State Rail Plan Update

The draft State Rail Plan is now available for your review and comments.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation is asking Minnesota businesses and residents to provide feedback on the final draft of the Minnesota State Rail Plan. The final draft of the plan is now available for review and public comments. All comments received will be used to guide updates to the plan, which shapes the future of Minnesota’s rail infrastructure and investments.

The Minnesota State Rail Plan envisions the future of Minnesota’s rail transportation system over the next 20 years. The plan describes the importance of railroads to Minnesota’s economy, the state of the current rail system and trends, and identifies key rail investments that better support the transportation of goods, services and people throughout Minnesota. The plan guides and supports MnDOT’s efforts to ensure rail and all modes of transportation work together to move Minnesota.

Participate in State Rail Plan Informational Webinar!

MNDOT staff will host two remote webinars intended to introduce the information in the draft State Rail Plan document and have a short discussion. These webinar events will take place the first week in November, with one during the day, and the other in the early evening to assist us in meeting different communities, as follows:

State Rail Plan Informational webinar on

• Meeting 1: Thursday, November 6th from 5:30-7 PM.
• Meeting 2: Friday, November 7 from 9:30-11 AM.

Meeting links (MS Teams) will be posted here soon!

How to provide feedback

You can review the final draft of 2025 Minnesota State Rail Plan and provide feedback in these ways:

• Review the final draft of the State Rail Plan
• View paper copies at any of MnDOT’s eight District offices located in Duluth, Bemidji, Baxter, Detroit Lakes, Rochester, Mankato, Willmar and Roseville.
• Provide comments on the final draft of the State Rail Plan
  • Written comments can also be submitted by mail to: Office of Freight and Commercial Vehicle Operations, Attn: Robert Clarksen, Minnesota Department of Transportation, 395 John Ireland Blvd, MS 050, Saint Paul, MN 55155

MnDOT invites and encourages participation by all. If you feel you need reasonable accommodation because of a disability to fully participate in this event (such as an ASL or a spoken language interpreter), or need documents in an alternative format (such as braille or large print), please contact: 651-366-4720 or ADArequest.dot@statemn.us