Officials with the Regional Rail Authority said construction of a short track spur from the depot platform to mainline tracks that Amtrak shares with three freight lines will require careful coordination with the freight companies and the Federal Railroad Administration, including complex updates to a signalization system. The details have taken longer to work out than they expected, and construction is still in the design stage.
"The heavy volume of freight just to the east of Union Depot -- five percent of the nation's volume -- combined with the intermixing of three large railroads, has led to the development of a complex signal system for the area," said Josh Collins, a spokesman for the Regional Rail Authority. "Once the design work is completed and approved, which we expect to happen by early spring, crews will be able to complete the connection between the completed Union Depot tracks and the freight tracks."
Magliari said his office never publically announced when Amtrak would begin to pick up passengers at the depot, and he called previous announcements from the county or other sources "speculation." He reiterated the company's commitment to move into the century-old transit hub off Kellogg Boulevard.
The existing Midway Station off Transfer Road, which is Amtrak's sole stop in the Twin Cities, "served us well," Magliari said, "but this is going to be a much better facility for our passengers, because there's going to be connectively to the light rail and inter-city bus."