It was Galileo in the early 1600s who is said to have first dubbed the seemingly supernatural northern lights the aurora borealis, combining the name Aurora, goddess of the dawn, and Boreas, the personification of the northern wind. On Tuesday, following decades of advocacy and speculation by rail fans, a passenger train rolled into Ramsey County’s Union Depot transit hub in downtown St. Paul, launching Amtrak’s Borealis service, a second-daily round-trip between Minnesota’s capital city and Chicago.
The train, which will originate in St. Paul at 11:50 a.m., will make the same stops as the longstanding Empire Builder between the capital city and Milwaukee, and then mirror Amtrak’s Hiawatha service from Milwaukee to Chicago, arriving in the Windy City around 7:15 p.m.
Another Borealis train is scheduled to leave Chicago at 11:05 a.m. and roll into downtown St. Paul each evening at 6:29 p.m.
After opening its doors to the public at 9 a.m. Tuesday for photos and walk-throughs, the Borealis was scheduled to depart downtown St. Paul shortly before noon on Tuesday, with stops in Red Wing, Minn., Winona, Minn., LaCrosse, Wis., Tomah, Wis., the Wisconsin Dells, Portage, Wis., Columbus, Wis., Milwaukee, the Milwaukee International Airport, Sturtevant, Wis., Glenview, Ill. and Chicago.
Views of Mississippi River
Amtrak officials noted that the Borealis offers the opportunity to sit in the cafe car — or coach or business class — and enjoy the view of the Mississippi River between St. Paul and LaCrosse during daylight hours in both directions, while still arriving at either major terminus in time for dinner.
It also offers wide reclining seats, no middle seats, free Wi-Fi and one-way coach fares starting at $41 to traverse the 13 stations.
Scheduled speakers during a 10:45 a.m. program at the downtown St. Paul Union Depot were to include Amit Bose, administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Ramsey County Commissioner Rafael Ortega and Stephen Gardner, the chief executive officer of Amtrak.
Transportation officials in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois said key funding fell into place with the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021, which authorized some $550 billion in spending on roads, bridges and mass transit, as well as water and broadband infrastructure, from 2022 to 2026. The train follows
In 1993, a business writer for the St. Paul Pioneer Press opined that the fortunes of St. Paul, Chicago and stops in between would be boosted by better rail connections, namely a three-hour high-speed train from Minnesota’s capital city to the Windy City. High-speed rail, which is common in Europe, China and Japan, remains largely elusive in the United States, though one line — Amtrak’s Acela Express — reaches speeds of up to 150 miles per hour as it traverses the 450-mile northeast corridor from Washington, D.C. to Boston in three and a half hours.
Reopening Union Depot
While the Borealis is no Japanese bullet train, officials in cities along the route have high hopes that improving passenger rail connections will boost commerce and tourism. Ramsey County officials, through the Regional Railroad Authority, have spent much of the past decade or more advocating for Amtrak’s second train, spending some $243 million to begin a two-year restoration of the downtown St. Paul Union Depot in 2011.
After decades in proverbial mothballs, the county reopened the Union Depot’s long-shuttered waiting room and concourse and relaunched interstate passenger rail service there in 2011. The last passenger train prior to then — Burlington’s Afternoon Zephyr — left the Union Depot on April 30, 1971. The Union Depot’s head house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
The Amtrak’s Empire Builder has long offered passenger rail service through St. Paul from Seattle and Portland to Chicago, but passengers have long complained about delays due to weather and travel conflicts with freight trains that use the same tracks or crossings.
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