BRUNSWICK, Maine — Passenger train service that links Brunswick and Freeport with Boston and beyond commenced Thursday after decades of development and years of doubt from some who thought they would never see Amtrak north of Portland.
Restrictions on the Amtrak Downeaster’s speed, track maintenance concerns, the construction of stations and most of all, funding, all became challenges writ in the history books Thursday as the train and more than 200 local, state and federal officials rode the maiden voyage from Boston to Brunswick.
Fueled by millions of dollars in federal highway funding over the years, including $35 million in stimulus money from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, the tracks have been upgraded and, in some cases, the train will travel as fast as 79 miles per hour.
Amtrak Vice President Stephen Gardner told a large and enthusiastic crowd gathered at Maine Street Station in downtown Brunswick that the region is poised to add to Amtrak ridership, which he said has grown by 45 percent since 2000.
“We are not an accident here,” said Gardner. “We are on a real sustained trend of continued growth in investments in America’s passenger infrastructure. I am very proud on behalf of Amtrak to welcome you to Amtrak’s system here in Brunswick.”
Martin Eisenstein, chairman of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, had lofty goals for the Downeaster service, which has run between Portland and Boston with several stops in between for more than a decade.
“When the train started in December 2001, the goal was 178,000 passengers [a year],” he said. “How many do you think we have now? It’s 528,000. How many do you think we’ll have in 10 years? Do I hear a million?,” he said, his words drowning in raucous applause.
Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, paid homage to the millions in other states who remain without critical transportation and utility infrastructure in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
“There are places very near to us that are still struggling with the complete destruction of their infrastructure,” said Pingree. “I think we need to thank our good fortune at the fact we are here today not to watch failing infrastructure but to be able to say we are here to see something very happy. This is something that so many of us have said they never thought they would see happen.”
U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, has long been a supporter of the Downeaster, including proposing an amendment to the 2012 Highway Bill earlier this year to restore $6 million in Downeaster funding that was proposed to be cut. She said the rail service will help fill some of the economic gap that was created in the region by the closure of Brunswick Naval Air Station. She estimated that within 20 years, the train will create 800 jobs and lead to $325 million in construction contracts.
“What a boon it is to this area specifically,” said Snowe. “This opens up a new chapter and a new era for Brunswick. This is an investment in the future of Brunswick and the future of Maine.”
Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, said unprecedented cooperation between numerous people and organizations at the state, local and federal levels made the Downeaster expansion possible.
“We were here a couple of years ago with a big pile of dirt, a pile of rails and a lot of promises,” said Quinn. “What’s gotten us to this point is the partnerships we’ve built.”
Among the hundreds of people who turned out for the Brunswick event, who included the Brunswick High School marching band and a dance team from Boston, were scores of young children who simply like trains. One of them was the son of Julia Grover of Topsham, who was carrying an American flag.
“I want to show the train my flag,” said the youngster.
“You want to wave your flag at the train?” said Grover. “I think that’s a great idea.”
Beginning immediately, Amtrak will offer weekday departures from Brunswick at 7:05 a.m., and 5:55 and 8:30 p.m., with a similar schedule on weekends. According to its reservation website, a one-way weekday adult ticket from Brunswick Station to North Station in Boston costs as little as $24.
All right for the state of Maine :) Train service from boston to Brunswick,like to see it come to bangor or even madawaska :)
That Would Be Awesome!
Sadly, the rail line they are building up ends in Rockland, with no lines to points North or D’east.
I see no track between at all between Rockland and Belfast, which is a where a train called the D’easter should go, on its way to Bangor then to the North Wood National Park and connecting to a local to Ellsworth, the real Downeast, and/or to Bar Harbor.
While there is a branch to the north, may-be … given this map doesn’t have Brunswick on it,
that line does not go though very populous territory.
The next logic stop is Augusta, given the Lewiston/ Auburn track has already been bypassed.
