Northern Lights Express is getting $500,000 in federal funds for planning

By WDIO

Northern Lights Express receives $500,000 federal funds

The Federal Railroad Administration is giving the NLX $500,000 as part of the Corridor Identification and Development program.

Northern Lights Express is on the list of projects to receive federal funding.

MnDOT announced they are receiving $500,000 in federal funds to advance the planning. The project aims to provide four, round-trip, daily passenger rail trips from Minneapolis to Duluth/Superior.

Earlier this year,MnDOT applied for the Corridor Identification and Development Program grant through the Federal Railroad Administration. MnDOT will use the CIDP funds to begin updating planning work originally completed in 2017.

MnDOT also applied for a Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program grant to fund final design and construction, but it was a competitive process. They’ll apply again after they’ve made it through the Corridor process.

“We are eager to move this project forward to final design, but we still have some important steps ahead,“ said Greg Mathis, MnDOT planning director for passenger rail.

Lawmakers approved nearly $200 million dollars in state funding for the project during the last session.

https://www.dot.state.mn.us/nlx/