The Monticello Subdivision or Monticello Sub is a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

branch line that runs from the

Wayzata Subdivision The Wayzata Subdivision or Wayzata Sub is a railway line that runs about from Willmar to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Currently operated by BNSF Railway, this was part of the Great Northern Railway's transcontinental line from Minneapolis to Seattl ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Monticello, Minnesota Monticello ( ) is a city next to the Mississippi River in Wright County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,455 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. ...

. Formerly operated by the

Great Northern Railway Great Northern Railway or Great Northern Railroad may refer to: Australia * Great Northern Railway (Queensland) in Australia * Great Northern Rail Services in Victoria, Australia *Central Australia Railway was known as the great Northern Railway ...

and then

Burlington Northern The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States–based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroad ...

, it is now operated by

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

. It largely runs parallel to Broadway and Hennepin County Road 81 from Minneapolis to Rogers, and then

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

from Rogers to Monticello. Rails formerly continued on from today's Monticello Subdivision farther to the northwest along today's I-94 corridor all the way to

Moorhead, Minnesota Moorhead ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Minnesota, Clay County, Minnesota, United States, on the banks of the Red River of the North. Located in the Red River Valley, an extremely fertile and active agricultural region, Moo ...

. It had been used for passenger service, such as with the '' Alexandrian'' (named for

Alexandria, Minnesota Alexandria is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,335 as of the 2020 census. I-94 passes through Alexandria, along with Minnesota State Highways 27 and 29. It is south of Lake ...

). This is a low-volume line, only seeing about two trains a week. Most rail activity on the line takes place south of

Albertville Albertville (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is best k ...

. Farther north, the main purpose of the line used to be to serve the

Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant The Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant is a nuclear power plant located in Monticello, Minnesota, along the Mississippi River. The site, which began operating in 1971, has a single nuclear reactor (boiling water reactor) of the General Electri ...

. The part of the line through Monticello sees maintenance around every 10 or more years, to keep the line open just in case they need to run loads to the Nuclear plant. There hasn’t been a run to the Nuclear plant in quite a few years now, but back in what I think was in the years of 2017-2020 the part through Monticello got maintenance on the tracks with weeds cut down and trees over the tracks taken off the tracks. Now the track through Monticello is listed as exempt, and the line between Monticello and Albertville is used to store empty grain hoppers and container cars.

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

has trackage rights on the line from its southern end at Lyndale Junction to MW Junction, which connects to UP's Golden Valley Industrial Lead. The Bottineau Boulevard Transitway, in early planning stages as a

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

line, proposes using part of the Monticello Subdivision corridor to run passenger trains. Railway operator

BNSF BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide ...

has consistently opposed any passenger rail along this corridor.

References

External links

BNSF Subdivisions
BNSF Railway lines Rail infrastructure in Minnesota {{Minnesota-transport-stub