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After years spent trying to secure funding, the Northstar Corridor Development Authority (NCDA) now has the money necessary to build a 40-mile commuter-rail line between Big Lake, Minn., and the Twin Cities. Today, the authority officially obtained a $156.8 million Full Funding Grant Agreement, which enabled the state of Minnesota to release another $97.5 million in bonds to fund the line’s construction and acquisition of rolling stock.

Now, NCDA can award contracts for passenger-rail cars and station construction.

Scheduled to open in late 2009, the Northstar Corridor will run along existing BNSF Railway Co. tracks at speeds up to 79 mph. The line will connect with the Hiawatha light-rail line in downtown Minneapolis, as well as other area transit systems.