2025 2nd Quarter Newsletter

In This Issue:

• AAMN Organization - Leadership Changes
• Borealis Birthday - Celebrating a great first year!
• Legislative Update - Results of a difficult session.
• Train Days - A good turnout and lots of interest
• Trump Administration & Amtrak - OK for National Network?
• Wisconsin Update - Projects with Minnesota impact
• Bikes on Trains? - It depends
• Amtrak Horizon Car Recall - Problems and Status

AAMN Leadership Changes Announced

Brian Nelson has stepped down from the role of Board President/chair due to work demands. Board member, Barb Thoman, has assumed that role. AAMN is exceedingly grateful to Brian for his leadership over nearly a dozen years! Thankfully, Brian will remain on the AAMN board. Barb is the former co-founder and Executive Director of Transit for Livable Communities – now Move Minnesota.

AAMN also has a new board member. Alex Nagel joined the board in May and will take on the Treasurer responsibilities when Bob Moen steps back from that role. Bob is increasingly busy with efforts at the rail museum in Charles City, Iowa. Bob will also remain on the board. Alex will retire from an accounting position with CPKC railroad in August.

Borealis Birthday!

AAMN appreciates the work of our volunteers who helped with data collection and analysis, the event to celebrate the first anniversary of the Borealis, and Train Days at the Depot. Thank you!

Happy Birthday Borealis –

by Jerry Ratliff

All Aboard Minnesota was on hand at St. Paul Union Depot on May 21, 2025, to celebrate this first-year birthday, and talk with passengers about the train. The train was sold out, so there were about 200 passengers waiting to board the train to Chicago. Many riders appeared to be first time passengers. AAMN staff and volunteers fielded questions about what to expect. We gave each passenger we spoke with a postcard with a schedule for the Borealis and Empire Builder and a candy bar.

We were again on hand to greet the train inbound from Chicago. In total, we handed out over 400 postcards and candy bars to passengers! All Aboard Minnesota had a mini display with Borealis Birthday Banners and route maps and many passengers were interested in our literature. It was great to celebrate the first-year success of the Borealis, and AAMN and its supporters look forward to celebrating many more birthdays!

First year ridership on the Borealis was 222,520 surpassing AAMN’s projections by 30 percent, Amtrak’s projections by 40 percent, and MnDOT’s projections by 70 percent.

Borealis Passengers Waiting to Board on May 21st

Legislative Update -

By Barb Thoman

It was a tough legislative session for intercity passenger rail, especially the Northern Lights Express project, and funding for public transit – especially in Greater Minnesota. Progress was made on AAMN’s corridor priorities, and thankfully, future Borealis operating support wasn’t cut.

A bill to further expand passenger rail - During the session, AAMN worked with Sen. Scott Dibble and Rep. Erin Koegel to introduce Senate File 2887/ House File 3176. The bill directs MNDOT to prepare federal corridor ID grant applications for two corridors: Saint Paul to Fargo/Moorhead and the Twin Cities to Kansas City. AAMN will work in future sessions to get a hearing and to work toward adoption. The bill will have the same bill numbers for the 2026 session.

Borealis cuts not adopted - The House had proposed clawing back nearly $9 million in previously allocated operating funds for the Borealis in FY2027/28. Fortunately, this measure was dropped in the reconciliation process. AAMN sincerely appreciates the calls and emails in opposition made by our members and friends in response to our action alerts.

Some background: With budget deficits looming into the future, all areas of Minnesota’s budget faced reductions. In March, the DFL party, which controls the Governor’s office, the Senate, and co-leads the House, agreed on reduction targets for each area of the state budget – nearly $1.2 billion overall for the biennium.

Northern Lights Express - Early in the session, the future Northern Lights Express passenger rail service (Twin Cities to Duluth) took a huge hit - $77 million in previously allocated funding was cut to pay for unemployment insurance for seasonal school workers. The $77 million cut will not impact construction for NLX. What it does mean is that MnDOT will not be able to acquire new equipment for NLX as previously planned. In future sessions, the funding could be restored in a bonding or transportation bill.

Making the cuts required by leadership - In March, each budget committee was given its target for the FY2026/27 biennium and the following biennium. The target for transportation was a reduction of $115 million. In the special session, legislators cut $61.4 million from metro area transit, $22 million from greater Minnesota transit, $3 million for Safe Routes to Schools, and made other reductions to meet the target.

Why not cuts from road funding? Roads owned by MnDOT receive little money from the state general fund. There are three constitutionally dedicated revenue sources for state roads and that money can’t be cut. Transit revenue is not as secure. When there is a budget shortfall, transit historically has taken a hit as it did this session.

Let us know if you want to help.

Email us at [email protected]

AAMN plans to do corridor outreach this summer and legislative advocacy during the 2026 session. We hope to get a hearing and bill adoption in both legislative bodies in 2026.

A Busy Weekend at Train Days at Union Depot -

by Jerry Ratliff

Hosting a booth at Train Days at Saint Paul Union Depot is a fun way to get people excited about expanded Amtrak service in Minnesota. Many of the thousands of event attendees on June 7th and 8th had never been on a train.

This year, AAMN had eight enthusiastic volunteers assisting board members at our table. The volunteers helped spread the word and answer questions. We handed out postcards with the Borealis and Empire Builder’s schedules on one side and the cafe menu on the other. The many maps and posters developed by AAMN board member, Kurt Haubrich, provide great information and spark conversation

Many event attendees had questions about how to ride a train, the cost, and wondered about options for shorter day trips to try the train. We talked about high ridership on the Borealis during its first year. People were also interested in future routes and the planned service to Duluth.

Thank you, volunteers!

Kudos to Ramsey County for another great Train Day’s event.

