The big news of the morning was that Metro Transit was forced to cancel service on the Northstar Commuter line after a freight train derailed around 2:15 a.m. in Ramsey. The agency was unable to get trains past the crash, leading the agency to suspend all five inbound routes.
Buses were dispatched to supply fill-in service, but the agency told train riders to drive or find alternate means of transportation. Buses don't have the capacity that the trains do, and take longer, the agency said.
A decision about this weekend's service will be made this afternoon.
There was no noticible increase in traffic on Hwy. 10 as a result of the train mishap. In fact, traffic across the system was light today and moved without many issues.
The middle of the rush brought a small crush of cars along westbound 494 through the Bloomington stretch, but that was the worst of the congestion this morning.
Traffic zipped along at or near the posted speeds for the morning and led to drive times as sunny as the weather. An early stall in the Lowry Hill Tunnel and a serious injury crash on Hwy. 56 at 280th Street in Randolph were the worst incidents of the day.
Look for single lane road and bridge work today on I-35W at County 14 in Lino Lakes.
At present, the two things to watch for are a stall on northbound 35E at Maryland Avenue and another westbound 94 at White Bear Avenue.
