
7 pm Gather at Pizza Luce (dinner will be at the attendees’ cost)