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Sherburne County agreed Tuesday to a two-year pilot project to provide commuter bus service between the northern suburbs of Big Lake and Elk River and downtown Minneapolis after Northstar trains stop running in January.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation and Metropolitan Council will partner on the project. MnDOT will pay half the operating cost.

 to suspend the Northstar commuter rail service due to low ridership and a high taxpayer subsidy. The trains will stop operating the first weekend of January, after the last Minnesota Vikings regular season game.

The Met Council said buses would replace the trains between downtown Minneapolis and Ramsey. But it wasn’t clear whether cities on the rail line’s northern end in Sherburne County would be included.

Beginning Jan. 5, the weekday bus service will operate three trips south in the morning and three trips north in the afternoon — similar to the current train schedule.

Sherburne County commissioner Andrew Hulse said the pilot project offers train commuters another option, with minimal investment from the county.

“Not to create a pun, but there’s an off-ramp if it doesn’t work, so we can be really fiscally responsible about this,” Hulse said.

The bus service will cost Sherburne County about $500,000 over two years, said county administrator Bruce Messelt. The money will come from a local sales tax rather than the county’s general property tax levy. 

Revenue from bus fares — which will be cheaper than Northstar train tickets — could help offset some of that cost, Messelt said.

County commissioners plan to review monthly ridership numbers every month. The entire service will be analyzed after a year to see whether the service is viable.

Metro Transit has operated the Northstar commuter rail line from Target Field in Minneapolis to Big Lake since 2009. The service originally was envisioned to extend to St. Cloud, but the route was shortened to cut costs. 

Ridership was lower than anticipated before the pandemic, but cratered after many workers stopped commuting to Twin Cities workplaces.

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Kirsti Marohn

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The Metropolitan Council voted in August to end the Northstar commuter rail service due to low ridership and a high taxpayer subsidy. Beginning Jan. 5, bus service from Big Lake and Elk River to Minneapolis will provide commuters with another option.

People step off of a train onto a platform.

Sherburne County agrees to pilot bus project to replace Northstar trains

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