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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.
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Originally Posted by Reindeerflame
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. 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 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 As proposed, the project involves upgrading old tracks and installing new ones from the train station on Sewall Street in Portland, along Interstate 295, through the Parkside and Bayside neighborhoods to a new railroad trestle across Back Cove. From there, the proposed route would head north along the former St. Lawrence & Atlantic line, through Falmouth, Cumberland, Yarmouth and Freeport to Brunswick. |
record year for downeaster
Amtrak's Downeaster finished its fiscal year with the biggest jump in ridership since the start of the Portland-to-Boston service, and that was before numbers spiked because of recent problems plaguing Boston's Big Dig. The Downeaster wrapped up the fiscal year that ended last month with 329,265 passengers - an increase of 31 percent over the previous year. Revenue grew to $4.35 million, surpassing the $3.3 million during the previous fiscal year. |
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. |
http://www.boston.com/news/local/mai...+--+Maine+news
Maine governor pushes for expanded passenger rail service September 4, 2006 AUGUSTA, Maine --As ridership on Amtrak's Downeaster train increases and Maine's highways grow more congested, Gov. John Baldacci is ordering a plan for expanded passenger rail service to interior and coastal communities. Baldacci's executive order, which he signed Friday and announced Monday, also calls for clearer economic development plans near train stations along the existing route of the Downeaster, which connects Boston's North Station and Portland, Maine. |
Amtrak's Downeaster celebrates fifth-year anniversary
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/...y_x.htm?csp=34
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — No one knew whether Amtrak's Downeaster would be a success when it departed Portland with its first passengers five years ago on a dark, rainy morning. More than 1.4 million passengers later, the Downeaster is one of Amtrak's most successful trains with ridership growing 31% in the last fiscal year. |
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/ne...eriesday5.html
Patricia Quinn Douglas was never much interested in trains. She didn't even ride one until five years ago, at age 37. Today, as executive director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, she manages the Downeaster, the Amtrak service that runs between Portland and Boston. ... The rail authority's relationships with bus companies and the private railroad company that owns the tracks have improved, and Douglas helped forge a deal that will lead to a fifth daily round trip next year. |
in other maine train news
On the day after the Maine Central Railroad completed its last run on the Mountain Division rail line in April 1958, the Maine Sunday Telegram summed it up like this:
"The Mountain Division was long famed for its picturesque route which wound through Crawford Notch and the White Mountains region. Many have claimed that the beauty of its views in the brightly foliaged fall was unsurpassed. Lack of business caused its demise." It has been almost 50 years since the last passenger train made its way from the White Mountains into Portland, but a bill pending in the Legislature could be the first step in reviving rail travel in western Maine. http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/ne...408trains.html |
Amtrak: Let Maine serve as model
Maine's Downeaster rail service offers a model that Amtrak hopes will be followed by other states, the head of the passenger rail service said Tuesday. Alex Kummant, Amtrak's president and chief executive officer, said Maine's subsidy for rail service is critical to continuing passenger train service from Portland to Boston. Some other states also provide money to help cover the cost of train service, he said, and Amtrak wants to see state aid expand and supplement an annual federal subsidy of about $1.2 billion. http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/bu...70411rail.html |
Downeaster to add new trains, cut time
Downeaster to add new trains, cut time
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20...neaster_trains The Downeaster will add a fifth daily round trip on the line beginning Aug. 17. The addition of a fifth trip had been anticipated following the completion of a $6 million track construction project that has been under way since last fall. |
Downeaster subsidy running low
Downeaster subsidy running low
The rail authority will ask the state for money, but bridge and road repairs also need to be funded. http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/st...55556&ac=PHnws As Amtrak's Downeaster marks its sixth anniversary, the rail authority that runs the Portland-to-Boston service is preparing to lobby for state funding to keep the trains running beyond June 2009. The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority is seeking an annual appropriation of $7 million to $8 million to replace an expiring federal subsidy, which now accounts for nearly half of the Downeaster's annual $13 million operating budget. Without the state funding, or some other funding source, the service won't be able to continue. Patricia Quinn, the authority's executive director, said the Downeaster has proven itself with a 30 percent increase in ridership since it started. |
Amtrak's Downeaster posts 28 percent ridership gain
PORTLAND, Maine — Soaring gas prices played a role in a 28% gain in ridership for Amtrak's Downeaster during the latest fiscal year, and operators of the Portland-to-Boston service are looking at options to accommodate future growth, officials said Monday.
More here: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/...er_N.htm?imw=Y |
Aboard the camaraderie express
Aboard the camaraderie express
Downeaster to Maine is fastest-growing rail route The Downeaster between Boston and Portland, America's fastest-growing intercity train route, is part neighborhood bar, part rolling office park. http://www.boston.com/news/local/art...derie_express/ |
Advocates eye funds for faster Downeaster
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/st...51331&ac=PHnws The Boston-Portland corridor was one of 10 listed nationally as being eligible for the funding, which is part of the $787 billion economic stimulus package. The federal government will begin awarding money for projects by the end of this summer based on a competitive application process, said Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, which operates the Downeaster service. She said officials in Maine and Massachusetts will work together, along with Pan Am Railways, which owns much of the rail right of way, to develop an investment plan that speeds up the train service. |
While having a faster train is a good thing, I can tell you from using the Downeaster to commute for the last year, most delays come from MBTA traffic, PanAm traffic, and Switch/Signal problems (which predictably fail with every thunderstorm). Then track work, and occational mechanical issues with the P42s.
