Update coming on Northern Lights Express high-speed rail line

It's been quite a while since we've heard much about the proposed high-speed passenger rail line that would run between the Twin Cities and Duluth. We'll get an update Wednesday as the Minneapolis-Duluth/Superior Passenger Rail Alliance holds a news conference in Duluth.

The Northern Lights Express has been in the works for years, and officials from the alliance and the Minnesota and Wisconsin departments of transportation Wednesday are set to give a project update during a 2 p.m. briefing at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in the Depot on Michigan Avenue.

We should know more about current cost estimates, preliminary operating schedule, projected ridership numbers and proposed fares, and of course, an overall update on the project.

If built, the NLX as the line is referred to will operate on approximately 152 miles of existing BNSF rail corridor.  Stations would include Minneapolis, Coon Rapids, Hinckley and Duluth, along with Superior, Wis.

The last time passenger trains ran between the Twin Cities and the Twin Ports was in 1985 when Amtrak discontinued the service.