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  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

Moderators: MEC407, NHN503

 #1341440  by FLRailFan1
 
kilroy wrote:Thought I would post a little something from the NJ Transit forum. I've mentioned here previously that New Jersey, with a kazillion people per square mile, still doesn't have 100% farebox recovery. Here is the latest NJT recovery rates by line.

Atlantic City 19.6%
Coast Line 54.7%
Main Line Bergen County 43.0%
Montclair-Boonton 42.0%
Morris & Essex 48.6%
Northeast Corridor 88.4%
Pascack Valley 47.8%
Raritan Valley 39.9%
Hudson Bergen Light Rail 33.2%
Newark Light Rail 29.5%
River LINE 10.0%

The best is the NEC from Trenton to NYC at just under 90%. Come ride a few of those trains and see how packed they are (I know, I ride them daily) and tell me if Maine commuter rail will have that many passengers.

I'd love for there to be more passenger service in Maine but to be honest, there aren't enough people up there. Maybe if they let the moose buy tickets you might have a better recover rate.
Bullwinkle will be buying a ticket.... :)
 #1351889  by NH2060
 
Not "commuter rail" but it does involve Lewiston-Auburn:
One of its objectives is to look at extending Amtrak Downeaster service between Portland and Lewiston-Auburn. The potential for rail service through the Lewiston-Auburn area and connecting to Montreal is another component which is more likely for the future.

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston ... dy/1795100" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1351918  by F-line to Dudley via Park
 
NH2060 wrote:Not "commuter rail" but it does involve Lewiston-Auburn:
One of its objectives is to look at extending Amtrak Downeaster service between Portland and Lewiston-Auburn. The potential for rail service through the Lewiston-Auburn area and connecting to Montreal is another component which is more likely for the future.

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston ... dy/1795100" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Oh, for crying out loud NNEPRA...focus! Schedules to Portland have been back to normal for...one month? And we're already back to rainbows and unicorns about forking Amtrak service on a new branch? Do these people even get it that they have a whole freaking lot of work to do shoring up what they've got before they've got a robust enough backbone to start doodling all over the north-of-Portland map???
 #1351929  by markhb
 
F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:
NH2060 wrote:Not "commuter rail" but it does involve Lewiston-Auburn:
One of its objectives is to look at extending Amtrak Downeaster service between Portland and Lewiston-Auburn. The potential for rail service through the Lewiston-Auburn area and connecting to Montreal is another component which is more likely for the future.

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston ... dy/1795100" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Oh, for crying out loud NNEPRA...focus! Schedules to Portland have been back to normal for...one month? And we're already back to rainbows and unicorns about forking Amtrak service on a new branch? Do these people even get it that they have a whole freaking lot of work to do shoring up what they've got before they've got a robust enough backbone to start doodling all over the north-of-Portland map???
NNEPRA isn't driving this; per the Lewiston City Council agenda packet (PDF warning, Page 92), the study was the result of legislative action, inserted directly into the state budget. Don't blame NNEPRA in a state where the Legislature is very accustomed to giving direct orders to executive agencies.
 #1355334  by jonnhrr
 
In the meantime, Concord Coach and the Maine Turnpike Authority have announced plans to add bus service between Lewiston/Auburn, Wells and Boston. In the past CC has been reluctant to add service if the state is going to turn around and subsidize train service to compete with them, but they have been assured that they don't expect train service to L/A anytime soon. The bus company would be building new stations near exit 75 of the turnpike and at Great Falls plaza, plus using the current Wells Downeaster station which is owned by the Turnpike Authority. The plan is 5 trips a day starting in 2017.

This is a link to a Press Herald article about this service:
http://www.pressherald.com/2015/10/20/g ... -portland/
Both bus stations – one at Great Falls Plaza, the other at Exit 75 of the Maine Turnpike – are scheduled for construction next year, with bus service anticipated to start in early 2017, according to the governor’s office. The bus stations will serve CityLink, the fixed-route service between Lewiston and Auburn, but also will allow for the creation of a new Lewiston-to-Portland route through Concord Coach Lines. That route will begin at Bates College in Lewiston and will stop at both new stations before continuing on to Portland.
This particular article did not talk about service to Wells, but an earlier article did.

It makes me wonder, if CC is going ahead with this and spending their own money, they have to be fairly confident that the state isn't going to come in and undercut them by adding train service. So that implies we won't see the much talked about Amtrak expansion to L/A anytime soon. But maybe this is just as well, let the bus service get going and build ridership, then maybe at a later time there might be more of a market for train service, and the 2 can co-exist, as they do in the Portland - Boston market.

Jon
 #1355341  by MEC407
 
jonnhrr wrote:The bus company would be building new stations near exit 75 of the turnpike and at Great Falls plaza...
The state, not Concord Coach, is building the stations.
 #1355660  by BM6569
 
Two things:

Did the bond proposal that was being tossed around in early June die out? $20 million to upgrade tracks for passenger service from Yarmouth on SLR to Auburn on PAR. If it had passed the votes, would have been on the ballot for a vote tomorrow.

Also, wonder what rail projects will be apart of the money being voted on tomorrow night if that measure passes.
 #1355913  by jonnhrr
 
There was a bond proposal as question #3 on the ballot yesterday which mentioned rail among a host of other projects.

Concerning the bus stations in Auburn, I thought I read the state was donating the land but CC was building the actual stations.

Jon
 #1355915  by gokeefe
 
jonnhrr wrote:There was a bond proposal as question #3 on the ballot yesterday which mentioned rail among a host of other projects.

Concerning the bus stations in Auburn, I thought I read the state was donating the land but CC was building the actual stations.

Jon
The passenger rail portions are funds that can be used at the discretion of the Secretary of Transportation. The two likely projects are the north leg of the Mountain Junction wye and four miles of double main line track in Cumberland/Yarmouth for Royal Junction/Brunswick Branch.
 #1521673  by b&m 1566
 
Reviving a dormant thread because I just stumbled across something that took me by surprise.
Apparently, people are still pushing forward to get commuter rail in the greater Portland, ME area.
See here for more info.
 #1521714  by Rockingham Racer
 
Interesting that they feature Portland, OR, as successful, using light rail. I've been told on another forum here that light rail--probably the best option--is not allowable in Portland, ME on this line because freight trains run on it.
 #1521732  by New Haven 1
 
Thought some folks might appreciate seeing how the same government struggles to justify any type of rail infrastructure improvements as Stephen Colbert would say, MEANWHILE:

https://laane.org/wp-content/uploads/20 ... dStudy.pdf
 #1521956  by newpylong
 
Rockingham Racer wrote: Sat Oct 05, 2019 6:10 am Interesting that they feature Portland, OR, as successful, using light rail. I've been told on another forum here that light rail--probably the best option--is not allowable in Portland, ME on this line because freight trains run on it.
Yes, of course freight and light cannot operate on the same lines.
 #1521973  by riffian
 
"I've been told on another forum here that light rail--probably the best option--is not allowable in Portland, ME on this line because freight trains run on it."
"Yes, of course freight and light cannot operate on the same lines.'

Except, they do when separated by times of service, ala San Diego. Freights run at night after light rail operations end.
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