While our proud capital, Augusta it has never really grown into those boots, so that would be a hard sale.
http://mysite.verizon.net/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=http://mysite.verizon.net/vzevgbob/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/MAINEMAP.jpg&target=tlx_pico932
nice try.
Ahhh ,,,, thanks, I guess.
So do you something more substantial to contribute , Red ?
As a long time commuter rail advocate, I find the extravagance of an ENTIRE Amtrak train set a bit much to stomach in the way of subsidies. Just the cost and time expense to get to Portland; let alone the cost of connecting to go somewhere else like the Jet Port or Logan makes the whole operation an indulgence.
Who got the money 10 years ago to upgrade the track to Augusta, which is now slowly rusting away? And who got the campaign kickbacks? Where’s that inquiring press when you need an explanation about the track to nowhere?
I’ll still ride Amtrak from P.land to Boston, but not for a trip from Logan since the Bus is less expensive, faster, and drops you at your departure gate.
Then there are through trips like the one I planned from Portland to Washington, D.C. Portland to Boston, a walk or cab to S. Station—fun in winter; then to New York a train switch then on to D.C.
Mega bucks and a very long, long day!
Someone wrote a piece about the failure to extend trains to Cape Cod, also considered a ‘sure thing’ Abandoned, just like this one will be.
…and remember, a New Jersey company owns the line from Brunswick to Rockland, and Amtrak hates to rent track.
“…and remember, a New Jersey company owns the line from Brunswick to Rockland, and Amtrak hates to rent track.”
Actually, this is incorrect. The State of Maine owns the tracks, and rights to its use are leased to Morristown and Erie out of New Jersey.
The rail line they restored is between Portland and Brunswick. The Lower Road to Augusta and Waterville (and ultimately Bangor and points beyond) connects directly to this rehabilitated track infrastructure. Please see the state’s railroad map at:
http://www.maine.gov/mdot/utilities/pdf/railmap.pdf
It would be nice if we could get a commuter rail line connecting Bangor to Portland
I’m in my forties and I know for a fact that sadly, this won’t happen in my lifetime.
Ah, the good old days: http://www.streamlinerschedules.com/concourse/track3/potatoland195407.html
Not that it was all that fast, making all those local stops, but I’d still take it…especially a sleeper.
well alright :) train servive between Boston and Brunswick maine ;),like to see it go all the way to Bangor and beyond
How long does it to get from Brunswick to just where, exactly, in Boston ?
at least 3 hrs if the traffic is not bad
It takes 2:15 driving and 3:25 on the train.
To Boston, 2:15 yeah right! maybe if traffic is good
It’s 130 miles with no traffic it’s under 2 hours and with moderate to heavy traffic it is still much quicker than the train and cheaper, $48 round trip is pretty steep. Costs about $25 in gas then park for free over by davis square and pay a couple bucks for the T. After that there is still enough money left over out of the $48 to buy a 6 pack for the ride home.
I spent more time waiting in traffic getting into Boston then the train did. The train can go an average speed as apposed to car
That’s why it’s best to park and hop on the T a few miles out.
Or just stay on the Downeaster
And you are having this six pack on your drive back?
Can you tell us when, so we can be off the roads then…
Sheesh.
That’s what I was thinking or going above 75mph yeah probably could get there fast, but thats just stupid
i went to a redsox game with my family in 2004 by car. i will never do it again. we went round and round the big dig and it seems boston is always in a big dig. had to pay and arm and a leg to park plus i had no clue to where i was going, found out gps’ don’t work very well in tunnels.
went again in 07, this time by train, took the whole family again. got to read the newspaper then took a nap both ways down and back, did not have to worry about parking and where i was going. i will never go into boston by car again.
If you do not get cough in traffic
Why does coughing in traffic slow you down?
The train doesn’t take 3:25
Ya…so fast….bahaaaaaa
You also have to:
1. Drive to the train
2. Get there half an hour in advance
The train is a liberal’s fantasy creation. Just another toilet for flushing money, created by politicians who could not survive in the real world. It would be great if we could return to jungle. They’d disappear quickly.
