Amtrak Downeaster Discussion Thread

[west point]

IMHO the BON / BOS situation is a mess. Boston has a fairly extensive rail ,, bus, & ferry system that persons from NE MA, NH, & ME . However many more trains and persons go out of BOS south station than BON. Connecting the 2 somehow but not by rail does need careful thought as not all persons can use the Orange lie to Back Bay to make those trains that do not go thru BB.

Now if a bus could actually be just off of the platform at BON maybe that is one thought.

[markhb]

It's inevitably a long walk from the platforms to street transportation at either BON or BOS; BOS still has the large head house/food court and BON has both the footprint of the TD Garden and the Hub on Causeway (former location of the old Garden) that need to be traversed to get to the street, so "just off the platform" isn't really going to be a thing either way. And now that the Hub is there (quite a large development) I don't know if the former taxi stand on Causeway is still in place, either.

[artman]

From the Portland Press Herald 5/24/21

Proposal to extend passenger rail to Bangor advances in Legislature

https://www.pressherald.com/2021/05/24/ ... gislature/

BANGOR — A proposal to consider the feasibility of a passenger rail service from southern Maine to Bangor is advancing through the Maine Legislature.

Democratic Sen. Joe Baldacci of Bangor has proposed a study of the potential of building the rail, which could run from Brunswick to Augusta, Waterville and Bangor. A legislative committee unanimously passed the proposal late last week.

[MEC407]

...which could run from Brunswick to Augusta, Waterville and Bangor.

The delegation from Lewiston and Auburn will be most displeased.

[jonnhrr]

...which could run from Brunswick to Augusta, Waterville and Bangor.

The delegation from Lewiston and Auburn will be most displeased.

Yes that is a fundamental problem that you can't easily satisfy both service to Lewiston/Auburn and Augusta/Waterville/Bangor with one extension. You could run up the SLR to Danville Jct. then Pan Am to Waterville and Bangor but then you miss Augusta. Plus it would involve diverting one or more Brunswick runs.

[markhb]

Another Downeaster-related bill, LD 1562, "An Act to Strengthen [NNEPRA]", has been killed in the Transportation Committee. This was the one that NNEPRA didn't want, that would have done things like put them in charge of all the state-owned rail lines.

[Arlington]

It seems to me the train should go places that I-95 doesn’t—-basically Rockland, and Focus on frequency.

The rest of the state has the great interstates and low density that just screams “bus me”

[shadyjay]

...which could run from Brunswick to Augusta, Waterville and Bangor.

The delegation from Lewiston and Auburn will be most displeased.

Yes that is a fundamental problem that you can't easily satisfy both service to Lewiston/Auburn and Augusta/Waterville/Bangor with one extension. You could run up the SLR to Danville Jct. then Pan Am to Waterville and Bangor but then you miss Augusta. Plus it would involve diverting one or more Brunswick runs.

This was something the MEC had to struggle with back in the day of passenger service. One passenger schedule I saw had the Flying Yankee set running via L/A and the other two or three trains running via Brunswick and Augusta. Perhaps the way to do it is run via Brunswick to Augusta, then Bangor, and then run a feeder commuter service from the L/A area down to Portland. Both lines would require a good deal of work to get up to pax speeds (more so on the lower road probably) but the Lower Rd seems like the better route for pax trains, and much less freight interference as well (Pan Am only runs local Rigby to Brunswick then from Augusta up to Waterville).

[Rockingham Racer]

I don't think there's enough demand that would warrant sending trains further into Maine. Has anyone done some sort of a sondage to determine such? In a case, taking a page from California's playbook might be in order: set up a Thruway service to feed the train, one from Bangor via Augusta, another from Bangor via the coast.

[jonnhrr]

I don't think there's enough demand that would warrant sending trains further into Maine. Has anyone done some sort of a sondage to determine such? In a case, taking a page from California's playbook might be in order: set up a Thruway service to feed the train, one from Bangor via Augusta, another from Bangor via the coast.

That basically already exists. It's called Concord Coach. They even use the same station in Portland (for now). Amtrak just needs to work out a deal with CC to make it a Thruway service. They also serve Lewiston/Auburn another talked about destination.

[Rockingham Racer]

I realize that. Three trips a day to /from Bangor, at least during these days. But the trip requires two tickets, does it not? Amtrak Thruway services generally do not. So you buy into it, apparently.

I am all for passenger rail service, but not just for the sake of having passenger rail. It seems to me that 3 buses per day to Bangor does the trick. Still waiting to hear if any survey was done about the need for passenger rail in Central and Northern Maine.

[artman]

I realize that. Three trips a day to /from Bangor, at least during these days. But the trip requires two tickets, does it not? Amtrak Thruway services generally do not. So you buy into it, apparently.

I am all for passenger rail service, but not just for the sake of having passenger rail. It seems to me that 3 buses per day to Bangor does the trick. Still waiting to hear if any survey was done about the need for passenger rail in Central and Northern Maine.

Aye, that's the rub. We all love trains here, and would like to see them everywhere, but reality /= fantasy, sadly

[jcpatten]

There's 2 or 3 Concord busses to Bangor via I-95 and one via Rt 1 (2 in summer), and I think Greyhound has one bus to Bangor. There's only one bus continuing north of Bangor to Aroostook County, and perhaps one bus east of Bangor (I'm not really sure about that one). No busses that branch off of I-95 to places like Greenville, Jackman or Rangeley.

[theMainer]

The entire Concord Coach Lines network (minus the Portland - NYC Route) is apart of the Amtrak thruway network from what I gather.

[west point]

Thruway bus service does appear at first look the way to go. I do have a concern about winter snow operations. If a bus is major delayed does the train wait ? Or what happens if road closed ? How much do the upper Maine down-easters need to travel in winter ?