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Tony Donovan is a Portland realtor, director of the Maine Rail Transit Coalition, and a former chair of Sierra Club Maine.
In confronting the climate crisis, Maine must dramatically reduce the greenhouse gases driving global warming – the majority of which come from fossil fuel-burning vehicles.
While the Legislature has approved ambitious efforts to create charging stations and encourage all-electric vehicles, these efforts will inevitably fall far short of what is needed.
To meet the challenge, the state should explore other ways of moving people around, including those that dispense with roads entirely. LD 860, sponsored by Sen. Joe Baldacci, D-Bangor, can provide an important first step toward expanding Maine’s vital and largely intact railroad network. It will soon receive Senate and House votes.
It’s a simple proposal. It requires the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) and Maine DOT to apply for a federal grant to study the CSX-owned mainline north of Portland, connecting the major cities of central Maine, including Auburn, Lewiston, Waterville and Bangor.
The state received a similar grant in 2023 to assess the Rockland Branch corridor extending east from Brunswick. This bill would repeat that process for a corridor that includes the state’s second and third largest metro areas.
The cities along the way have more than 10 times the population of the Rockland corridor, and crucially, would link all the major downtowns, something buses no longer do.
Elsewhere in the country and throughout Europe, passenger rail is expanding by leaps and bounds. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Act puts $66 billion toward new passenger service – by far the largest federal investment in two generations.
Maine can only tap into that funding if it applies for the federal grant, and that’s all the bill requires.
The benefits of growing passenger rail service can be easily imagined by the experience of Amtrak’s existing service. Brunswick saw a quick payback after building a new station, which in turn has brought new housing and businesses downtown.
Lewiston has a beautifully restored train station awaiting service, while Waterville’s rapidly growing Main Street attracts the young people who are among passenger rail’s most enthusiastic supporters.
In Bangor, the impressive growth achieved by Bangor International Airport over two generations since Dow Air Force Base shut down shows just how important new transportation modes can be to a city’s economic future, while benefiting an entire region.
Extending Amtrak service to Bangor would substantially increase ridership on the existing Portland to Boston line, with Mainers again able to travel north as well as south.
The Legislature adopted the Passenger Rail Service Act in 1995 after a historic statewide signature-gathering effort. It pledges to extend service throughout the state.
It’s time to take that promise seriously, and look to serve far more than the two counties that now host Amtrak trains. LD 860 is a modest but vital first step that deserves the Legislature’s strong support.