Proponents moving full steam ahead with passenger rail expansion efforts in Maine

Yahoo

24-02-2025

Rail ridership on the Amtrak Downeaster line that extends from Boston to Brunswick saw a 9% increase between 2023 and 2024, according to Amtrak data. (Stock photo by Getty Images)
Though not enough lawmakers were on board with a proposal last session to study a potential passenger rail line from Portland to Bangor, proponents are back at it arguing that now is the time to explore the possibility of expanding passenger rail in Maine.
'This is the year,' said Doug Rooks, a consultant with the Maine Rail Group, a nonprofit seeking to expand railroad service in the state. 'If it's ever going to happen, this is probably the year it will start.'
An emergency proposal from Rep. Tavis Hasenfus (D-Readfield), LD 487, is seen as the first step in the expansion. It seeks to direct the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority to apply for federal funding to identify a potential passenger rail corridor from Portland through Auburn, Lewiston, Waterville, Bangor and ending in Orono. The study could also consider other appropriate station locations.
The bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Joe Baldacci (D-Penobscot), who sponsored the similar proposal that failed last session. Though it wasn't recommended by a majority of the Legislature's Transportation Committee and failed in the House, that bill did pass in the Senate.
Like Baldacci's bill, Hasenfus' is a bipartisan proposal with Republican co-sponsors.
Though the public hearing for Hasenfus' bill isn't scheduled until March 6, the Maine Department of Transportation testified in opposition to the study last session. At the time, the full text of Baldacci's bill wasn't available, but the department still said it was concerned with the intent of the proposal.
In its testimony, the department said a propensity study that wrapped up in 2023 showed that expanding passenger rail would require high capital investment and ongoing subsidizing to compensate for low ridership. Given that, the department argued it would be 'imprudent' to continue studying passenger rail to Bangor.
In response to the latest proposal, Communications Director Paul Merrill said the MaineDOT prioritizes 'pragmatic improvements that balance the department's limited financial resources with anticipated benefits to the greatest number of people.' He added that capital costs for a passenger rail project would likely be even higher today than the study predicted due to inflation.
The new proposal specifically asks for the state to apply to the Federal Railroad Administration's corridor identification and development program, which is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The sweeping Biden-era law that brought $2.5 billion for more than 300 projects in Maine is set to expire in 2026, which is why Hasenfus' bill is so urgent, Rooks explained. Meeting the deadline for this application cycle is vital because the $1.2 trillion law isn't guaranteed to be renewed, especially since President Donald Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office pausing the disbursement of funds under the law.
To provide sufficient time to complete the application, the bill includes an emergency clause that would allow it to take effect before the typical 90 days after adjournment. However, that clause also means the bill will need the support of two-thirds of the Legislature. The previous bill passed the Senate 22-12, which falls short of what this year's proposal will need.
Other related bills slated to go before the Transportation Committee this session include proposals to replace portions of existing railroad tracks near Portland and Brunswick with pedestrian trails.
But given the time constraints, Rooks said the Maine Rail Group is 'laser focused' on LD 487.
Fear of low ridership has been a roadblock for passenger rail expansion efforts in the past, including Baldacci's bill last year.
The department's propensity study concluded it would be more advantageous to improve public transportation with buses. As such, the department worked with Concord Coach Lines to add more round trips between Bangor and Portland, increasing it to six daily, Merrill said.
Additionally, last July the department started a two-year pilot project for a commuter bus service between Portland and Lewiston/Auburn to better understand the demand for more enhanced public transportation between those cities, Merrill explained.
In October, ridership for that new bus line neared 2,200, but has slightly decreased every month since, according to data Merrill shared with Maine Morning Star.
'The highway corridors between Portland and Lewiston/Auburn and between Portland and Bangor are uncongested, predictable, have traffic speeds of up to 70 mph, and provide for efficient travel times for personal vehicles and bus services,' Merrill wrote in an email.
However, Maine Rail Group President Peter Cole looks at the popularity of the Amtrak Downeaster line that extends from Boston through southern Maine to Brunswick as an indicator of rail ridership ridership interest. That line saw a 9% increase in ridership between 2023 and 2024, according to Amtrak data.
While that line is concentrated in the most densely populated portion of the state, there is interest farther north, too.
After Matt Gilley rode the Downeaster from Maine to Boston for the first time last summer, he wondered why he would ever make that drive again.
Thanks to that experience and some inspiration from a train hobbyist friend, Gilley started to think of passenger rail as a solution worth exploring for what he described as a 'front burner issue' at Thomas College in Waterville, where he works.
Thomas College sits a couple of miles southwest of downtown with virtually no public transit options. Without a car, it's challenging for students to move around the city, let alone the rest of the state, Gilley said.
Bringing trains to Waterville could be transformational not only for helping students connect with other parts of Maine and New England, but also as a way to improve recruitment and campus life, he added.
'It checks a lot of boxes here that right now we're struggling to find solutions to,' he added.
As program director for the Centers of Innovation at Thomas, Gilley is responsible for curating projects for the President's Innovation Challenge, which allows students to work alongside professionals on real life problems. For this school year, he connected with the Maine Rail Group to develop a project for students to learn more about efforts to expand passenger rail in the state.
Students participating in the project have learned about the history of passenger rail in Maine, what it took to bring it to places like Saco and other parts of the state, and exploring what role it could play in the state's transportation future, Gilley explained.
Through their work, the students saw enthusiasm for increased train travel options throughout the state and saw an opportunity to try to move the needle on the issue by bringing interested parties together.
That's what sparked the idea for a rail summit where experts, officials and others working on the passenger rail effort can join together on the school's campus to discuss how train travel affects economic development, the environment and tourism.
Gilley said students from Thomas and neighboring Colby College will also speak at the April event about how expanded passenger rail would affect them.
In the meantime, Gilley said students plan on attending the public hearing for LD 487 on March 6 and participating in a day of action promoting rail at the State House later in March.
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