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RFP for Rockland Branch Operator Coming Soon
PORTLAND, Maine — Following two network outreach sessions that began last April, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority decided to choose a site for a relocated Portland station, eliminating the long-running emergency for Downeaster service that dates back to its launch. December 2001.
The company will make further public comments on the proposal until Tuesday, August 27.
The new location, shown above, is one of three locations being considered. It is south of the interlocking that trains lately diverge from the former Boston and Maine [now CSX] tracks to serve the Portland Transportation Center at Thompson’s Point, on the former Maine Central Mountain Division branch.
Nationwide, the Stub terminal operated long before Downeaster service expanded to Brunswick, Maine, in November 2012. Since then, trains have been making relief moves that extend schedules at the destination and from Brunswick by 15 minutes ; The Administration estimates that the additional 20 daily circular trips to the main line generate about $1 million per year to cover financial costs.
The preference for moving is also due to the lack of parking spaces at Thompson’s Point, which gets crowded because it’s only $5. 50 per day. “It used to be free,” John Shorb, a resident of nearby Scarborough, Maine, told News Wire. Another explanation for why the spaces are disappearing, he says, is that Concord Coach Lines’ explicit hourly bus service to Boston South Station or Logan Airport offers a more frequent, if less comfortable, alternative. on departures from Downeaster. La convenience of having bus and exercise opportunities in one place can be lost if Downeaster residents move.
Shorb says the proposed new location for the facility is easily available to public transportation and drivers on Interstate 295. Compared to the existing station, he says the new site “offers less difficult access to Commercial Street, which leads to the commercial and entertainment district of Puerto Viejo. “
Regarding the availability of sufficient parking spaces, the Portland Press Herald reports that Northern Light Mercy Hospital states that it will “work collaboratively to explore options” for the desired site “that can be mutually as long as the integrity of our campus and the protection of our workers and patients are preserved. “
Following public and appropriate stakeholder feedback, initial engineering plans and realistic charge estimates will need to be developed before asset acquisition and federal grant applications can occur. According to the article, prices for the structure will likely be between $25 million and $30 million. The task will take at least five years.
Meanwhile, a plan to free up passenger service beyond Brunswick to Rockland on a former Maine Central branch awaits the emergence of a new public road operator. Following the departure of Short Line’s No. 1 freight customer, Midcoast Railservice, a subsidiary of Finger Lakes Railway, ceased all operations in late July at the Rockland branch [see “Midcoast Railservice to exit. . . ” Trains News Wire, June 12, 2024].
“The Maine Department of Transportation has taken care of the maintenance,” Midcoast President Mike Smith told News Wire. “They’re doing the job of keeping public lines down,” he adds. “But we have [temporarily] deactivated all precautionary devices on the highways because there is no longer rail traffic. “
Nate Moulton, director of freight and passenger services for the Maine DOT, said in an email to News Wire in early August that the company would consider a request for proposal for a new operator “later this month,” and that it would not there has been news of action since then. SO.
The Maine Legislature had appropriated $3 million for a three-year pilot mission at Brunswick-Rockland, based on Midcoast’s original plan to use two former diesel cars leased from Trinity Railway Express Rail. The company installed available toilets on the land at its own expense. Several tours have been organized following a public demonstration in the summer of 2023 [see “RDC “Coastliner” to Debut. . . ,” News Wire, June 28, 2023]. The assignment, however, reverted to Amtrak after the owner of the RDC canceled the lease of the Midcoast aircraft.
Amtrak had proposed enlarging NNEPRA’s Downeaster trains beyond Brunswick to and from Rockland, but that plan fell through when a host rail deal with Midcoast failed to materialize.
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