Oh, I’m sorry. Did I say jungle? I meant rain forest.
Kumbaya.
Not true at all. Don’t just jump to conclusions
I concede point # 1, so I’ll rewrite:
1. Drive or ride your unicorn to the train.
What’s the difference of driving to the train to driving to Boston instead?
You don’t need to be there a half hour in advance if you have a ticket
Enjoy it while it lasts, which won’t be long. The money for wasteful nonsense is gone and the adults are headed for Washington, D.C.
North Station is the destination. Not sure how long it takes.
That’s good and what I wondered.
BTW, could a friend of his explain how trains work to wollydevil, please.
its about 2 1/2 hours from portland
???
If you are in a hurry you take a plane if not you take the train. In this day and age people are in a hurry every were from work and every thing else .
Take a break relax a bit. If you are heading to Boston as a final destination North Station is fine. If you plan on AMTRAK taking you anywhere else you have the inconvenience of finding your own way, luggage and all, from North Station to South Station which connects you with the rest of the country.
According to their schedule it takes 3 1/2 hours. Today will be longer for the people taking the train this morning. It was suppose to leave at 7:05 and as of 7:25 hadn’t shown up in Brunswick yet.
Service to Bangor?
I drive over 3 sets of railroad tracks daily. How I wish there was a passenger service from Presque Isle down to Bangor. I understand they used to provide it years ago. Many people from Aroostook County drive to Bangor for shopping and health care. And in my dreams, those people could hook up for the train to Boston too. I bet it would be a much used service if it existed and was affordable. Meanwhile, I’m glad for the people who got the train service.
Train service from Bangor to Boston would be great.
With the $42 taxpayer subsidy added to the $24, the true cost is $66. Amtrak, like all government agencies, is a taxpayer sinkhole.
Yes, but it is a sinkhole that provides a service.
Oh….that’s different…..duh?
It is unless money is ALL that matters to you.
Money isn’t everything.
But it’s awful nice when you want to ride the train.
Cliff W.
Ok ghandi ..YOU pay for it..and you should pay more in taxes..so..flip over your tax form.and donate!
sound, honest money is a commodity that reflects your labor and daily effort on this planet
fiat money is NOT sound, honest money
you profess the debt slave mentality and will never enjoy true happiness
no Amtrak is awesome!
what about the air lines how much do they get some get 112 per seat an thats out of augusta
The track repair from Portland to Brunswick was $38 million. The proposed layover yard in Brunswick is $12 million. NNEPRA estimates 100 daily riders on the train between Freeport and Brunsick. Now divide the initial capital cost of $50 million by the $13 cost of a ticket on Concord Trailways from the train station in Brunswick to the train station in Portland. You could hand out 3,800,000 free bus tickets and it would save the taxpayers money!
And you’d only have to let the buses run on those govt. subsidized highways such as 295 to do it too.
Gas taxes, excise taxes, and tolls are user fees, paid only by the people using the road. A tax on people renting cars to subsidize the train is just that, a subsidy.
I strongly disagree with this. My property taxes pay for local roads and emergency response. My state and federal taxes (to the general fund) increasingly pay for road maintenance and repair. And, as a taxpayer, I pay for foreign wars to protect our supply of oil overseas.
Oh, and my lungs pay for the air pollution being spewed and my flab is the result of having to drive everywhere in the sprawl that cars helped create.
So, no, your ‘user fees’ don’t come close to covering the true costs of highways. http://subsidyscope.com/transportation/direct-expenditures/highways/funding/analysis/
Amtrak is actually a very good program and is profitable
A private company that get federal bailouts every single year, year after year because it can’t make it on its own.. How can I get a deal like that.. Pork product. should be listed under commodities..
Just like the Maine Turnpike, Red ?
Maine turnpike is a sucess and pays for it’s self. I think it was Carter whose started subsidizing Amtrak and once they got on the government teet they never got off of it..
Um, no, wrong again. Amtrak started in 1971…that would make Nixon the president responsible.
