Greetings,

The Northstar Corridor Development Authority (NCDA) today passed a resolution supporting an agreement in principle that allows Northstar Commuter Rail to use BNSF Railway train tracks from Big Lake to downtown Minneapolis. The resolution also urges legislators to pass the final $60 million in state funding before they adjourn the 2006 session.

This agreement is a significant breakthrough and leaves only two major hurdles before the project becomes a reality – approval of state funding and federal funding approval from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

We want to thank Governor Pawlenty for his leadership and personal involvement in helping secure this agreement. In addition, this milestone would not have been possible without assistance from Senator Norm Coleman and Congressmen Jim Oberstar, Mark Kennedy, Martin Sabo and Jim Ramstad.

The innovative agreement in principle grants permanent use of BNSF's tracks and guarantees passenger rail trips in perpetuity. This eliminates the risk of terminating service at the end of a specific contract period because the NCDA and BNSF cannot negotiate a new contract.

The agreement in principle provides for 12 one-way commuter trips per weekday and three round trips on weekends and holidays – a modest reduction in the level of Northstar service that was previously proposed. While it was our goal going into the negotiations to try to maintain the full level of service we originally planned, we also needed to balance this level of service with what we could afford. During the time Northstar has been debated, the demand for rail service from freight shippers has increased, and as a result, we were confronted with higher costs to buy access rights from BNSF.

While this is an unfortunate cost of delaying the project, it represents a responsible approach to managing Northstar within federal guidelines and is a prudent approach at this time. There is nothing that prevents us from sitting down with BNSF in future years to negotiate additional service or an extension of the corridor.

Your continued support has helped the project reach this significant and exciting milestone. Thank you.

Duane Grandy

NCDA Chair