The federal government on Tuesday awarded $156 million for the Northstar commuter rail line. The 40-mile route will carry passengers between Big Lake and Minneapolis. State and local governments will kick in $317 million. The train should be rolling in 2009.

Future plans have the rail line reaching St. Cloud.

Good. With the high cost of fuel and questions about the future of energy sources, public transportation between metropolitan and regional cities is a key to sustaining economies in rural America.

Let&8217;s look at rails from a practical business viewpoint: You&8217;re a manager. You have to send Joe to a meeting in St. Paul. Would you rather pay him to drive an automobile or would you prefer Joe ride the rails so he can get work done on his laptop computer during the commute?

There are many practical benefits like that example. No matter how you look at passenger trains, they benefit communities on the routes. Anyone who doubts that needs to visit Europe or visit U.S. cities of Chicago, Washington and Dallas.

We urge Minnesota leaders to think statewide and to begin looking south for the next rail project. A commuter rail line from the Twin Cities to the cities of Lakeville, Northfield, Faribault, Owatonna and Albert Lea only makes sense to relieve congestion on Interstate 35 and for outstate economic growth.

The pioneers thought decades ahead. That sort of thinking doesn&8217;t happen these days, but it should. If the cost of automobile fuel ever skyrockets &8212; tomorrow or 20 years from now &8212; just watch the demand for passenger rail lines go up.

It would be nice to ride a train from Albert Lea to Minneapolis by 2025. Our city has a strong railroad past and that heritage continues today as a major crossroads. Fifty years from now, it would be prudent for Albert Lea to be a stop on a key north-south national passenger rail route.