Downeaster update/changes
 

http://www.pressherald.com/news/loca...23amtrak.shtml
quote:
The last train to Portland from Boston will leave about an hour earlier - at 10:20 p.m. every day instead of 11:15 - beginning April 26.

Operators of the Downeaster train hope the change will make rail service more convenient and draw more passengers.
...
The authority plans several other changes beginning April 26.

The Downeaster no longer will guarantee a seat to everyone who buys a coach class ticket. Tickets will be good for the train itself, rather than for specific seats. Once purchased, tickets will be accepted for a year. Passengers who buy business class seats will, however, have to use them for specific trips, but will be guaranteed seats.

The business class section will expand from 18 seats to 60 seats, and the additional cost will drop from $9 to $5.


But the region's most vocal train advocacy group worries that the change will actually make rail service less convenient for Mainers who want to attend nighttime cultural or sporting events in Boston.

Late trains like the one in question serve a specialty market and likely have very low ridership except on a limited number of travel days (when there are special events of note).

The service likely could maximize ridership overall if all trains operated during daylight/peak hours, but it is admirable that the operator chose to try to serve the specialty entertainment venue market at least to see how it works out.

http://www.pressherald.com/news/state/040423train.shtml

Friday, April 23, 2004

Amtrak wins case in battle on speed

By TOM BELL , Portland Press Herald Writer

A federal court ruled in favor of Amtrak this week in its long-standing dispute over the top speed of its Downeaster trains.

The decision by the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., supports Amtrak's efforts to increase the maximum speed from 59 to 79 mph. Amtrak and Guilford Rail System can now enter final negotiations over train speeds, said Ron Roy, director of Maine's Office of Passenger Transportation.

Still at issue is who will pay for the higher rail-maintenance costs caused by faster speeds.

Guilford may not give up
 

Still at issue is whether Guilford will file another legal motion. They make the SP look good.

Why not have later trains on Friday/Saturday and possibly Sunday nights?

That is how the Pacific Surfliners operate (the Santa Barbara-L.A.-San Diego service) and they have good ridership.

It is good to see that the coach seats are now open and if you want a reserved seat on a specifc train, you'll have to book Business. That's also how it is done on the California Corridor trains.

More on Late Night Corridor Frequencies
 

The issue on the Downeaster is whether a late night train is the best use of limited resources, given that only 4 frequencies are available. This is a young corridor, while LAX-SAN is a mature corridor with 12 or more frequencies....at that point one can begin to offer the late night service. But if you want to maximize ridership with 4 frequencies, it may be "wasting a frequency" to run it at 10 or 11pm rather than at "better" hours.

Apparently some trains on the 4th frequency were only carrying 8 or 9 passengers TOTAL, and even on event nights, the number carried was not high, indicating that the train has not caught on as a significant way to access the events. In any case, Portland ME's population (around 100,000!) is very small compared with either Bay Area-Sacramento or Los Angeles-San Diego.

As for late night runs only on certain days, that should be considered and implemented if possible. It's certainly a way to keep the operating costs down.

http://www.pressherald.com/news/loca...20amtrak.shtml

Downeaster forced to dip into expansion fund
By JOSHUA L. WEINSTEIN, Portland Press Herald Writer

Overly optimistic ridership estimates have left Amtrak's Downeaster passenger service needing $1.7 million more in federal subsidies. Rail officials plan to take the money from a fund earmarked to extend the train service from Portland to Brunswick.

Officials want to use another $1.2 million from the same fund to fix existing tracks.
...
Patricia Douglas, manager of marketing and development for the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, which runs the Downeaster, said Wednesday that "aggressive" ridership estimates have been adjusted to reflect actual performance.

"We have learned," she said, explaining that ridership during the train's first year was above projections.

"We thought we were going to continue to go gangbusters," she said. "We've leveled off."

http://www.pressherald.com/news/state/040603train.shtml

- service to North Station will be suspende during the dem. convention, allowing track work that will shave 10 minutes from Portland-Boston

- By next year, Portland to Boston could be under 2 1/2 hours, allowing (the possibility of) 5 r/ts a day instead of 4.

