Charles Zelle and Adam Duininck

MNDOT and Met Council

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Everyone has likely heard that line before, from your parents, a mentor, a friend. It’s a warning to be suspicious of a situation that offers a large benefit for very little in return.

Rep. Jim Knoblach’s plan to extend the Northstar rail commuter line from its current northernmost point of Big Lake up to St. Cloud – all at no additional cost – is not a real solution. In fact, in his April 9 Your Turn "Here’s how Northstar extension might work," Knoblach even suggests the operating cost would be less to do so.

Unfortunately, the facts don’t match his rhetoric.

Here's how Northstar extension might work

To be clear, if we could extend Northstar to St. Cloud for free, we would do it. Gov. Mark Dayton has long pushed to extend the line the additional 27 miles north to a large population of people who would benefit from an additional option to get to work, school, services and more. Extending the line would undoubtedly improve ridership numbers and overall be a benefit to our entire state to take more drivers off the road and reduce congestion. That’s why we share Dayton’s strong support for extending the line.

But it’s disingenuous – and not true – to suggest, as Knoblach has, that it can be done for free.

As the heads of our state’s two transportation and transit operations, we know the true costs of providing transit to Minnesotans across the state. We’ve shared much of this information with St. Cloud residents at roundtables, public forums and more – most recently April 8.

Our non-partisan experts have run the numbers. Building out the line involves some up-front costs, including upgrading the St. Cloud Amtrak station to make it ADA compliant; upgrading railroad crossings in St. Cloud; and adding a third track at the Big Lake station to allow trains to stop there.

These capital costs along are estimated at up to $43 million, and this doesn’t include the additional funding to operate the line day-in and day-out.

Knoblach has suggested that by reducing the number of daily trips, the train would run almost the same amount of miles each day, so therefore it would cost the same. He also wrongly asserts that reducing the service would not cause a decrease in ridership and fare revenue.

Reducing service frequency for transit and commuter lines has a negative impact on ridership. The fewer options available, the less likely people are to choose public transit. It’s a direct relationship, borne out by decades of empirical ridership data.

Our $43 million cost estimate also does not include the cost of acquiring right-of-way from BNSF Railway.

Again, Knoblach claims this can be done for free. He writes that he’s spoken with BNSF and they “do not oppose the bill.” True, but they will not simply let us use their property for free.

In all transit planning, the state negotiates with BNSF for right-of-way acquisition – the ability to operate our trains on privately owned tracks. The original acquisition of BNSF tracks for Northstar came with a price tag of more than $100 million.

We would do our very best to negotiate the best deal for Minnesotans for an extension to St. Cloud, but it’s pure fantasy to suggest that it can be done at no cost.

We’ve also heard concerns from local officials who are worried Knoblach’s bill amounts to an unfunded mandate. Extending the line without providing the necessary state funding to do so means the costs will fall to local governments – counties and cities who have to find a way to cover the capital costs.

We want to work with area legislators to find a way to bring Northstar to St. Cloud residents. But that work has to first start by acknowledging the realities and the costs. Minnesotans deserve a real proposal.

The question residents should ask Knoblach is: Does he still support the extension when faced with the reality of the cost?

Because ultimately, you can’t get something for nothing.

This is the opinion of Charles Zelle, Minnesota Department of Transportation commissioner, and Adam Duininck, Metropolitan Council chair.