Dakota Rail

Dakota Rail, Inc. was founded in 1985, taking over Burlington Northern's Hutchinson Subdivision between Wayzata (connecting with the Wayzata Subdivision) and Hutchinson, through the communities of Minnetonka Beach, Spring Park, Mound, St. Bonifacius, Lester Prairie, and New Germany. Dakota Rail was purchased by RailAmerica in 1995. In 2001 Dakota Rail abandoned the Hutchinson Subdivision and sold the right-of-way to the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority, Carver County, and McLeod County. In 2007 the Dakota Rail Regional Trail opened, and is currently being extended from Lester Prairie to Hutchinson to connect with the Luce Line Regional Trail. Despite more than a decade since abandonment of the rail line there are still many traces of its past use including rails leading to the Tonka Toy factory in Mound, an engine house in Spring Park, and many rotted ties and rusty tie plates and spikes along the right-of-way.

There is currently no official proposal to reintroduce rail on this corridor such as light rail or commuter rail.