St. Paul City Council optimistic rates, challenged by 2021

Pioneer Press - January 8, 2021

In St. Paul, Jane Prince is thinking of upgrading an antiquated city fire station tucked into a working class corner of the city’s East Side. Station No. 7, which hasn’t housed a working fire engine since mid-2018, maintains a ladder truck and medical team but no overnight accommodations for female firefighters.

Prince, a St. Paul City Council member, has other long-unfunded hopes and dreams too, such as adding a second Amtrak train from the Twin Cities to Chicago, and building “deeply affordable” housing for the very poor.

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Opinion: What a well-funded passenger rail system could look like in the Midwest under 'Amtrak Joe'

MinnPost - November 13, 2020

...Yet the possibility of rail improvements is on the horizon. Earlier this year, the Federal Railroad Administration delivered a pair of grants to Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois to double daily rail service from Saint Paul to Chicago. The $12 million and $31 million in funding would go to startup costs, additional track, and bridge improvements that are needed for the extra service.

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Minnesota funding for second train to Chicago thwarted

Star Tribune - November 4, 2020

Supporters of a proposed second round-trip train between the Twin Cities and Chicago are determined to advance the project despite failing to win funding at the legislature last month. "The second train is by no means dead," said Brian Nelson, president of the passenger rail advocacy group All Aboard Minnesota. "We are investigating a whole host of [funding] alternatives."

Earlier this year, the project received a boost when the Federal Railroad Administration awarded it $32 million. But the money comes with the caveat that Minnesota kick in $10 million in matching funds.

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