BRUNSWICK, Maine — The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority is moving ahead with plans to build a layover and maintenance facility for the Amtrak Downeaster in Brunswick, despite the loss of a federal grant that would have paid for the project.
Construction of the large industrial shed, initially expected to start this spring, has been delayed, in part so residents can help develop a plan to diminish the facility’s effect on nearby residential neighborhoods.
The Portland Press Herald reports that the lack of a layover facility won’t delay the authority’s plan to extend passenger service to Freeport and Brunswick in 2012.
The authority learned earlier this month that the U.S. Department of Transportation rejected its application for a $20 million grant. The layover facility is expected to cost $9 million.
Guess it ain’t gonna be as pretty for only 9 million
DOH, why put it in a neighborhood at all? Where’s the “common” sense?
$9-million is quite a “shed”. Who designed it, Dale McCormick?
Bring the Downeaster to Bangor!