Actually, I read somewhere a few months ago that Amtrak is coming close to being self-sufficient, having covered about 85 percent of its expenses in the last year which is one of the highest percentages it’s ever enjoyed. Far from becoming ever more dependent on outside funding, Amtrak is living on less funding.
Then too Amtrak ridership has shown several years of year over year ridership increases as well.
Currently, Amtrak gets about $700 something million $ a year of govt. support. That’s less than *ONE* fighter plane for the DoD, (currently about $1 billion each, depending which model we are talking about) used to help keep Middle East oil markets open so your car can enjoy $4 gasoline instead of $8 or $9 gas.
You made the best point of all. A single F-22 cost $678 million to build and operate over it’s life time. Right now most of them are grounded because of problems with the oxygen systems, one crashed last year killing the pilot.
The question we all should be asking is what could we have done with the %3.2 trillion spent of the Iraq war. What else could we be doing with the trillion spent on the military each year?
If we had good alternatives, people could be attracted out of their cars.
Correct me if i.am.wrong..but spending.is spending..were spending 16t in debt!
They’ve managed to lose nearly a billion dollars in the last ten years just in food service, partly by selling $16 hamburgers for $9.50.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-03/make-work-jobs-and-16-hamburgers-at-amtrak.html
The Downeaster is actually very profitable
No, actually the Downeaster covers only half of it’s operating cost from ticket revenue. The subsidy comes from federal pollution mitigation funding and from a Maine tax on rental cars. (So yes, the people who fly to Maine and rent cars are subsidizing the people who take the train.)
Actually I don’t believe that, where’s the proof?
Believe it.
Go to NNEPRA’s website and find it. If you can’t find it call them. If you think the Downeaster is “very profitable” you are in for an awakening.
For ridership it’s worthwhile. It broke records this year
I like that idea. Kind of like we subsidize public assistance wages in reverse.
So tell me, when have any of the govt. subsidized roads ever turned a profit….especially those “heavily used” sections like I95 north of Old Town to Houlton that nevertheless require a ton of maintenance? Not to mention how redundant I95 is with Route 2 already there as well.
Ever heard of fuel tax? Heavy use tax..for trucks?.educate yourself
Fuel taxes and landing fees don’t make a dent in the cost of operating highways and airports. They help, yes, but the costs come from all of us.
How about you educate YOURSELF.
http://subsidyscope.com/transportation/direct-expenditures/highways/funding/analysis/
A nightmarishly slow train. A complete waste of taxpayer money. Conceived by politicians who couldn’t make it in the real world. What a joke. Why would anyone want to travel that slowly to Boston?
b/c older people like me do not need the stress of jumping in my car for 2+ hours, fighting traffic, (especially in summer at the tolls – where even the EZ Pass lanes have a line). Sometimes it’s just nice to let someone else do the work and sit back and relax.
For a nominal fee, you can eat and have a small drink or 2/3 in Boston and sleep off on the train.
Not everybody is in a hurry or needs to feel the “freedom” of having your own transportation. Yeah it may cost a little more than driving yourself, but then going out for a nice steak and paying a little extra for someone else to do all the work is kind of the same idea.
Take the bus. It’s faster and cheaper than the train and the roads are already built. Society cannot afford to subsidize an expensive toy like the Downeaster and its tracks in such a low population zone.
There are problems with everything, your points are well taken, however, I don’t feel as safe on a bus, as I do on a train, plus there’s more room. Maybe this could be a more viable option as it used to be half a century ago.
The last time I drove to Boston, I spent 45 minutes stuck in traffic backed up at the York tolls, and another 35-40 minutes in traffic backed up at the Hampton tolls. Total trip time was pretty close to four hours. Would’ve been exactly the same if I’d taken Concord Coach or Greyhound. The train would’ve been much faster, and a hell of a lot less stressful.
The little train that could,….did.
now it needs to chug its way to Bangor!
Amtrak …never turned a profit…ya good idea..like wind mills and gm! past time to say bye.bye!
