MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The University of Minnesota Board of Regents has agreed to drop its lawsuit blocking a light rail line that’s planned to run through the Minneapolis campus.

The unanimous vote Wednesday removes a major hurdle in getting half of the project’s $957 million cost paid for by the Federal Transit Administration.

Dropping the lawsuit was part of a deal negotiated between the university and the Metropolitan Council last week over the Central Corridor project.

The council agreed to build the line in a way that protects sensitive university equipment from vibration and electromagnetic interference.

Construction on the 11-mile line between St. Paul and Minneapolis has already begun, and service is expected to begin in 2014.