The money might be better spent to upgrade the whole route to dual-trackage, and fix the switcher/signals so they work in the rain. Then the expansion to Brunswick, or further (connecting with the tourist train to Rockland). |
Originally Posted by hp_lovecraft
(Post 11619255)
While having a faster train is a good thing, I can tell you from using the Downeaster to commute for the last year, most delays come from MBTA traffic, PanAm traffic, and Switch/Signal problems (which predictably fail with every thunderstorm). Then track work, and occational mechanical issues with the P42s.
The money might be better spent to upgrade the whole route to dual-trackage, and fix the switcher/signals so they work in the rain. |
Originally Posted by fairviewroad
(Post 11620408)
I think those are all part of what it takes to achieve a "faster" train. I'd imagine upgrades to all of the items you mentioned (especially signals and sidings) are part of the proposal. For passenger trains, overall speed has more to do with the tracks and signals then it does with the actual rolling stock.
Speeds higher than 110 MPH would need new rolling stock, but we're a long ways away from even considering that. We probably not only need new track for that, we'd need a whole new right of way for the tracks to get above 110 MPH. |
Originally Posted by AlanB
(Post 11622614)
We probably not only need new track for that, we'd need a whole new right of way for the tracks to get above 110 MPH.
The difference now, to 70 years ago, is the Yankee probobly had a tiny fraction of the grade crossings. |
looks like the downeaster made an xmas list for santa...
-------------------- Downeaster hopes to tap stimulus money http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/st...02366&ac=PHnws Officials hope to get up to $39 million in stimulus funds to expand the route to Freeport and Brunswick. "It seems like a slam dunk to me. But I'm in Portland, Maine, not Washington, D.C. So we're keeping our fingers crossed," said Patricia Quinn, the rail authority's executive director. |
"Next Big Rail Project Could Extend from Portland to Montreal"
"Now that passenger rail is expanding from Portland to Brunswick in 2012, state transportation officials are looking toward Maine's western mountains and beyond as the next possible link in service. They're gathering input for a preliminary feasibility study that's expected to be released early next year."
http://www.mpbn.net/News/MaineNewsAr...7/Default.aspx |
Jonathan Riskind: Downeaster funding puts pressure on Snowe
The popular Downeaster passenger train service between Portland and Boston is in danger of losing a key federal funding source, and much of the pressure for preserving the money could fall on Sen. Olympia Snowe. The federal funding -- up to $6 million a year -- is critical because it constitutes more than one-third of the Downeaster's annual operating budget. |
Guess it won't be up to S. Snowe...
apparently she won't be running again............
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'Quiet zone' hearing for Freeport trains set
As the Downeaster nears scheduled service, residents and businesses are concerned about the train's whistle. Extension to Freeport and Brunswick in November, whistles and all.... |
PORTLAND — The Amtrak Downeaster will start providing daily passenger rail service to Freeport and Brunswick on Nov. 1, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority announced Wednesday. New schedule: http://www.amtrakdowneaster.com/site...e-10-15-12.pdf |
Awesome!
A bit of a weird thing with the new schedule - there's a train that leaves BON at 9:05am and arrives in Brunswick at 12:25pm. The next train South out of Brunswick is scheduled leave at 5:50pm. Are they going to keep a trainset at Brunswick for 5+ hours? Or are they going to send it down to Portland empty? I'm assuming freight traffic must somehow be the reason for this, but I'll be curious to see which one they do. |
Originally Posted by lo2e
(Post 19302658)
Awesome!
A bit of a weird thing with the new schedule - there's a train that leaves BON at 9:05am and arrives in Brunswick at 12:25pm. The next train South out of Brunswick is scheduled leave at 5:50pm. Are they going to keep a trainset at Brunswick for 5+ hours? Or are they going to send it down to Portland empty? I'm assuming freight traffic must somehow be the reason for this, but I'll be curious to see which one they do. Bob H. |
Originally Posted by BobH
(Post 19304613)
Actually, the real issue is storage space in Brunswick and they may have to keep the equipment between trips in Portland.
Bob H. |
Early ridership figures are in:
Riders making a go of train's new stops So far, total ridership has been beating the projections of the Northern New England Rail Authority, which manages the train service. The rail authority expected that a 100 people a day would ride the train north of Portland. In November, the average daily ridership was 177. The average dropped slightly in December, to 175 per day, as of Dec. 18. |
Expansion of passenger trains in Maine takes slow track
Taking the Downeaster beyond Brunswick hinges on crucial projects and powers of persuasion. http://www.pressherald.com/news/expa...013-02-04.html |
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