Rep. Jim Knoblach, GOP chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, authored a
bill that will be introduced Tuesday to require the state to negotiate with BNSF Railway to extend the commuter rail line to St. Cloud from its current end point in Big Lake.
Knoblach's bill doesn't include any funding for an expansion, and prohibits the state from spending any more on operating costs than already budgeted. But he says he doesn't anticipate any additional cost to run the trains an additional 27 miles to the Amtrak station in St. Cloud.
However, state transportation officials question Knoblach's assertion, saying they estimate the cost at $40 million to $50 million, not including the cost of leasing the railroad from BNSF.
Knoblach's bill would require a minimum of two round trips to and from Minneapolis each day, with one starting in St. Cloud and a reverse commute trip from Minneapolis. He anticipates that Northstar would drop one of the five round trips from Big Lake each day in order to add the St. Cloud trips and keep the total train miles per week roughly the same. The schedule would be subject to negotiation with BNSF, he said.
"The mileage is almost exactly the same, so it’s kind of hard to see where the additional cost could come from," Knoblach said.