Line(s) Northstar Line 888 Tracks 2 (only one usable) Opened 16 November 2009 | Platforms Single side platform Parking 518 spaces | |
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Location 19691 County Road 43
Big Lake, MN 55309 Connections 887 (Northstar Link), 887F (Fridays only) Similar Elk River, Coon Rapids Riverdale, Target Field, Fridley, Ramsey | ||
Big Lake Station is a Northstar Line commuter rail station in Big Lake, Minnesota, located at 19691 County Road 43, in the southeast corner of Big Lake near U.S. Highway 10. The station features bicycle lockers and a park and ride lot with capacity for 518 vehicles. Commute time to downtown Minneapolis from this station is about 51 minutes.
This station is the northbound terminus until funding for an extension to St. Cloud is secured. In the meantime, a commuter bus branded the Northstar Link (route 887) connects Big Lake with St. Cloud, stopping at the Metro Bus downtown transit center, St. Cloud State University, a commuter parking lot at Lincoln Avenue and U.S. Highway 10 and the Coffee Cup Cafe in Becker. The bus is operated by St. Cloud Metro Bus, rather than Metro Transit.
The maintenance facility for the Northstar trains was built just to the south. This station also marks the southern end of a nine-mile stretch where the BNSF mainline is just single-tracked rather than double-tracked. A second track will need to be added up to Becker to increase capacity if commuter rail is to be expanded to St. Cloud.