Amtrak’s Future in the Trump Administration -

by Bob Moen

Given the past budget proposals for Amtrak under the first Trump Administration and the ongoing cost cutting of DOGE, many observers were bracing themselves for a zeroing out of Amtrak’s budget beyond the Northeast Corridor and a few other US corridors. Instead, the Trump Administration’s proposed FY2026 budget is the same as was enacted by Congress in 2024 and 2025; with one twist.

Funding was shifted to the National Network and away from the Northeast Corridor. The National Network includes Long Distance Routes and State Supported Corridors. The budget proposal is for 23% more funding for the National Network and 25% less for the Northeast. No one knows why. Possibly it is because Project 2025 does not mention Amtrak funding and only focuses on transit funding.

The federal budget also includes language restricting Amtrak from discontinuing, cutting frequency or altering train service. Sean Duffy, the new Secretary of Transportation, was not an Amtrak supporter while serving in Congress, perhaps because his northern Wisconsin district was not close to the Amtrak network. In testimony to Congress, Duffy seemed to have an open mind, was willing to dig into the issues, and was forthright in his answers. Duffy did mention looking into privatizing Amtrak in the future.

Overall, so far, the news is better than expected for Amtrak passengers.

For more information see:

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/trump-budget-greenlights-more-national-network-investment-analysis/

Wisconsin Updates-Passenger Rail Expansion -

by Mark Quam

Wisconsin received five FRA Corridor ID Grants from the Federal Railway Administration in December of 2023. Those five corridors include inter-city passenger rail service from:

• Eau Claire to St. Paul, using a third-party operator other than Amtrak.
• New Amtrak service from Milwaukee to Green Bay.
• New Amtrak service from Chicago to Milwaukee via Madison, Eau Claire, Menomonie, Hudson and St. Paul/Minneapolis.
• Adding an additional Borealis service on the existing Amtrak route between St. Paul, Milwaukee and Chicago.
• Adding additional Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee.

All five of the Wisconsin FRA Corridor ID grants are close to completing Step One of the grant process. FRA must sign off on the step one before a corridor may proceed to Step Two. Step Two includes corridor planning and a service development plan.

The Eau Claire to St. Paul Corridor received feedback and final input on the Step One process from the FRA in May. It is anticipated the Eau Claire to St. Paul corridor project should be ready to move on to Step Two of the FRA Corridor ID grant process. WisDOT is working with the other Corridor ID Grant processes to move on to Step Two. The federal government will cover 90% of the cost of the Step Two process but a 10% match is required. Federal support for ongoing or new FRA Corridor ID Grants is still uncertain. Additionally, The State of Wisconsin has not passed a state budget as of mid-June 2025. Passenger rail expansion projects in Wisconsin may be delayed.

Wisconsin supporters of passenger rail are encouraged to contact their state legislators to ensure that funding is included in the 2025 to 2027 WI state budget for future expansion of passenger rail.

Bikes on Amtrak –

by Mark Quam

Amtrak’s Borealis service between St. Paul, Milwaukee and Chicago does not currently offer bike storage to accommodate passengers traveling with bikes. This is mainly due to the long-distance bilevel Superliner coach cars that Amtrak is currently using to operate the Borealis service. Superliner cars were not originally designed with racks for bike storage use. Amtrak’s newer Venture coach cars (being used on other U.S. regional routes) can accommodate bikes but on a limited capacity basis.

Due to equipment shortages and back orders on new passenger rail coaches, Borealis trains will not be able to accommodate bikes until newer equipment is available. It should be noted that Amtrak does currently accommodate fold up bikes on Borealis trains if the fold-up bikes fit in the Superliner coach car’s lower-level baggage storage areas. Fold-up bikes are not permitted to be stored in the overhead storage areas above the coach seats in Superliner cars.

People wishing to travel on Amtrak’s Empire Builder with bikes may do so, but reservations are required in advance when booking tickets to accommodate bikes. Bikes are stored in the baggage car which have storage racks for bikes.

Amtrak does not accept bikes if traveling between Spokane and Portland. Amtrak will accept bikes on the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle. Bikes are only accepted at select Amtrak station stops along the Empire Builder route where Amtrak staff is available to assist passengers getting bikes on and off the train.

In Minnesota, these stations accommodate bikes as luggage: St. Paul Union Depot and the Winona station. Consult with an Amtrak reservation agent for more details.

For more information about bikes on Amtrak go to

https://www.amtrak.com/bring-your-bicycle-onboard

Amtrak Horizon Car Fleet Problems

by Bob Moen

Since taking its 70 car Horizon Coach Fleet out of service after March 26th, Amtrak has not provided an update. Word in the industry is that Amtrak and engineering people from the manufacturer have been evaluating the problem and working on solutions and ultimately a fix for the structural corrosion problems.

The issues seem to be centered around:

• Corrosion at the base of the steel collision posts in the passageway at each end of the car and
• In the steel structure (body bolster) that supports the car above the trucks and wheels on each end.

These are not surprising issues for cars that are about 35 years old and would be part of the detailed inspection and repair in a heavy overhaul. The problem was not discovered until recently during a heavy overhaul because these areas are enclosed and not readily visible. It was clearly serious enough to recall the whole fleet. Hopefully, we will hear positive news in the near future.

In the meantime, the Borealis and Amtrak trains in the Milwaukee Corridor and Pacific Northwest have been operating with spare coaches from other fleets. For the Borealis, these have been double deck Superliner coach cars like those operated on the Empire Builder. But there were not enough cars to replace all the seating capacity that was present before. For the Borealis this equates to about 212 seats per trip vs. the previous 290.

Borealis with Superliner coaches at Train Days

Thank You for Your Support of Passenger Rail