In 2016 the City Council directed the Edina Transportation Commission (ETC) to answer ("review and recommend") the following three questions regarding the future of passenger rail in Edina:

• Should the City of Edina support further study of the possibility of passenger rail service in Edina?
• Should the City of Edina formally request the elimination of the so called “gag rule” concerning the Dan Patch line?   
• Should the City of Edina dedicate staff and fiscal resources to developing a plan to encourage the development of a passenger rail service in Edina?

In November 2016, the ETC recommended further study by the City of Edina of the possibility of passenger rail service in Edina (answering "yes" to the first question above). The consulting firm of Kimley-Horn was hired to work with the ETC to conduct this study - the Passenger Rail Community Engagement Report - in order to answer the remaining two questions.

Kimley-Horn presented the draft Final Report to the ETC at its September 28 meeting. Based on high-level review of the corridor and feedback from the public, the consultant recommended the following (please refer to the attached Final Report for detailed  explanation of these recommendations):

• No, the City of Edina should not request elimination of the gag rule at this time.
• No, the City should not dedicate resources to developing a plan to encourage the development of passenger rail service in Edina in the Dan Patch Corridor at this time.

After discussion, the ETC moved to forward these recommendations to City Council (please see attached draft meeting minutes). ETC chair Tom LaForce, with support from Kimley-Horn and City staff, will present these recommendations to council for consideration.