Actually they are very profitable. Do your research before coming to a conclusion
No.actually the never turned a profit..do your research .subsidized by those of us who do not go on the train..just like the bat bus in Bancorp..just look at how many people ride that sink hole..no profit! facts cannot be denied …but liberals do it
When you count ridership its worthwhile
They do not turn a profit Kirk despite propaganda you may have heard otherwise. In 2008 AMTRAK lost on average $32 per passenger.
http://subsidyscope.org/transportation/direct-expenditures/amtrak/analysis/
Highways and airports, also subsidized. This is a great service and will be an asset to Maine. Transportation is a critical factor in economic development. “Build it and they will come.” That’s how trains work.
So? How much money do schools make or libraries? I’d rather see money spent on this sort of thing that actually benefits the community than blown elsewhere.
Ridership has grown
And where do you do your research. The State of Maine subsidizes Amtrak around $8.0 million a year. Even though there are three stops in NH, NH doesn’t pay anything. If Quinn and Amtrak have their way and build a layover station in Brunswick for at least $12.0 million (the lowest bid, the other two were $16.0 million and $20.0 million) than they will waste more tax payer dollars forcing the trains to come to Brunswick even if there are few or no passagengers. This is just Quinn and Eisenstein lining their pockets or building their leagacies with Maine tax payer dollars. Figure it out, 100 people a day is about 4 or 5 minutes of traffic on the highway. The money could be better used buying some new buses running on natural gas that could go between Brunswick and Portland several times a day and be cheaper and cleaner. Than the rest of the money from the stimulus could be used to fix our roads and bridges that need repair. Once again our politicians use our tax dollars inefficeiently.
Well said.
I sure can’t wait to see how tasty this road food is;
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-03/make-work-jobs-and-16-hamburgers-at-amtrak.html
What a bahgahn.
Free money, thanks Obama
Great to see the train coming north – like to see it come up Route 1 and also branch west. This would allow us folks to get to South Station in Boston and access other Amtrak routes as well as help to bring in some tourist money.
Impossible, the Downeaster only goes to North Station. You’re on your own getting to South Station and the rest of the Amtrak system.
We need it in the state capitol, then all the way to the city of Bangor. Way to go Obama and Amtrak.
Different line owned by PanAm – the old Maine Central. Talk to the PanAm people. Of course, Bangor tore down their station years ago.
But, I agree with you. It does need to go to Bangor and beyond. I suggest using the new DMU cars that cost less to run than the traditional engine and train cars.
http://www.usrailcar.com/
they should come up to bangor
Is there over night parking at theses stations ?
Yes, very affordable.
that’s good to hear
I’d like to see Amtrack service go all the way to Bangor!
Taxpayer funded boondoggle. but it makes the greenies “feel” good.
An that goes for every thing thats tax payer funed
Just add it to the list of the taxpayer-funded highways and airports. And, no, the fuel taxes and landing fees do not cover all the costs. In my experience wherever the trains, trolleys, subways, and trams go, people and business follow.
New England is ideal for trains – it’s kind of long to drive and kind of short to fly. Once you travel by train saving hours on gas, wear and tear, and aggravation, you will like it.
My prediction – you will see regular commuters traveling to/from Brunswick to Portland, S. Portland, and even Boston. They will earn their money there and bring in back to Brunswick.
I just looked at the schedule from Brunswick to Portland and back. I’m willing to bet there will be about 2 people that this will work for commuting to work. And provided they live and work within practical walking distance of the stations in Brunswick and Portland.
Forget Boston.
I can’t wait to see the actual ridership numbers for this after 6 months. Heck, in 3 months during January.
Look at the way-back-when predicted numbers from Portland to Boston. Yet, it is one of Amtrak’s most successful lines.
This really is a “build it and they will come” deal. Just like any business it takes time to build a customer base. All I hear from the naysayers is that unless there is a 300% pent-up demand, we shouldn’t take the risk and move forward.
