Freight Rail Economic Development Study

Minnesota’s industrial and agricultural base has been tied closely to the state’s extensive railroad network for our entire history, and still is today. In the last three decades, railroads enjoyed a resurgence in productivity and profitability, with shippers increasingly turning to rail to capture benefits in costs, service and good connections to distant markets, a key factor in Minnesota’s business future. Both businesses and railroads have expressed interest in enhancing the potential for business growth around this transportation mode. The Freight Rail Economic Development study lays out a range of options and tools in response to this desire.