Two meetings related to the proposed high speed rail projects between the Twin Cities and Rochester are on the calendar for late January and February.
The first is the eighth meeting of the Zip Rail Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). Our sources tell us that the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) will follow, running from 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
From the email:
Meeting No. 8
Rochester-Twin Cities High-Speed Passenger Rail Project (Zip Rail)
January 28, 2016 (Thursday)
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Minnesota Department of Transportation
395 John Ireland Boulevard
St. Paul, MN 55155
Sponsored by
Minnesota Department of Transportation
And the
Olmsted County Regional Railroad Authority
The next meeting of the Zip Rail Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) will be held Thursday, January 28, 2016 from 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm at the Minnesota Department of Transportation in St. Paul. An agenda will be sent prior to the meeting.
A conference call number will be distributed with the agenda.
The minutes of the last meeting are online here. According the document, "TAC meetings are open meetings, but they are not advertised as these are working sessions with discussion limited to TAC members."
The proposed publicly-funded Zip Rail line from the Twin Cities to Rochester is a distinctly different project from the hypothetical privately-funded "Velos" high speed rail line from the Twin Cities to Rochester for which the North American High Speed Rail Group LLC has produced a business plan. Recently, the latter dropped a request for two years' exclusive air rights on the corridor and the part of the business plan that would use EB-5 visa investors to raise capital. Original CEO Joe Sperber has also left the private rail group.
February 4 CCARL meeting in Randolph
According to the Citizens Concerned About Rail Line (CCARL) Facebook page, the grassroots citizens group will meet next at the Randolph High School on Thursday, February 4, 6:00 p.m. -- 8:00 p.m., Main East Door, Commons Area, 29110 Davisson Ave, Randolph MN.
Mapquest direction finder here.
Randolph is located northeast of Northfield on Minnesota Highway 56.
Elsewhere on the group's Facebook page, the group praises plans for high speed rail from the Twin Cities to Chicago as "Rail that makes sense. Rail in an EXISTING RAIL corridor. Rail we can support." Read the post here.
The group has been characterized as anti-rail, but its opposition is centered not on passenger rail in and of itself, but rather to land use issues in agricultural counties between the Cities and Rochester, and to the financial sustainability of such a short line.
Image: Banner for the Ziprail Technical Advisory Committee, via the email announcing the next TAC meeting.
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