Target Field Station (formerly known during construction under the names of Minneapolis Intermodal Station, Downtown Minneapolis Ballpark station and The Interchange) is a
multimodal commuter train
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are cons ...
and
light rail station in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
,
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
. Located in the
North Loop area of
Downtown Minneapolis
The Central Minneapolis community is located in the central part of the city, consisting of 6 smaller official neighborhoods, and includes Downtown Minneapolis and the central business district. It also includes the many old Gristmill, flour ...
, the station is named for
Target Field
Target Field is a baseball stadium in the North Loop, Minneapolis, historic warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Since its opening in 2010, the stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. The stadium hos ...
, the
Minnesota Twins baseball stadium.
METRO Blue Line light rail service started November 14, 2009;
Northstar Line
The Northstar Line is a commuter rail route in the US state of Minnesota. Northstar runs from Big Lake to downtown Minneapolis at Target Field using existing track and right-of-way owned by the BNSF Railway. Passenger service began on Novemb ...
commuter rail service started November 16, 2009;
METRO Green Line
The Metro Green Line (formerly called the Central Corridor) is an light rail line that connects the central business districts of Minneapolis and Saint Paul in Minnesota as well as the University of Minnesota. An extension is under construct ...
light rail service started on June 14, 2014.
Layout
The station adjoins
Target Field
Target Field is a baseball stadium in the North Loop, Minneapolis, historic warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Since its opening in 2010, the stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. The stadium hos ...
, and commuter rail trains can wait next to the stadium. The station has an island platform serving commuter rail and two sets of light rail island platforms. The first was opened in 2009, the second in 2014.
The commuter train platform runs northeast–southwest below at ground level between two tracks. The 2009 light rail station platforms run northwest–southeast on the 5th Street North bridge over the commuter rail tracks, while the 2014 platforms were built northwest of the 2009 set. By the commuter platform is a third track on the northwest side that allows freight traffic to bypass the platform tracks.
History
The first railroad tracks in Minneapolis on the west bank of the Mississippi were placed in this location by the
St. Paul and Pacific Railroad which later became the
Great Northern Railway. The Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway and Great Northern Railway laid parallel east/west tracks in this location platted as Dakota Avenue/4th Avenue between 3rd Street North and 5th Street North. The Minneapolis and St. Louis Track was the southern track and the Great Northern track was the northern track. This grade separation was agreed in 1890 after much litigation.
The rail bed was lowered to form what is known as "The Cut" below the street grade today.
The station is near the sites of other former Minneapolis railroad depots. The first rail depot in downtown Minneapolis, for the St. Paul and Pacific, was located east near the present-day Fourth Street along the same tracks.
The Minneapolis and St. Louis railway freight and passenger depots were located at the East side of Washington Avenue, also east of the present Target Field station.
The
Electric Short Line Railway (Luce Line) depot was located at the northwest corner of 7th St. North and 3rd Avenue North. It was shared with the Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester and Dubuque Electric Traction Company (known as the Dan Patch Line and later the
Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway
The Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway was an long American shortline railroad connecting Minneapolis and Northfield, Minnesota. It was incorporated in 1918 to take over the trackage of the former Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester and ...
), as well as the Minneapolis, Anoka and Cuyuna Range Interurban railway.
The last passenger rail station to operate in Minneapolis was the
Minneapolis Great Northern Depot which was served by
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
until 1978.
2009 station
![Metro Transit (Minnesota) Siemens S70 arriving Target Field](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Metro_Transit_%28Minnesota%29_Siemens_S70_arriving_Target_Field.jpg)
The station was opened in 2009, to serve Northstar Commuter Rail and the Hiawatha Line, now METRO Blue Line. The light rail line was extended from its existing terminus at
Warehouse District / Hennepin Avenue to serve the new station. This was the first time for Minneapolis regaining access to passenger rail for 31 years.
The
Minnesota Twins pledged $2.6 million for its construction.
[Paul Levy and Joy Powell]
Finally, all aboard Northstar rail
''Star Tribune'', December 10, 2007.
2014 addition
The 2014 addition was designed by New York-based Perkins Eastman, to provide additional platform space for both METRO Green and Blue Lines, as well as provide community gathering space.
Future plans
The Green Line extension, also known as the
Southwest Corridor to
Eden Prairie
Eden Prairie is a city southwest of downtown Minneapolis in Hennepin County and the 16th-largest city in the State of Minnesota, United States. As of the 2020 census, it has a population of 64,198. The city is adjacent to the north bank of th ...
and the Blue Line extension, also known as the
Bottineau Boulevard to
Brooklyn Park will serve Target Field. The
Northern Lights Express
The ''Northern Lights Express'' (''NLX'') is a planned higher-speed rail service that would run between Minneapolis and Duluth primarily in the U.S. state of Minnesota. A portion of the proposed line would run through neighboring Wisconsin to ser ...
to Duluth would originate at Target Field.
Potential regional rail routes from Target Field station include the Dakota Rail Corridor to
Hutchinson, the Dan Patch Corridor to
Northfield Northfield may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Northfield, Aberdeen, Scotland
* Northfield, Edinburgh, Scotland
* Northfield, Birmingham, England
* Northfield (Kettering BC Ward), Northamptonshire, England
United States
* Northfield, Connec ...
, the Little Crow Line to
Willmar, the
Red Rock Corridor to
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
, and the Minnesota Prairie Line to
Norwood Young America.
Operation
Light rail trains from both Blue and Green Lines serve both the 2009 and 2014 platforms. Each train makes two stops at the station to serve both sets of platforms.
The Northstar Commuter Rail one-way fares from this station range from $1.00 to $3.25 on weekdays and $1.00 to $2.75 on weekends, depending on the destination.
The Northstar Line provides five morning and five afternoon trips each weekday.
Recognition
Target Field Station won a 2015 Institute Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design by the American Institute of Architects.
[
]
Additional photos
Image:Targetfield2.jpg, View of the commuter platform in front of the nearly-complete Target Field. The upper light-rail platforms are obscured by bridges.
Image:HiaBallparkStaJun09.jpg, First pair of light rail platforms, June 2009
Image:NorthstarBallparkJun09.jpg, Northstar platforms, June 2009
References
External links
*
Metro Transit - Target Field Station
{{Minnesota Metro stations navbox
Metro Green Line (Minnesota) stations in Minneapolis
Metro Blue Line (Minnesota) stations in Minneapolis
Northstar Line stations
Railway stations in the United States opened in 2009
Railway stations in Minneapolis