Twin Cities Pioneer Press: Northstar rail debut features solid ridership, only one glitch

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Northstar rail debut features solid ridership, only one glitch

By Nancy Ngo
[e-mail]

Updated: 11/17/2009 10:13:30 AM CST


It was mostly smooth railing on opening day of the Northstar Commuter Rail line on Monday.

The new 40-mile line connecting downtown Minneapolis to Big Lake opened to the public, and rush-hour commuters throughout Sherburne, Anoka and Hennepin counties climbed on board.

In all, about 2,400 one-way trips were made on the first day. By this time next year, transportation officials estimate the daily ridership will reach 3,400.

"We're pretty happy to hit that mark on the first day," said Metro Transit spokesman Bob Gibbons. "That puts us at 70 percent of where we want to be a year from now."

Gibbons said Northstar trains were on time Monday and everything went as planned — with just one glitch. One morning train arrived at Target Field station in downtown Minneapolis only to have one of the doors refuse to open for several minutes.

Unlike the Hiawatha light-rail line from Target Field to the Mall of America that runs throughout the day, the Northstar line caters mainly to rush-hour crowds on weekdays, running in the early morning and between 3:50 and 6:10 p.m. On weekends, the train runs in the afternoons and evenings to accommodate tourist crowds. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.twincities.com/ci_13804706?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com&nclick_check=1