1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to transportation; requiring rail corridor service analysis for passenger rail 
1.3 	service to Fargo and Kansas City; requiring commissioner of transportation to 
1.4 	apply for federal passenger rail corridor identification and development 
1.5 	programming; appropriating money.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. PASSENGER RAIL; RAIL CORRIDOR SERVICE ANALYSIS; 
1.8 	INTERCITY RAIL; APPROPRIATION.
 1.9 		Subdivision 1.Corridors; identification and development required. (a) The 
1.10 	commissioner of transportation must apply to the Federal Railroad Administration's Corridor 
1.11 	Identification and Development Program established by the Infrastructure Investment and 
1.12 	Jobs Act under United States Code, title 49, section 25101(a), for planning and development 
1.13 	of two intercity passenger rail corridors with service originating in and extending beyond 
1.14 	Minnesota. The two routes include:
1.15 	(1) extension of passenger rail service from St. Paul to Fargo, North Dakota; and
1.16 	(2) establishment of new passenger rail service from St. Paul to Kansas City, Missouri, 
1.17 	that includes service to Northfield, Albert Lea, and Des Moines, Iowa.
1.18 	(b) Upon successful application and award of development funds from the Federal 
1.19 	Railroad Administration for the routes developed in paragraph (a), the commissioner must 
1.20 	execute and complete all Step 1 scoping requirements under the Corridor Identification and 
1.21 	Development Program for both routes in paragraph (a).
1.22 		Subd. 2.Appropriation. (a) $1,000,000 in fiscal year 2026 is appropriated from the 
1.23 	general fund to the commissioner of transportation for the following:
2.1 	(1) intercity passenger rail projects in the Phase I corridors level identified in the 2015 
2.2 	update to the state rail plan under Minnesota Statutes, section 174.03, subdivision 1b;
2.3 	(2) providing state matching funds for obtaining federal grants to complete the Step 2 
2.4 	service development plan under the Federal Railroad Administration's Corridor Identification 
2.5 	and Development Program;
2.6 	(3) planning, development, and staffing costs for the required application in subdivision 
2.7 	1, paragraph (a), and completion of the Step 1 scoping requirements under subdivision 1, 
2.8 	paragraph (b); and
2.9 	(4) grants to political subdivisions for planning and service development activities 
2.10 	consistent with the passenger rail implementation and policy established in the state rail 
2.11 	plan under Minnesota Statutes, section 174.03, subdivision 1b, including:
2.12 	(i) project cost estimates;
2.13 	(ii) alternatives analysis;
2.14 	(iii) preliminary engineering;
2.15 	(iv) environmental analysis;
2.16 	(v) benefit cost; or
2.17 	(vi) economic impact analysis.
2.18 	(b) This is a onetime appropriation and is available until June 30, 2028. The appropriation 
2.19 	is only available for the Minnesota share of project costs.

2.20 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.