Train Travel

Amtrak employees literally dropped off elderly women in middle of nowhere

File this one in the 'what in God's name were these people thinking?' department.On Sunday, the Star Tribune's Kelly Smith told the story of Vivian Rhode, 75, and her niece Peggy Larson, 64. In late March, the two women were on an Amtrak train traveling from Michigan to St. Cloud, where they planned ... More >>

Drink and don't drive: Metro Transit offering free rides on St. Patrick's Day

​As the infamous Dad Boner of Twitter fame says, "we can't wait for the weekend, you guys."And this Saturday, of course, is St. Patrick's Day, the annual celebration of Ireland's patron saint drinking. Planning to tip a few back? Know that you can leave that troublesome car at home without having ... More >>

Insights 2012 Design Lecture Series: Michael Lejeune, Metro Design Studio

Plans progressing for high-speed rail to Chicago

​Imagine hopping on a train in downtown Minneapolis and getting off less than six hours later in the heart of Chicago, with a stop in Milwaukee in between. Sound farfetched? Right now, it might, but the Minnesota Department of Transportation is moving ahead with plans for a 400-mile, high-speed ra ... More >>

The No Pants Subway Ride Minneapolis 2012

No-Pants Light Rail Ride this Sunday

​Public transportation is about to get a whole lot sexier.​This Sunday, hundreds of pantless people will look to bring a little (more) strangeness to everyone's favorite local mass transit with the fourth annual No-Pants Light Rail Ride. The event, which is being held in conjunction with several ... More >>

Miller Lite Free Rides

Washington Avenue at U of M closes Monday to make way for light rail

Avoid driving Washington Avenue at the U from now on.​The train is coming, and you'd better get out of the way. Sometime late Sunday afternoon, trucks are going to roll up Washington Avenue where it bisects the University of Minnesota campus and drop off a bunch of barricades. Work crews are ... More >>

Feds signing over $478 million in Central Corridor funds today

Federal funds grease the rails.​So it turns out the $478 million check really was in the mail. We were a little leery last week when St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman used his State of the City address to declare federal funding had been approved to cover half the cost of the Central Corridor ligh ... More >>

Central Corridor light rail wins $460 million from feds

The feds agree to help fund the Central Corridor line.​The 11-mile Central Corridor light rail project has taken a major step forward. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman says the check is in the mail for the $460 million federal grant the project was banking on. The Federal Transit Administration OK'd ... More >>

Pawlenty campaign staff loves light rail that Pawlenty fought

Team T-Paw loves light rail.​Something caught our eye below the headline yesterday that Tim Pawlenty's soon-to-be campaign staff had leased 5,000 square feet of office space in a swank downtown Minneapolis office building. They liked the site because of the Hiawatha Line light rail link to Mi ... More >>

Central Corridor light rail construction promises I-35W ramp headaches

Patience, people. Patience.​The Central Corridor light rail project forges ahead. Starting tomorrow, that means headaches for car commuters on I-35 downtown. Starting Wednesday, the Fourth Street ramp near the Metrodome to southbound I-35W will close until July. The alternate route is the ent ... More >>

Hussein Abdi Hassan, alleged bomb-faker, arraigned in federal court

Hussein Abdi Hassan has pleaded not guilty.​Riding the train all the way from Minneapolis to Seattle can get a little dull. Last month, Hussein Abdi Hassan found himself on that trip, and decided to make things interesting -- by dropping a bomb threat. Well, the 24-year-old Somali from Burnsv ... More >>

Metro Transit may hike fares 25 cents

Higher fares in 2012.​Metro Transit had a petty good year in 2010. With the exception of the new North Star commuter rail line, ridership was up across the board and is now at a 25-year high. And major work on the Central Corridor light rail project starts this spring. Next year might not be so ... More >>

Washington Avenue Bridge lane closures begin for light rail construction

WikipediaThe Central Corridor light rail will cross the Mississippi on the Washington Avenue Bridge.​Driving back and forth between the East and West Bank campuses at the U of M is about to get trickier, because crews are going to start lane closures on Saturday related to light rail construct ... More >>

