Mayor Norton encourages feds to consider adding Rochester to rail plans
As the conversation over expanding America’s rail system hits the national level, Mayor Kim Norton says the city of Rochester is still exploring avenues to bring a high-speed rail system through town — even after separate public and private plans fell through in years past, and federal proposals overlook Rochester as a rail stop.
The latest addition to the long-running conversation came last week, when Amtrak released plans to significantly add and improve its services across the country in the coming years. Duluth and Eau Claire, Wis. are among dozens of cities that stand to gain service — but Rochester is not included in those plans.
After sending off a tweet lamenting Rochester’s exclusion, Norton said the city would be “interested in being considered” as Amtrak’s plans evolve — although the city isn’t formally advocating for itself just yet, and doesn’t wish to “compete” with the existing Winona to St. Paul Amtrak connection.
“I’m just trying to point out that one of the state’s population centers and home of Mayo Clinic is a connection point,” said Norton. “As [Amtrak thinks] about rail of any kind, but particularly high-speed from the Chicago and Minneapolis areas, we want to be on the radar.”
If rail service were to come to the Med City, Norton said it would probably be in the form of a connection linking Rochester and the Twin Cities — providing a more sustainable option for commuters, while linking Mayo Clinic with other large hospital networks across the Upper Midwest.
It’s an idea the city and state have pursued for years, without success.
The concept nearly came to fruition in the early 2010s with the Zip Rail project, but stalled — at least in part — due to pushback from state lawmakers living in the rural areas along the route.
Private investors showed interest in creating a rail line in 2016, but nothing materialized. Those plans were reported to have been part of Minnesota’s bid for the 2023 World’s Fair, which went to Buenos Aires instead.
Norton, however, said the idea of connecting to the two bustling Minnesota metros is not completely off the table.
At this point, any new high-speed rail product would likely take decades to come to reality, but the continued expansion of Rochester makes Norton believe the vision of a quick connection between our city and the rest of the Midwest is more than just a “pipe dream.”
“We may not be a huge city, but we have a very important asset with Mayo Clinic, as well as a lot of business from outsiders,” said Norton. “Even though our population is only 120,000, that doesn’t count the millions of people visiting each year.”
Isaac Jahns is a Rochester native and a 2019 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. He reports on politics, business and music for Med City Beat.
Cover graphic: ‘Amtrak Connects Us’ planning document
