Minnesota isn’t the caboose when it comes to rail planning, but it’s far from the front of the line.

When a team of rail experts, Minnesota Department of Transportation officials and state legislators finish work in December on a statewide rail plan, Minnesota will be the 34th state to have a long-range blueprint for developing passenger and freight rail.

The work is being done for a very straightforward reason: The Legislature last year ordered it to be accomplished. There’s also a practical motivation: Federal officials have indicated that money from Washington for rail projects depends on a plan being in place.

“The federal government said, you need to have a state rail plan before you apply for more federal funds,” said Rep. Terry Morrow, DFL-St. Peter, who was one of three lawmakers appointed to the team working on the plan.

Beyond those reasons for developing a rail strategy, there’s also the desire to get politics out of the decision-making when it comes to investing in new passenger rail projects or improvements to freight rail lines. Morrow made that point earlier this year even as he lobbied for funding to improve an aged freight line that serves Sibley County and even as he introduced a bill to begin studying the possibility of passenger rail between Mankato and the Twin Cities.

“As I introduced the bill, I said ‘This is not the best way to do this,’” Morrow said.

The better way is a systematic process that began in March to examine the condition and performance of Minnesota’s existing rail system, estimate demand for freight and passenger service for three decades or more into the future and listen to community leaders, railroad companies and freight customers.

The planning process will also look at existing freight lines for potential use as passenger rail lines, identify where improvements are needed to expand rail service, and set up guidelines for government investment in rail projects.

Morrow, who was appointed to the Policy Advisory Committee of the rail planning process by House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, may have made a difference in a few instances even after just one meeting. Plans for open houses to get public and industry input were originally scheduled for the Twin Cities, Duluth, St. Cloud, Rochester and Red Wing starting this month.

Morrow pointed out that Mankato-North Mankato is now an official metropolitan statistical area, and a meeting was added for May 17 at the Best Western in North Mankato.

The initial map of “Potential Minnesota Passenger Rail Routes” — which showed red lines leading from the Twin Cities to Duluth, Chicago, St. Cloud, Sioux Falls and Rochester — also includes a red line heading south-southwest from the metro area. There’s no city at the end of the line, but it appears to terminate generally in the Mankato area.

Although not directly related to the state rail plan, Morrow also helped arrange a meeting for Friday in Winthrop between MnDOT Commissioner Tom Sorel and the Minnesota Valley Regional Rail Coalition. The public meeting — from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Winthrop Veteran’s Club — will focus on the 93-mile freight line that runs from southwestern Minnesota to the western edge of the Twin Cities.

The line, jointly owned by the seven rural counties it serves, had fallen into disrepair until recent efforts to renovate it.

“I think it’s an indication of MnDOT’s support,” Morrow said of Sorel’s visit.

But federal support is going to be crucial for any major improvements in the statewide rail system, and that means getting a plan in place that nearly three dozen states already have, he said.