Passenger trains to Manchester New Hampshire????

Yeah new hampshire people are a little *different*

Guilford doesn't mind running trains, as long as it doesn't cost them anything.

They've actually submitted bids to operate a number of passenger projects, ranging in size from the Rockland Branch in Maine to the Downeaster to the MBTA commuter rail.

Meyblc wrote: Maybe Guilford is hoping that the Federal Goverment and MBTA will rebuild the entire line to Concord just as they rebuilt the line to Maine for Amtrak if passenger service is restored.

Truer words were never spoken, and in my opinion not "maybe", but "surely".[/quote]

Well, why not? It only cost $40 million to rebuild the Downeaster line from Haverhill to Portland; shouldn't be that much more to get from Lowell to Concord.
It's a win-win proposition for both sides.

The difference is that New Hampshire will have to put up some money if they want to get any kind of contribution from the feds, and thus far they've made it clear that they see no point in investing in rail.

Isn't State Transportation Commissioner Murray of New Hampshire's family involved in the ownership of a bus company? I've heard that from several sources. That could be an anti-rail influence.

New Hampshire is a very rail unfriendly state. I don't believe that they added a single dime towards the rail upgrade for the Down Easter, even though it runs right thru the southeastern part of the state.

It's all really kind of a joke.

The NH DOT has funded several studies in the past few years. I have one here right now. It called the I-93 Salem to Manchester Corridor Improvements completed in November 2000. The report is almost 160 pages long and is extremely detailed, but it isn't worth the paper that it is printed on. NH also has a 10 years strategic Rail Plan that was updated a few years ago talking about, amongst other things, the need to replace rail and roadbeds to accommodate 286,000 lb rail cars. There was also a recent study completed for a high-speed rail corridor from Boston to Montreal, running up thru the middle of NH and turning left in Concord, up to Lebanon following the old B&M Northern Main line.

It's all a joke though because NH does not have a single penny to spend on any kind of rail improvements within its state lines. Any and all DOT money goes 100% to road and highway improvements, not rail. Money made from the Gas tax in NH goes towards roads, not rails. With no state income tax, there is no money left over in the state budget for anything.

It would seem that NH does a nice job of talking the talk. They seem to explore the possibility of bringing back commuter rail service, but that is where it ends. Talk is cheap.

I serve our nation in the military. We have a saying that goes something like "S^%T, or get off the toilet! Hopefully some day, New Hampshire’s elected officials will find a way to actually fund some of these great projects and "get of the toilet".

If you get the impression that I'm passionate about passenger rail service in NH, then you are correct. I'm just tired of seeing study after study completed (using federal money) with no ability or intension to actually act upon the results of the study. It's like taking a kid into a candy store and telling him No. Stop teasing us!

You'd have to pass an ammendment to the State Constitution, if memory serves, to get gas tax money to be allowed to be used for rail projects.

Believe it or not, despite no sales or income tax, we actually have a surplus - though increased Medicare expenses are projected to eat that up next year.

For news on the Boston to Montreal high speed corridor - not that there's been much lately - there is www.bostonmontrealhsr.org

Currently, they are doing the Phase II part of the study.

Anything new to report on this issue?

To keep updated on the subject, keep an eye on the New Hampshire Railroad Revitalization Association's website. It's kept up to date.

http://www.nhrra.org

Matt

Thanks. Looks like a good site.