PORTLAND, Maine — Amtrak Downeaster ridership rose to record heights in 2011-12 with nearly 530,000 riders in the fiscal year, according to the organization which manages the Portland-to-Boston train service.
Patricia Quinn — executive director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, or NNEPRA, the organization which oversees the Downeaster service — told the Bangor Daily News Tuesday that ridership has climbed steadily for seven consecutive years, weathering tumultuous fluctuations in gas prices and the global economy.
Quinn said she expects Downeaster ridership to continue growing as the service is extended to Freeport and Brunswick during the 2012-13 fiscal year. She also noted a more aggressive advertising campaign — using the rhyme “Train to Maine” and featuring the state’s natural coast, shopping, seafood and other attractions — on the Boston side of the connection.
“About 86 percent of our passengers use the service because they want to go to Boston,” Quinn said. “Adding stops in Freeport and Brunswick will give more people reasons to come from Boston to Maine as well.”
The 528,292 riders who used the Downeaster from July 2011 to June 2012 tops the previous record ridership of 509,986 — set a year earlier in 2010-11 — by 4 percent, according to a NNEPRA announcement Tuesday.
Fiscal year 2011-12 ticket revenues climbed to a new high of $7.4 million as well, Quinn announced. Both ridership and ticket revenue numbers for the most recent fiscal year were more than double what they were in fiscal year 2004-05, according to the NNEPRA announcement.
“When you see that jump there from 2005 to 2006, that was when we reduced our travel time from two hours and 45 minutes to two and a half hours,” Quinn said. “That was a real turning point for us. … Then in 2008, we added a fifth round trip. Until that point, we had only four round trips each day.”
Quinn said ticket revenues cover approximately 55 percent of the Downeaster’s operating expenses, with the rest offset by government subsidies, including about $6 million in annual U.S. Department of Transportation funding.
She said the steady increase in ridership shows that the Downeaster has grown beyond being a novelty for southern Maine vacationers.
“People ride it, they like it, and they ride it some more,” Quinn said. “I think it’s become part of the fabric of our region and it’s part of the way people travel. It’s not a fluke, it’s not an amenity, it’s a reliable part of the way people travel today.”
Since the Downeaster service began in 2001, the train has transported a total of about 4 million passengers — equaling more than 325 million passenger miles — and generated more than $56 million in ticket revenue.
I took the Downeaster to Boston last summer and will never drive to Boston again. The train ride is very pleasant, relaxing and quite fast. When you get off in North Station, you simply walk across the street and take the “T” where ever you need to go in the city. Plus the ticket prices cant be beat.
Agreed. I’ve taken it twice. Nice ride and stress free.
I take Concord Coach out of Augusta an that’s a 3 an a half ride right to south station
And we take the Concord Coach out of Bangor when we travel south, easy walk to the AMTRAK in South Station to NYC, Phila., or DC.
Of course the ticket prices can’t be beat, Amtrak is reimbursed $32 for every passenger that steps aboard. As a taxpayer, you’re welcome for for fun ride & hopefully we can waste more than the $1.4 billion Amtrak cost last year.
How much do the give air plane sevrice out of Augusta i think its around 120 bucks a person
All transportation is subsidized by the government… highways, airports, etc etc etc. Why pick on trains?
When is it supposed to have a stop in Brunswick — keep hearing in the fall but no definate date.
So how many riders do they need before the subsidy can be stopped?
Why should it be stopped? We subsidize profitable oil companies and you have an issue here?
Government shouldn’t be using our money to subsidize anything.
I don’t know, I think that’s kind of silly. Why does everything have to turn a profit? Highways certainly don’t. Schools don’t. Etc. These things benefit us and our communities though.
I’ll never use the train. I have a car… city dwellers should pay for my gas and insurance and maybe a few payments. since I am paying for their track.
My tax dollars already pay for those roads you drive on and subsidize the gas you use in your car.
Dose that include roads too ??
private roads
Yes, you mean like the federal government’s Essential Air Service in which they directly pay airlines to fly to otherwise undesirable, unprofitable cities such as Presque Isle?
There are 100+ airports getting federal subsidies via EAS.
Why pick on railroads, indeed!
What great news. This is a good investment for us.
I absolutely love that train … if only it was a break even proposition. I would never drive to Boston given this option.
Bring the train to Bangor!!!
more crap. 7.4 millon in sales and 24 millon to run it.