Amtrak Downeaster Bangor Expansion

Progressive Railroading is reporting on studies by Maine DOT on Downeaster expansion from Brusnwick to Augusta, Waterville and Bangor.

I am all for more trains but gezzz, a billion dollar cost for 200 new riders per day along with a 2040 open date seems.... silly....

https://www.progressiverailroading.com/ ... ion--68438

One confusing thing about that article says "build a 100-mile alignment". The rail line is there... no new alignment needed. However, you'd need a complete rebuild especially from Brunswick to Augusta. There are many crossings paved over and an overpass or two probably missing. North of Augusta to Bangor, its servicable freight trackage that would just need upgrading. With CSX replacing the rail north of Bangor with welded rail, that's not to say they won't eventually replace the rail from Waterville to Bangor with welded rail as well. So then your big expense, track wise, would be Brunswick to Augusta.

One confusing thing about that article says "build a 100-mile alignment".

The article says that, but the study doesn't. The study itself notes that 100 miles of rail work would need to be done on a combination of the former PAS Freight Main (lower cost per mile) and the Lower Road (higher cost per mile).

More: https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/01 ... oam40zk0w/

Area residents and stakeholders discussed these benefits after draft results of a Maine Department of Transportation transit study were presented on Jan. 19. The study estimated how many riders the proposed train line between Portland and Bangor — with stops in Lewiston, Augusta and Waterville — could see compared to how much the expansion’s cost.

Would you like to see passenger train service extended to Bangor?
The expansion would close the loop on the state’s long-term plan to bring passenger rail into central Maine when the service first entered southern Maine in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Sen. Joe Baldacci, D-Bangor, said.

“We’re long overdue to have passenger rail to come to Augusta, Waterville and Bangor, so that close to 90 percent of the state can have access to it instead of just southern Maine,” Baldacci said.

The extension would build from the Amtrak Downeaster passenger rail service connecting Boston and Brunswick. The route now offers stops in Freeport, Portland, Old Orchard Beach, Saco and Wells.
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I'll point out that the lower-code Lewiston option apparently presumes that any necessary work between Portland and Lewiston Upper (or wherever they put a Lewiston station) would already have been done under a different project.

Personally, I'd prefer the Lower Road option; it serves Augusta at both downtown and potentially the State House (or the foot of Capitol Park), rather than having "Winthrop (Augusta)".

If you go via the Back Road, you serve Lewiston but lose Brunswick.

If you go via the Lower Road, you serve Augusta and Gardiner (where the former Maine Central station is now a medical marijuana dispensary), but not Lewiston.

How much freight traffic is there on the Back Road these days? I'm sure CSX would rather Amtrak use the Lower Road.