Group plots Montreal-Boston overnight train, with stop at Old Orchard Beach

It would appear that the condition of cross ties could make or break this proposal. At anywhere of $50 - 100 havng to replace too many might be a financial deal breaker. Additional ballast and tamping costs would be much less. If additional ballast can increease MAX speeds just 10 MPH in many locations then enroute tiimes can be reduced by an hour or more Signaling the route especially in the US can be quite expensive if PTC is necessary.

Arborwayfan wrote: ↑Tue Sep 20, 2022 3:58 pm Do you think SLR would be resistant or would welcome some additional revenue?

The biggest worry is G&W, the parent company, who don't seem to be all that receptive to passenger ops on their freight routes, excluding Amtrak.

Then you have the SLR infrastructure, which is dark territory, curvy track, and hard to place road 30-35mph freights around 59mph passenger trains, when all three would be in the same territory in the same timeframe with an overall lack of long enough sidings between the Canadian border and Lewiston.

And that's ignoring the locals that work between S. Paris/Danville, occupying the lower end of the line into evening hours.

Will this be the first overnight train in many years, if not decades, to cross the US-Canadian border?

Also, where are the sleeping cars supposed to come from? Lease Budd/Renaissance sleepers from VIA and convince the FRA to grant a waiver? I'm sure Siemens could make versions of Nightjet's sleepers suitable for the North American market, but that would take years and be cost prohibitive unless part of a larger order from VIA or Amtrak.

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https://www.nhbr.com/interest-renews-in ... hrough-nh/

Interest is reignited in passenger rail proposal through New Hampshire

A Montreal-based nonprofit has revived its plan to provide overnight passenger train service between Montreal and Boston with stops in Berlin, Gorham and Durham.

The proposed route would run from Montreal with stops in seven Canadian communities, including Sherbrooke and Coaticook. After crossing the border, it would travel on the track owned by Genesee & Wyoming Railroad from the Canadian border to Auburn, Maine. It would continue to Portland and Old Orchard Beach before crossing back into New Hampshire and then into Boston.

Night Train Foundation officials met with local and regional officials earlier this month about adding a stop in North Stratford, using the former Grand Truck Railroad station there.
...
Rebello said he anticipates the night passenger train would have a dining car and five or six sleeper cars that the nonprofit would purchase and refurbish. The 14-hour train ride would depart Montreal about 6 p.m., arriving in Boston about 9 a.m. the next day. In American currency, the estimated fee would be about $160, excluding food and drink. Rebello hopes to see train service begin by 2026.
...

I love the quote about getting passengers to and from the Balsams, which is 23 miles away from the station, and still under renovation. And in the middle of the night? Good luck with that....

The Montrealer ran until 1995. (I just looked it up. I remembered that it was running in the 80s because I remembered hearing about the wreck of the Montrealer on the news or newspaper in 1984.)

Great idea if you want to spend a weekend on a train, if you want to spend a weekend in Montreal or Boston, not so much.
Just another way to send money to firms that do feasibility and impact studies..

arthur d. wrote: ↑Sun Jun 04, 2023 4:34 am Great idea if you want to spend a weekend on a train, if you want to spend a weekend in Montreal or Boston, not so much.
Just another way to send money to firms that do feasibility and impact studies..

Do you not understand the overnight train concept? You leave one city in the evening, arrive in the other in the morning. Your travel time is during the same time you'd be in a hotel if you were already at your destination. It's really a pretty cool way to travel, specifically because it increases the time you spend at your destination.