I have watched over the years in any number of cities how this works. Granted, I am based in DC/Balto area (but am from Maine & have a home there). Baltimore added trolly car lines and the business is booming. DC is spending $6 billion for 23 miles of subway, making the 30 some miles and 36 station repair in Maine for under $40 million seem like a bargain.
When I first arrive in DC back in 1979, Dulles was in the middle of a cow pasture. Now, because of the roadways and the metro (to as far as it does go), it is a huge metropolis with people who live and work in that area. The original design was to get people in/out of DC but what has happened is the end of the lines have exploded with business and many people, myself included, do not go “downtown” (to DC) all that often. We now are connecting the “spokes on the wheel.” My point is that these places never would have developed had the infrastructure not been present.
Critical factors for any growth: transportation, communications, energy access, and an educated workforce. I predict this will benefit Maine. I cannot tell you the number of people here who worked and lived in DC and then commuted to the ‘burbs once transportation became available. They wanted lower costs, better schools, and better neighborhoods for their kids.
I would not make the mistake of assuming the train is merely serving the people in Brunswick to get to Boston. To the contrary. You will be having many people trying to escape the city to the desireability of Maine for lifestyle and costs. If it were me, I’d start buying real estate in Brunswick.
The downeaster had 541,000 riders last year. The is total riders, including all of those who get on at the stops. I would love to know how many Portland to Boston, (and the reverse) tickets are actually sold and how many of those are commuters. I’m guessing it is very few.
541,000 total riders. 77 individual trains a week with 644 individual stops not counting the new Freeport or Brunswick stops. That is 4004 trains a year. that comes out to an average of 135 individual riders per train including ALL stops. It’s not my definition of “successful”. Plus the fact that it is heavily subsidized with taxpayer money.
DC Metro area is completely different. In fact any major metro area is different because of the higher population density. What can and does work there is completely different from an area like Maine. You cannot compare the growth of areas around DC or other major metro areas with a state like Maine. That growth has been fueled by the massive growth of the federal government itself. Maine has no similar driving economic force.
I agree with your critical factors for growth. But until any area in Maine has a much higher population density than presently exists mass transit of any kind just doesn’t work and the automobile is the preferred and most practical means of transportation. Energy access, actually the cost of energy, here in Maine is a major problem. And every attempt to lower those costs for the past 40 years at least has been blocked by environmentalists and NIMBY’s.
Go ahead and buy some land in Brunswick. LOL My best friend lives there. The price of real estate in Brunswick and the surrounding area is out of sight and going up. People in the Portland area are not looking at the Brunswick area for a more affordable place to live. A surprising number commute from the Lewiston area. And I see a very limited number of people commuting from Boston to Brunswick considering the fact that including transportation and wait times at each end the total commute time one way will probably be in the 5 hour range.
Hopefully, Bangor can get some passenger train service in the near future. we desperately need it. It would be a boom for Bangor with many of our canadian neighbors jumping on board.
There is talk of getting passengers on that NW line in Maine that the State wisely purchased. That would be ideal for the DMU cars.
http://www.usrailcar.com
“Beginning immediately, Amtrak will offer weekday departures from Brunswick at 7:05 a.m., and 5:55 and 8:30 p.m., with a similar schedule on weekends.” As of 7:20 am this morning (Friday) Amtrak had yet to arrive in Brunswick. Nice way to start a business.
Hey the train finally showed up at 8:10. Hope the people waiting to take the train at 7:05 weren’t using it to commute to work.
Sadly, there was a disabled freight train on the tracks they had to deal with. It happens. Just like accidents that close down I-295, right?
What is a real problem is the fact that Amtrak owns the rolling stock but not the rails. The rail owner is running freight and he sets the priorities. I would be the last to suggest nationalizing the rail system. BUT, what Maine did by buying up that track in the NW (can’t recall but it was quite a distance) makes sense. They now can rent the rail to rail companies who now no longer need to maintain hundreds of miles of rail along with everything else.
This isn’t much different than a trucking company or an airline. We don’t expect truckers and airlines to pay for their own roadway and airports. Why should we expect the rail companies?
