It's actually bizarre that UP is even involved -- the trains leave for CP on the west and BNSF on the east -- but the track ownership pattern in that area is completely stupid for historical reasons.
Regarding Northstar, it was cut back to Big Lake by the Bush administration "cost-effectiveness" bull, which was quite deliberately biased against better projects. I consider that outright sabotage of the project, and it really does need to go to St. Cloud.
A couple little points:
1. I think you meant to type that the trains leave for BNSF to the west, & CP to the eastward.
2. Concur with your statements regarding having the Northstar Rail ending in Saint Cloud. It will be better to end in a metro area of over 100 000 residents vs. ending the line in the middle of nowhere (Big Lake).
About point 1. -- it depends -
For the MSP metro area, yes, trains leave on BNSF to the west, and CP to the east.
BUT - at SPUD - it's roughly the other way around.
West from SPUD the CP "short line" carries Amtrak about 7 miles past the <defunct> Ford Plant spur and through residential neighborhoods to the current Midway Station and another mile-and-a-half west from there before connecting to the BNSF multi-main-lines and on to the far west.
East from SPUD -- oh my -- somehow, after getting across what seems to be UP ROW now - Amtrak will "somehow" get on the CP -- but only through the BNSF controlled Hoffman interlocking - the biggest and most complicated one in this metro area - and on to the CP-BNSF joint line from Hoffman to the eastward. The two main tracks all the way to Hastings -- one is owned and maintained by CP, one by BNSF, but both, and Hoffman, are dispatched by BNSF.
BUT -- that's only a small bit of the complexity - especially east from SPUD. And the history -- there "used to be" many more railroads through the "near eastward" from SPUD - enough.
so I think Nathaniel's point
It's actually bizarre that UP is even involved -- the trains leave for CP on the west and BNSF on the east -- but the track ownership pattern in that area is completely stupid for historical reasons.
Is basically correct.
Yup - historical reasons --
I think that here in MSP - and a lot of other places - a team of at least 4 grad students - in - say - Transport Law, Transport Economics, History, and Urban Planning -- could get a shared thesis out of this case study. :unsure: