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The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is close to obligating a $5 million High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) grant for the proposed Northern Lights Express (NLX) service between Minneapolis and Duluth, Minn., according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

On Sept. 1, a USDOT grant manager notified the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) that the grant application is “in the final stages of the award process,” according to the notification.

As a result, MnDOT officials are obtaining the necessary signatures on the agreement to secure the grant, Dan Krom, director of MnDOT's Passenger Rail Office, said on Sept. 6.

The NLX project is being developed by the Minneapolis-Duluth/Superior Passenger Rail Alliance, which plans to operate trains up to 110 mph on the corridor. In July, the Federal Railroad Administration approved the service’s preferred route, which would use existing BNSF Railway Co. track from Minneapolis to Duluth in the Highway 65 and Interstate 35 corridor.

The $5 million HSIPR grant will be used for preliminary engineering work for the 155-mile corridor. About $4 million in state dollars will go toward the study’s cost, according to Bob Manzoline, executive director of the alliance.

“We’re very excited to get moving ahead with the project,” Manzoline says.  

Work on an environmental impact study of the corridor is wrapping up and anticipated to be completed by year’s end, he says.

The engineering study is expected to last about 18 months, beginning in April or May 2012, he said.

Currently, the NLX project is estimated to cost $650 million to $750 million.

To date, the federal government has awarded about $7 million toward the NLX project, Manzoline said. The state and alliance have awarded $5 million so far.

“We think we are progressing very well,” Manzoline said of the overall project.

— Julie Sneider