More people are riding Minnesota’s new Northstar commuter rail line than officials had projected. The 40-mile line between Big Lake and downtown Minneapolis opened in November. Minnesota Public Radio reports that in Northstar’s first two full months of operation, Metro Transit tallied an extra 174 rides than expected for December and January combined.

Metro Transit expected 92,736 rides for December and January total. It tallied 92,910 rides. Spokesman Bob Gibbons says Metro Transit has received positive feedback from riders about the reliability of the service. Last month, the trains were punctual 98 percent of the time. Gibbons says ridership tends to be higher on snowstorm days.