NP Eddie
ALL:
Moving the EB to the Willmar line will not happen--not enough towns big enough to support a train and then you have the problem of getting the crews from St. Cloud to Willmar.
Ed Burns
Ed:
If this wasn't the Empire Builder we're taking about, this statement might have merit, but since it is, it has none. In FY2016, the Empire Builder regained its status (that it previously held for 10 straight years 2004-2013) as Amtrak's most-ridden long distance passenger train stopping in many, as you say, "not enough towns big enough to support a train." At the start of Amtrak in 1971, Amtrak could have chosen any route for its lone Chicago-Seattle train. The Empire Builder was retained, but on a dramatically changed route. Chicago-Twin Cities shifted to the Milwaukee Road, Fargo-Minot shifted to the Grand Forks routing, and Spokane (actually Sandpoint) to Seattle shifted to a routing via Yakima. In all instances, the reason was due to greater exisiting ridership. And note however, that route through Willmar was initially retained, and that was because if higher ridership than the St. Cloud routings (routes via both Staples and Alexandria were options back then). The change to the St. Cloud routing in 1979 during the massive long-distance-trains cutback had more to do with Amtrak's "regional balance" decree (keeping part of one route, such as routing the Southwest Chief through Topeka when the Lone Star was dropped) than anything else.Again, on line population was the greatest determining factor, the Empire Builder would certainly have the most anemic ridership of all the long distance trains instead of the best. Clearly, there are other factors. Ridership at St. Cloud, Staples, and Detroit Lakes is hardly stellar. With a metro population of nearly 200,000, St. Cloud's FY2016 ridership was 11,457. Sure, the train times there are lousy, but they also are at Grand Forks with half the population, but Grand Forks draws in 20 percent more riders, too. In fact, St. Cloud's ridership is less than Wisconsin Dells, Tomah, La Crosse, Winona, Grand Forks, Minot, Williston, Havre, and Wenatchee, all cities ranging from smaller than to much smaller than the St. Cloud area in population. (So, too, are stations like Columbus, Glacier Park, and Whitefish, but they tap major tourist areas or larger-than-St. Cloud nearby cities.) Brainerd has a micropolitan area approaching 100,000 in population, which is probably split in using stops at St. Cloud and Staples, but the ridership at Staples (6,120) isn't much greater than at Detroit Lakes (5,290).
When the Empire Builder operated via Willmar, the situation was much the same as it is now: Towns along the route had little access to alternative public transportation. The Willmar stopped tapped the Southwest Minnesota market, and there was good ridership to and from Breckenridge to the North Dakota State College of Science in adjacent Wahpeton. Morris was the stop for the University of Minnesota-Morris. Therefore, prior to 1971, it's fairly easy to see why the Willmar routing was chosen over either of the routings via St. Cloud. Given the mediocre-at-best ridership at existing Amtrak stations between St. Paul and Fargo, the lack of public transportation along the Willmar routing and no parallel 4-lane highway most of the way, I would challenge you for definitive proof that the Willmar route has "not enough towns big enough to support a train" compared to the current route. The reality is that ridership on the current routing west of St. Paul is not sufficiently significant to keep the train running there for that reason.
The salient point is how to best serve Minneapolis given the albratross that is the current stop at SPUD. A north suburban Minneapolis stop is a must, and is the most likely temporary solution to the situation created when Midway was discontinued. But it does not address how to adequately serve downtown Minneapolis. I have complete doubt that anything will happen toward the start of passenger service between Duluth and Minneapolis in the next few years, but if it does eventually get off the ground, the Twin Cities destination is the Minneapolis downtown area. While I agree that Minneapolis has "painted itself into a corner" with the current situation, I don't believe that anything is unchangable. The fact remains that the current Target Field site needs to be modified to accept any more passenger trains, but be it trains from Duluth, Chicago, or the Empire Builder, it will have to be modified. If the occasion ever presents itself for the desired optimum solution, it will be to move the Empire Builder through downtown Minneapolis. Without doubt, increased ridership gained with a downtown Minneapolis stop - even if not a staffed station - would easily surpass any that only MAY be lost ending service to stations on the existing St. Cloud routing.
Relatively speaking, the Willmar routing would not take a significant (again, using the term "relatively speaking") amount of money to get up to passenger train speeds. A suburb stop in idyllic Wayzata could also benefit ridership, and with most of the funding in place for the Willmar Bypass (a $50 million project to provide a direct connection from the Morris to Marshall subdvisions bypassing downtown Willmar) in place, current fluidity on the route can only increase.
As for moving a crew base. Not a big deal. Amtrak wants to do that now for California Zephyr crews in Denver (to Lincoln).If the clock could be turned back and the Great Northern Station and Stone Arch Bridge were retained to host passenger trains, I would certainly favor the Empire Builder routing via Staples in the hope that it, being the fastest route, could be the catalyst for additional Twin Cities-Fargo-Grand Forks daytime passenger trains. But as the current desire by most in Minnesota is for additional trains from the Twin Cities to Chicago and Twin Cities to Twin Ports, the obvious focus will remain on downtown Minneapolis for a station site, and it is most logical and beneficial that when/if that time comes, the Empire Builder follow, and if that means a routing west from Minneapolis via Willmar that is what must happen.
