The North Star Rail line in Minnesota is being canceled after struggling with ridership, particularly following a devastating 98% drop during the pandemic. Though originally conceived as an 80-mile connection between Minneapolis and St. Cloud, budget constraints limited it to just 40 miles ending in Big Lake, setting the project up for challenges from the start.

• 40-mile commuter rail line with seven stations running from Minneapolis to Big Lake
• Pre-pandemic ridership approached 800,000 annually but collapsed to just 400 daily riders today
• Service reduction from six to four daily round trips further hampered recovery efforts
• Recent transit-oriented development along the route now threatened by line's cancellation
• Metropolitan Council replacing rail service with buses, reducing operating budget from $12M to $2M
• Original plan to extend to St. Cloud (population 70,000) never materialized
• Lack of stations in key areas like north Minneapolis likely limited potential ridership
• Political pressure accelerated the cancellation

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