"Improvements completed between when trains stop July 23 and resume Aug. 1 should allow the train to run 79 mph over a 4-mile stretch and go 65 mph to 75 mph on another 30 miles of track. The increased speeds should shave about 10 minutes off a one-way trip to Boston and cut the trip time by a total of 15 minutes once improvements scheduled for 2005 are complete, officials said Wednesday."

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/ne...trainbus.shtml

Repairs cut Downeaster trips short
By TOM BELL, Portland Press Herald Writer

An unexpected bridge failure in Kennebunk is preventing Amtrak trains from making the full run between Boston and Portland, and officials could not say Monday when service will resume.

In the meantime, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority has put together a system in which riders can travel on buses between Portland and Wells, the Downeaster's northernmost stop for the time being.

The problem could not have happened at a worse time for the state-subsidized rail service. August is the height of tourist season. Rail officials this week were supposed to be heralding the train's new top speed of 79 mph - not the air-conditioning provided in their hired fleet of buses.

It's a double blow for the rail authority. Not only is ridership down this week, but Amtrak has to spend a couple of thousand dollars a day to bus people between Portland and Wells.
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Downeaster service updates are available on the Internet at www.amtrakdowneaster.com

Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Bill would hike prices of N.H. train tickets
By MARK PETERS, Portland Press Herald Writer


AUGUSTA — Maine, unable to persuade New Hampshire that it should help subsidize passenger train service between Boston and Portland, may try getting tough with its neighbor. State lawmakers are being asked to consider a bill that would order operators of the Downeaster to add a surcharge to tickets sold in New Hampshire. The fees would be combined with voluntary subsidy payments from Maine to keep the train line solvent.

"New Hampshire, hopefully, will be a partner - willingly or not," said state Rep. Boyd Marley, D-Portland, the bill's sponsor.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/ne...05trains.shtml

Downeaster car loan to help Amtrak in 'crisis'
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/ne...wneaster.shtml

...
The Downeaster's Metroliner coaches will be replaced with refurbished Amfleet coaches, which have been renamed "Capstone" coaches. Built in the late 1970s, Amfleets were Amtrak's standard single-level coaches.

Douglas said the Capstone coaches are just as good as the Metroliner coaches. Each Capstone coach has 72 seats, versus 60 on the Metroliner. Douglas said passengers will find that the leg room and comfort level are unchanged.
...

The new schedule cuts 15 minutes off the two trips that were not made quicker: the train that leaves Portland at 4 p.m. and the one that leaves Boston at 6:15 p.m. - the service's most popular train.

The new schedule also shifts the late-night Boston train to a later time. The last train out of Boston now leaves at 10:20 p.m. Starting Monday, the last train will leave at 11 p.m., a change aimed at accommodating Red Sox and theater fans.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/mas...ound_trip_run/

New side track will enable Downeaster to add fifth round-trip run

November 18, 2005

PORTLAND, Maine --Amtrak's Downeaster will add a fifth round-trip run between Portland and Boston to its daily schedule following New Hampshire's decision to spend $1.6 million in federal money on a new side track.

The new schedule, which the line hopes to have place within a year, is expected to boost Downeaster revenues by 30 percent, said Patricia Douglas, executive director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority.

Downeaster may start Brunswick run in 2010

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/ne...109train.shtml

record year for downeaster
 

I know this is cheating, but:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/art...back_on_track/

Flying Yankee getting back on track
Depression-era train sees new life with restoration

By Jenna Russell, Globe Staff | August 6, 2006

LINCOLN, N.H. -- It was sleek and shiny, strangely silent and impossibly quick -- an unprecedented vision dropped into the grime and hopelessness of the Great Depression like a visitor from the future.

The train known as the Flying Yankee caused the kind of sensation that cynical, 21st century commuters can hardly imagine. It drew crowds of 10,000 when it first visited Portland, Maine , and Nashua, N.H., and 25,000 turned out for its debut in Boston in the winter of 1935.

Powered by diesel and electricity instead of steam, the Yankee flew between Boston, northern New England, and New York for 22 years, dazzling passengers with its quiet, cushioned ride and speeds of more than 90 miles per hour.