Amtrak Downeaster Discussion Thread

And just as with the Bangor bill, it's looking for municipal contributions:

It provides that no funds may be collected by or transferred to the department for the study unless the department receives commitments for no less than 10% of the overall costs of the study by an agreed-upon date from municipalities that would benefit from the extension of passenger rail from Portland to the Lewiston and Auburn area.

(From the bill summary)

Both the Bangor and Lewiston Resolves have received final passage in the Legislature; I am not sure if they require the Governor's signature or not.

The study initiatives are very serious and will likely result in a service extension proposal for Amtrak ...

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From the Press Herald: the city and state are preparing a land swap.

• The city will be giving MaineDOT the International Marine Terminal (former Scotia Prince terminal and environs, currently the Eimskip container port) and the Cliff Island ferry terminal;
• The state will give the city the Union Branch from the trestle over Park Ave. to Forest Ave., the 10-acre property near the jail that would have housed the northern wye, and the Park & Ride lot on Marginal Way near the Miss Portland Diner.

The plan is for the Union Branch to become a trail (not sure if the Sea Dogs can get air rights for Monster Seats); the specific use of the wye property is undetermined, but the deal hinges on the latter being buildable land.

What it means for the Downeaster:

• The northern wye is permanently off the table (which had essentially been the case for a while);
• The early thought of running the Downeaster over the Union Branch and alongside I-295 to a station near downtown, and thence across Back Cove to the Grand Trunk line to Yarmouth Junction is also permanently off the table (as it had been for a while).

Service Advisory: The Downeaster is providing service directly to the Falmouth Country Club for PGA Weekend to Live Work in Maine Open tournament ticket holders Thursday, June 24 through Sunday, June 27.

I just looked at their site... when did Haverhill become weekdays only? is that just for the June track work?

markhb wrote: ↑Thu Jun 24, 2021 1:23 pm I just looked at their site... when did Haverhill become weekdays only? is that just for the June track work?

Yes

What work is being done? NERAIL photos show ties in the Haverhill/Andover area. A ballast train and what looks to be fresh ballast spread on the ties. This just normal maintenance by Keolis?

I think it's a mistake on whoever made the public timetable grid - Woburn is getting skipped on the weekends, not Haverhill. Somebody made a mistake when moving rows around.

I recall a proposal from a few years ago to bring the 2nd track at North Berwick up to passenger standards and extend it east to the west end of the Wells siding. That was aimed at running meets. Sidings in E. Kingston and Arundel would reduce the minimum time between trains at Exeter and Saco, respectively.

Downeaster Ridership Rebounding. From the Portland Press Herald.

https://www.pressherald.com/2021/07/01/ ... ions-ease/

From page 387 of the most recently CSX application.

"Additionally, CSXT is prepared to commit to NNEPRA to support NNEPRA’s planned
relocation of the Portland Station Downeaster stop, and to support NNEPRA’s efforts to evaluate
a potential station stop at West Falmouth.
Following the transaction, CSXT plans to install Positive Train Control (“PTC”) on the
PAR System line segment north of the Massachusetts/New Hampshire State line to Brunswick,
ME, which hosts the Amtrak Downeaster service. CSXT will commit to NNEPRA to work with
Amtrak and NNEPRA on coordinating installation of PTC, and – once PTC is fully operational –
cooperating with any effort to increase maximum allowable speeds for Downeaster trains and
increasing Downeaster service frequencies."

Whatever happened to the plan to extend the siding at Wells and add a second platform? The NNEPRA web site states this project would be under way in spring of 2021. Well it is now summer and I don't hear of anything happening.

Jon

Signal guy told me pushed to next year.

Interesting to see West Falmouth confirmed as a possible new station. Also interesting to see discussion of potential speed increases. That's a pretty big deal if related to PTC it seems to imply Class 5 operations.

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gokeefe wrote: ↑Sat Jul 24, 2021 11:47 pm Interesting to see West Falmouth confirmed as a possible new station. Also interesting to see discussion of potential speed increases. That's a pretty big deal if related to PTC it seems to imply Class 5 operations.

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Wow. I'm assuming this was last 90mph passenger territory sometime in the 1950's.