Central Corridor (Minnesota) - Transit Links

Transit Links

The Northstar Corridor commuter rail line connects downtown Minneapolis with northwestern suburbs, with a station at the north/western terminus of the Hiawatha Line and Central Corridor. The two light rail lines would share trackage in downtown between the Northstar station and the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. A short westward extension to the Hiawatha Line was completed connecting it to Target Field and making it easier to directly transfer from Northstar to either of the light rail corridors.

The temporary eastern terminus of the Central Corridor will be a street level station in front of the Saint Paul Union Depot, considered one of the great architectural achievements in the city and formerly one of the main points of departure for area train riders up until passenger rail service in the United States was restructured in the 1960s and 1970s. Future plans call for extending the line down to the concourse level, and provisions have been made including building the maintenance shops on adjacent land. The concourse of the Union Depot would become a transfer point for people coming into St. Paul along the proposed Red Rock and Rush Line commuter rail lines. There is also some talk of moving the Amtrak intercity station from its current location near University Avenue between the cities to Union Depot. Amtrak provides daily service, via the Midway station, along the Empire Builder route to Chicago, Seattle and Portland. At the present time, the Union Depot is partially used as a mail hub by the United States Postal Service, as well as home to a couple of restaurants. It has not seen the revitalization of similar depots in other cities. The postal service plans to relocate as soon as their new facility in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan is complete.