I could see small startup companies running passenger rail similar to commuter airlines. We used to call these “short haul” lines that dovetailed with the larger train lines. You used to be able to take the Penn Central to a station and then transfer to another smaller-line train to get to those final miles. Maine used to have a bunch of these short-hauls.
Of course, with the software we have these days, running multiple vendors on one line should be no different than an air traffic controller running multiple airline companies in/out of one airport. The airport and controller are not owned by any one airline. They are part of an infrastructure service that is paid for partially by landing fees and other fuel taxes.
Maine could offer this same service on the lines it owns such as the one to the NW that connects to ViaRail in Canada.
When is it coming to Frenchville, Maine?
Did Eisenhower really put $400,000,000,000 in present day dollars into our interstate highway system and was it a mistake? Should he have put some of that money into improving our rail service?
Now some folks are asking if it would be cheaper and easier to move people and freight by rail or over roads by trucks and cars.
And, like everything else that costs money, this issue has been politicized.
One party is for rail service and most working people in the other party, who would benefit the most by rail service, have been conditioned to be dead set again’ it.
Many of your neighbors don’t know that in 1949 General Motors and other companies were convicted of conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses. Do you remember when they bought up street cars all over the country and junked them? — Much as years later GM junked its very popular electric car?
Sixty and more years ago the plan was to make us dependent on our cars. Nothing easier with gas at 19 cents a gallon.
But now we have been married to the automobile for so long that we are way behind our European neighbors when it comes to public transportation. And what kind of trains are they building now in China and Japan? Is it possible that a train in China averages over 200 miles per hour and that it makes a 600 mile trip in less than 3 hours?
Can you guess which powerful companies are opposed to this kind of public transportation here and want us to use our cars and trucks?
Is it time to properly fund passenger rail service in the United States?
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/businesspolitics/is-it-time-to-properly-fund-passenger-rail-in-the-united-states/1241
The humble Farmer
totally impractical and a prime example of showcase spending with a low social, environmental and financial return. All aboard, next stop the North Pole.
I actually drive to Portland to pick up the Downeaster when I go to Boston. All those riders not driving? “on average, passenger rail currently emits approximately half the
carbon dioxide per passenger kilometre of cars (http://www.atoc.org/clientfiles/File/publicationsdocuments/npsB3A7_tmp.pdf)”, I support jobs when I use Amtrak, and save money in tolls, gas, parking. I arrive relaxed and ready to enjoy my visit. Seems there are some social, environmental and financial returns after all.
Not to mention the visitors to Maine this rail brings!
UFO service to Bangor. Get beamed up from Hammond or Ohio street.
Hope they have a plan to extend the service further North…!!!
Inch by inch, mile by mile, we resurrect what once we enjoyed and lost. Good for us!
How sad it is that we dismantled our passenger rail system. This service to Brunswick, arriving with much fanfare, is only a drop in the bucket compared to the web of rail services which used to be available in the Northeast. It is by design that the car is now king — and look where that has gotten us. Wars, shortages, escalating prices, and the stranding of millions of low and middle income citizens. Compared to many countries, our passenger rail system is practically nonexistent. A robust rail system is essential for commerce, employment, social cohesion, and national security, and we ought to be making its restoration a national priority.
Nice, but looking at the schedule it is no better than the Bangor-to-Logan bus service which is the only reason I go to Boston. Still, it looks like a nice way to make a day trip to the city.
Enough with negative comments people about how Amtrak isn’t profitable or isn’t a worthwhile program, this is a great program to have in our state and we should be lucky we even have it. This is going to be a great advantage because you no longer have to travel from Bangor to Portland to catch the train a 2:30 drive by car or bus and people from the mid-coast can connect on the Maine Eastern. In the futur we can look forward to even more improvements
Keep it up Amtrak!
Extend all the way to Fort Kent!!!!!!
Next stop…..Crystal Maine…..
Ayuh
Very good news ! I would love for them to continue the service to bangor !