Amtrak Downeaster Discussion Thread

Rockland and a high-speed ferry to Bass, SW, NE, or Bar Harbor might be a great combination in the summer -- bring car-free people to Mt. Desert Island, which now has really great bus service (especially great for an outdoors destination that's a collection of small towns). Make Boston-Mt. Desert easy and you would probably either attract a bunch of no-car people from Boston, Cambridge, Brookline, etc. who never went before and who the island can easily handle if they don't bring cars OR you convince some people who have always driven to go car-free instead.

charlesriverbranch wrote:

Rockingham Racer wrote:On to Augusta.

Hallowell has paved over the track and is using it as a parking lot.

Incorrect. It's Augusta, not Hallowell, and what they have done is cover the track with gravel, with an agreement with MDOT that requires them to clear it off with 30 days notice.

For the 6th train on PAR. At most that train would suffer 3 or less meets with other Down Easters each way at most depending on new train's schedule. Depending on the new meets 3 or less new sidings would be needed ? Any freights would be extra ? So what if anything is PAR asking ?

Ryanontherails wrote:

Rockingham Racer wrote:On to Augusta.

Augusta? Rockland is where everyone wants to go next. Hopefully Amtrak will be able to do their risk assessment this winter and we'll see a pilot next summer.

Yes, that too, of course. Can't ever have too many trains.

Risk assessment was not the problem. State funding was. The tracks in Hallowell were graveled over recently for the downtown construction project. I'm sure the conditions of use are the same as Augusta. If not now that the project is complete the gravel may very well be removed soon anyways.

Anyone know why train 683 on Friday (11/9) is sold out? (whereas 685 at 5 pm is not, which is more typical).

It is unusual for an outbound mid-day train to sell out in the off-season. In fact I'm on that train a lot and it's usually very empty.

Wondering if there is a glitch in the reservation system.

(btw, the same train the day before, Thursday 11/8, is cancelled due to track work. I suppose there might be a correlation, but you could normally but a week's worth of passengers on a single 683 and not fill it up)

Seems Rockland would be a good possibility for a summer-only weekend and holidays only service. It could serve intermediate stops at Bath, Wiscasset, and the Damariscotta area. A shuttle from Wiscasset could server Boothbay Harbor which is a popular destination that on a summer weekend is jammed with cars and hard to find parking.

Not sure what state the track is in. It was in pretty good shape when the Maine Eastern was running its passenger service.

Jon

CMQ runs Dragon Cement hoppers up that line. Would that not make it usable for DE?

Very usable. The plan was to run the DE last summer to Rockland but the plan fell through.

gokeefe wrote:Risk assessment was not the problem. State funding was. The tracks in Hallowell were graveled over recently for the downtown construction project. I'm sure the conditions of use are the same as Augusta. If not now that the project is complete the gravel may very well be removed soon anyways.

Thanks! I didn't realize that Hallowell had laid some gravel recently.

jonnhrr wrote:Seems Rockland would be a good possibility for a summer-only weekend and holidays only service. It could serve intermediate stops at Bath, Wiscasset, and the Damariscotta area. A shuttle from Wiscasset could server Boothbay Harbor which is a popular destination that on a summer weekend is jammed with cars and hard to find parking.

I'd say run the Boothbay shuttle from Newcastle; it leverages the big advantage the railroad has: its own, dedicated bridge over the Sheepscot River.

NNEPRA is showing service cancellations on Wednesday and Thursday, November 7th
and 8th. PAR will be doing track work at Newton NH.
http://amtrakdowneaster.com/service-alerts" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Reference Train #683 on Friday, November 8th, this is the start of the long Veteran's
Holiday Weekend. Most likely, lots of folks getting an early getaway. I believe this
was also the case ahead of the Columbus Day weekend back on October 12th.

Very interesting travel pattern. Thanks for noticing.

Lewiston-Auburn to Portland study: masstransitmag.com

ME: Auburn council to review L-A passenger rail study
ANDREW RICE ON NOV 5, 2018
SOURCE: MCCLATCHY
...
The first phase of a study looking at bringing passenger rail to Lewiston-Auburn says the region has a "latent demand" for a transit connection to Portland.
...
The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority manages the Amtrak Downeaster passenger rail service from Boston to Maine. Just last week, the company announced that expanded train service to Brunswick and Freeport will begin Nov. 12.

While previous studies in Lewiston-Auburn have looked at possible northern connections to Montreal, this study is focused on whether connecting to the Amtrak service is possible.
...
The study estimates between 600 and 800 daily trips in 2025, numbers that are estimated to rise to between 700 and 1,900 by 2040.
...

what happened to the rockland extension?

Canceled for lack of willingness by the State to support their portion of the required subsidy. Unlikely to be a problem for next summer ... "Hope springs eternal"