Central Corridor light rail federal spending quadruples in Obama's FY2012 budget

Light rail gets a boost from Obama.​Federal spending on the Central Corridor light rail project would quadruple from $45 million this year to $200 million next year under President Barack Obama's new $3.7 trillion budget. Members of the Met Council, which oversees the project and has cast it as a ... More >>

Twin Cities ranked 5th best in America for public transportation

5th best in America.​Don't get us wrong. We're glad that US News rated the Twin Cities the fifth best place in the country for public transportation (first would have been better, of course). We're pleased the story took note of the budding Central Corridor light rail line. But in heaping pra ... More >>

Central Corridor light rail: 60-day congressional review begins

All aboard for St. Paul?​Congress has 60 days to approve funding for its half of the $957 million cost of a light rail line linking Minneapolis to St. Paul. The clock was set in motion when the Federal Transit Administration sent the approved Full Funding Grant Agreement to Capitol Hill, the ... More >>

Union Depot's $243 million makeover for trains and buses starts today

Ramsey County Regional Rail AuthorityUnion Depot is being transformed into a regional transportation hub.​There was a time after World War II when 20,000 rail passengers a day traveled through the Union Depot in St. Paul. Its 18 tracks served trains that ranged as far and wide as Chicago and t ... More >>

Lowertown Block Party

Army of foot traffic expected downtown around new Target Field

The downtown area's vitality will get a much-needed shot in the arm, according to a new study.

Trick 'r' Trolley

Somers Town gets at the heart of the working class

Film highlights ability of imagination to offset life's harsh realities

Loring Park Art Festival

Powderhorn Art Fair

More I-94, light rail closures this weekend

Don't get screwed on a nasty detour if you can avoid it ahead of time. Check out the closure list below.

Another round of light rail closures this weekend

The light rail will be closed from the 46th St Station to the end of the line at the Mall of America this weekend during construction work.

Men charged in mugging ex-PiPress reporter, others at light rail stations

Two men suspected of the crimes were charged Friday for the Sunday attack in addition to multiple others at light rail stations.

Section of light rail closed this weekend

The section between 46th Street and the Mall of America will be closed from 11 p.m. Friday to 3:30 a.m. Monday.

Former PiPress transit reporter mugged at light rail station

It was his first time buying a Metro Transit light rail ticket and as luck would have it, former Pioneer Press transit reporter Chuck Laszewski was mugged at the Lake Street station.

Target sued for being a bad dumper

Tuesday's five most fascinating stories printed on wood pulp.

The Wet Spot: Mackin' on the light rail

Looking for love? Get yourself $1.75 and hop aboard the "Love-Rail."

Rybak best pick for Obama's Transportation Secretary, says Wired

... More >>

MOA Starbucks protesters: Will they be detained again?

The Starbucks Workers Union is planning a protest on Black ... More >>

11/11 Photo of the Day: Light rail construction chugging along

10/14 Photo of the Day

Windows 2000 and the Hiawatha Light Rail

Readers respond to last week's letters

Putting the "mass" in Mass Transit: Ridership on the rise in Twin Cities

A train linking Minneapolis and St. Paul? We had that scoop in 1984.

Another Vikings stadium design unveiled

If gas cost $9 a gallon, would you take the bus?

Does This Bus Stop at the Capitol?

Rybak frets about transit--but can he do anything?

Off Beat

Gravy Train

City planners want a piece of the light-rail action--and they're not thinking spare change

Stop That Train!

Light-rail boosters insist their multimillion-dollar project is finally leaving the station. But first Shoreview legislator Phil Krinkie has a few questions about inflated budgets, bid rigging, and some mysterious memos.

Midnight Express

As boxcars give way to bicycles, a railroad veteran remembers sweat, speed, and mayhem along the 29th Street corridor

Jeffrey Tayler: Siberian Dawn

Railroaded

Will the Twin Cities' light rail megaproject get any cars off the streets? Help the environment? Save any money? Not necessarily, say its supporters--but that's not the point.

Trojan Transitway?