I include High Speed Rail (HSR) in my fantasy transit plan because it serves a transit function.  This line, which in some circles is being considered for part of the real-life-proposed Chicago Hub Network, would connect downtown Minneapolis and the Minneapolis-St Paul and Rochester airports via high-speed rail, and would continue beyond Rochester to southern Wisconsin and Chicago, offering an alternative to the 7-hour-excluding-traffic drive or 1-hour-with-potential-delays airplane flight.  The basis behind my HSR alignment is the "Rochester Rail Link Feasibility Study" completed in early 2003, which examined various speed and alignment options for a combined freight/passenger line between the two airports.

For the purposes of my fantasy system, this line would be an overall 150 MPH line, upgradeable to 185+ MPH in the future.  The real life studies are considering beginning the line at either St. Paul's Union Depot or at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.  Though a connection north of the airport is very unlikely (even more unlikely than the possibility of the Chicago Hub Network actually getting built), I begin this HSR line in downtown Minneapolis at my idea of the Minneapolis Downtown Intermodal station (what in real life will be the connection between the Northstar commuter line and the Hiawatha/Central LRT lines at the new Twins stadium).

Though it requires a slower overall speed as well as a change in Federal law should it ever become feasible in real-life, this HSR line utilizes parts of the Hiawatha LRT line between downtown and the airport.  From the Minneapolis Downtown station, it heads southeast in a tunnel underneath 6th St, as does my idea for a NW-SE LRT line through downtown.  The HSR line surfaces near the Metrodome (east of the Downtown East LRT station), and then follows the Hiawatha LRT line southeast to just south of 26th St.  Bypass tracks at the existing Cedar-Riverside and Franklin Ave LRT stations ensure non-stop service.  Just south of 26th St, where the Hiawatha LRT line begins its overpass over Hiawatha Ave and Lake St, the HSR line continues southeast, utilizing the Minnesota Commercial Rail tracks that run between Hiawatha and Minnehaha Aves.  The HSR line runs elevated in this area due to the numerous cross-streets, and utilizes this rail corridor all the way down to its end in the northwest corner of Minnehaha Park.

Still elevated, the HSR line transitions from the Minnesota Commercial Rail corridor to the median of MN Hwy 55 between Minnehaha Pkwy and 50th St.  It follows the Hwy 55 median to just north of Hwy 62, where it curves to run parallel to and just east of the existing Hiawatha LRT tracks.  Just south of the Fort Snelling LRT station, the HSR line merges with the Hiawatha LRT line and utilizes the Hiawatha tunnel under the airport to the Lindbergh Terminal station.

From the Lindbergh Terminal station, the HSR line bids goodbye to the Hiawatha LRT line and loops southeast under airport property, then turn south along the west side of MN 5.  Just north of I-494 the line comes to grade from underground and crosses over MN 5, then follows the north side of I-494 east across the Minnesota River to near MN 55.  It then follows the Progressive Rail tracks along the west side of MN 55 and MN 149 and the east side of MN 3 down to northern Rosemount (near 130th St W), where it splits off the tracks to the southeast, crossing Dakota CSAH 42 just east of the Dakota County Technical College.

South of Dakota CSAH 42, it generally follows a long-abandoned rail corridor along a Coates-Empire-Hampton-Randolph-Stanton-Dennison routing, with bypasses of Empire, Hampton, Randolph, and Dennison.  From Dennison southeast to the east side of Kenyon, it blazes a new right of way.  Then from Kenyon to north of Dodge Center, it also follows an abandoned rail corridor along the east side of MN 56, bypassing West Concord.  It then goes along new right-of-way from the north side of Dodge Center to the south side of Kasson and on to the Rochester Airport.

East of the Rochester Airport, the line crosses over US 63, then follows the north side of I-90 eastward to where the I-90 median widens on the descent into the Mississippi River valley (about a mile east of Exit 266/Winona CSAH 12).  Here, the line is on its own descent into the valley, crossing under I-90, then following just inside (to the left) of the eastbound I-90 lanes.  About 3/4 mile west of the I-90/US 14/61 merge, the line splits off the eastbound lanes, crossing over the westbound I-90 lanes, US 14/61, Old Hwy 61, the CP rail tracks, and the main channel of the Mississippi River.  The line then island-hops southeastward along the east side of the river's main channel and across Lake Onalaska to French Island ("West La Crosse"), where the line turns south and has a station in front of the La Crosse Airport terminal.

Beyond La Crosse, this high-speed line would extend to Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago.

Below is a map showing the Minnesota portion of this Minneapolis-to-Chicago high speed rail line.

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Page last modified 27 May, 2007