Is this the end of the line for two proposed train routes?

Will a massive shakeup within the Anoka County Board spell the end of the line for a proposed passenger-rail route from Minneapolis to Duluth? And will it derail plans to extend the Northstar commuter line to St. Cloud?

County Commissioner Dan Erhart, who pushed hard and loudly for a decade to make Northstar a reality, has suddenly been silenced. Erhart, who also has spent five years championing the proposed Northern Lights Express (NLX) line from Minneapolis to Duluth, was recently stripped of his role as chairman of the Anoka County Regional Rail Authority and replaced by a fiscal conservative who questions a line to Duluth as a "viable product" and Anoka County's financial role in extending the Northstar line 30 miles to St. Cloud.

"It's their attempt to kill these projects," Erhart said last week of the County Board's new leadership.

New County Board Chairwoman Rhonda Sivarajah replaced Erhart as chairman of the rail authority with new county Commissioner Matt Look.

Phase II of Northstar, which would extend the Minneapolis-to-Big Lake line on to St. Cloud, came to an abrupt halt after the November elections. When U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, who chaired the House Transportation Committee, lost his bid for reelection, rail advocates from Sherburne, Stearns and Anoka counties decided they needed to reassess their Phase II strategy.

"Removing Dan Erhart as chair of the rail authority makes us question our relationship with Anoka County," said Sherburne County Commissioner Felix Schmiesing.

"A deal is a deal," Schmiesing said. "When funding was required to open a Northstar line that runs through Anoka County, we were loyal partners. Now that we want to extend the line through Sherburne County, we expect Anoka County to be there for us."

Look has favored extending the $317 million Northstar line, but doesn't want Anoka County to pay a disproportionate share of an extension he says will benefit Sherburne and Stearns counties far more. He has said repeatedly that he wants a Northstar station in his hometown of Ramsey, something that would cost an estimated $12 million to $14 million.

Look has said he does not support the NLX line. That could be a critical blow to the line because teams from Hennepin, Anoka and St. Louis counties have been the driving forces behind a line that could cost between $650 million and $1 billion to build.

Look said he'll wait until a fiscal study is released, in June or July, before passing judgment.

"The problem with NLX is you have a competing highway [Interstate 35] that's efficient," Look said.

John Ongaro, intergovernmental relations director for St. Louis County, said, "Our fate will be mandated and determined by the Federal Rail Administration" and federal funding that could cover as much as 80 percent of the line's costs.

New committee chairs

In naming new committee chairs, Sivarajah said, she wanted to match the experience and expertise of the various Anoka County commissioners. She said, above all, she "valued transparency" and talked to several of the commissioners about their new roles.

"There's been no transparency," Erhart said. "She never talked to me."

Sivarajah acknowledged that she never spoke to Erhart during the transition phase after the election.

"We can't all be on every committee we'd like to be on," she said, adding that all seven Anoka County commissioners are members of the rail authority.