This is not an opinion I formed lightly. It has come from my experiences traveling internationally and witnessing first hand how the United States is clearly behind in rail travel. I am also always reluctant to postulate that our federal government is better or smarter at providing a service than privateers (see: Parcel Delivery). But there are some areas where government standards can improve efficiency and safety (see: FAA & Air Travel – minus the boondoggles that are TSA & DHS).

By having the track rights under federal control, it relieves freight carriers of their property. I say relieve because at the moment they pay property tax on their right-of-ways. Instead it would be better served to have them pay a usage tax, or something similar, rather than retaining ownership. The reason being is the rail network vastly needs up an upgrade.

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My son Jules loves trains. I like trains too and my enthusiasm was probably the seed that grew into his obsession. My good friend Joe bought Jules a copy of “Trainz Railroad Simulator” for Christmas a year ago. It was in the bargain bin at Mills Fleet Farm:

trainz_fronttrainz_back
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This may also serve as an open letter to the Northstar Corridor Development Authority (NCDA) and the Metropolitan Council.

Northstar Commuter Rail service wasn’t designed to fail, but it’s been built that way.  Rather than solely focusing on the negatives, I’d like to compare and contrast a similar system and how they’re doing things right.

Recipe for Success: FrontRunner

Let’s take a look at a successful example, that is similar to Northstar: The FrontRunner in Utah. It uses the exact same equipment as Northstar.  In fact you may have seen one of the engines Metrotransit bought from the Utah Transit Authority (UTA), before it was repainted:

From steve55126 on Flickr

FrontRunner goes from Salt Lake City to Ogden, a shorter distance but with similar characteristics. At a price tag of $600M it didn’t come cheap, but I feel they did it “right” and would like to highlight the differences.

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