State of Maine News

[Ocala Mike]

Portland to Auburn (& beyond?) talk very much alive. Hope it's not just talk.

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston-auburn/2013/03/12/train-backers-discuss-portland-auburn-passenger-ra/1332811

 

[Eric S]

I think this proposed/studied service (Portland to Auburn/Lewiston) is more of a commuter rail type, rather than Amtrak/intercity (extended Downeaster). I think the initial studies assumed it would be an extension of the Downeaster but that recently the thought has been that commuter rail would be more appropriate. (Not that I have an opinion either way. I have basically no familiarity with this area.)

 

[TimePeace]

Interesting. I don't know how the tracks work out, but it would seem a shame not to have the train originate at the Portland Transportation Center, which is already served by Amtrak's Downeaster as well as Concord Coach Lines.

That said, what would appeal to me a lot would be a train from Portland to Quebec, but it would be something I'd only do once a year. It's difficult to gauge how much ridership that would attract.

Edit:

Eric S. said: "I think the initial studies assumed it would be an extension of theDowneaster but that recently the thought has been that commuter rail would be more appropriate."

It could easily be both if it started at POR -

 

[Eric S]

I could be mistaken, but I believe the recent thinking for the Portland - Auburn service is to have it serve a station closer to downtown Portland (I'd need to consult a rail atlas to be sure what lines are being talked about), rather than the Portland Transportation Center (POR).

I know that there is a study (can't recall where it is to be found, whether Maine DOT or Downeaster/NNERPA) that looked at Portland - Montreal service.

 

[TimePeace]

I could be mistaken, but I believe the recent thinking for the Portland - Auburn service is to have it serve a station closer to downtown Portland (I'd need to consult a rail atlas to be sure what lines are being talked about), rather than the Portland Transportation Center (POR).

That makes sense - the POR station is outside of downtown for sure. I am not really in the know about proposals - my prejudice is toward long distance travel, and so I'd welcome more runs from anywhere in Maine to pretty much anywhere else. But it still makes sense to me - since there already is a very nice new-ish station, easy to get to, with good parking facility - that it be used for further rail expansion to/from Portland.

Mainly, I see an advantage for passengers wanting to go from Boston to the Lewiston/Auburn area being attracted to a transfer at one Portland station rather than two. It's already enough hassle to transfer from BOS-BON to get to Maine from any other Amtrak train, LD or regional.

 

[Anderson]

Ok, I went and checked the report. The plan seems to be for the station to be roughly at India and Commercial, about three miles from POR. The problem with connecting the two lines is that you have about a mile of waterfront in downtown without tracks. Also, this project has a lot more in common with the River Line in NJ than it does with Amtrak.

 

[TimePeace]

Ok, I went and checked the report. The plan seems to be for the station to be roughly at India and Commercial, about three miles from POR. The problem with connecting the two lines is that you have about a mile of waterfront in downtown without tracks. Also, this project has a lot more in common with the River Line in NJ than it does with Amtrak.

OK.

Ironic, that the waterfront is where one would expect there would be tracks (in an earlier era) in any port.

There was a narrow gauge rail running along the harbor at Commercial street, I walked a long ways along it a few years ago. I'm not even sure it is still there.

 

[Anderson]

Looking a bit more, there's no real reason (in terms of track use) that they couldn't run this in the other side of town to the Portland Transportation Center. The problem seems to be that the main access to downtown would be through a freight yard that may still be in active use of some sort, and you'd be further out.

Of course, this has an incidental effect: I'm not sure what restrictions the DMUs will be operating under, but there's a crossover between the commuter tracks and the line Amtrak is using to get to Brunswick, so in theory there's nothing preventing either operation of the DMUs into the Portland Transportation Center or Amtrak into Auburn. Unfortunately, the tracks out of Auburn completely miss Augusta, meeting up with the line to Bangor at Waterville.