France is building an automated 47-mile subway line with 36 stations for an estimated $10.2 billion dollars.
It is expected to be part of a much larger expansion of the Paris subway system and will be complete in time for next summer’s Olympic games.
Perhaps Metro Transit could call the French and ask them for help now that the Southwest Corridor Light Rail (14.5 miles, 16 stations, 17 years to build) $2 billion boondoggle won’t be finished until 2027.
A 47-mile subway (meaning below ground) line that will be completed on time and on budget would be a welcomed outcome for the legislature that spent the entire session wringing their hands about what to do about the Southwest Mess. PRO TIP for Met Council: stop building and studying rail lines Minnesotans don’t want and can’t afford.
Let’s start by cancelling the study of expanding (yes, expanding!) the NorthStar Rail Line from its current terminus in Big Lake to St. Could and cancelling the new AMTRAK to Duluth (now called the Northern Lights Express) that was canceled in 1985 when the state “ran out of money” to subsize the lack of passengers.