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22-trips-a-day possible, Maine transit coalition says
Where can I find more information about this proposal?
Where can I find more information about this proposal?
Forty seven million in state funds and private investment versus ninety one million in “federal matching grants.” Exactly what do these folks think the feds would be matching, especially while we are “sequestered.”
Come on Jeffery, this report should ignite you.
Has anybody ever gone from Portland to Auburn? Not much in the way of population, unless you start counting 4 legged fur bearing critters and trees. There are more gross max trucks on the road hauling Poland Spring water to New York and roll paper to other places than locals traveling between Auburn and Portland. There is a reason why the turnpike loses 2 lanes north of Portland. Way less traffic than south of Portland. All of this sounds like smoke and mirrors in attempt to get more pork barrel money from big government, paid for by the provider class taxpayer. As for funding that turnpike, trucks pay a heavy toll to maintain that road plus pay the fuel tax which funds the the highway trust (slush) fund which is used to fund non-highway transportation, such as Amtrak.
Irony alert … the Maine Central wanted nothing to do with Boston and Maine’s Budd cars, and yet …
This is great news. More and more states are realizing the potential in growth of passenger rail popularity. You bet people will use these trains as more trains will translate to more options in travel times will cause ridership to go up. A lot of troglodytes can’t seem to get the picture.
If I read this correctly, additional taxes collected from the railroad would be returned for the rail operating budget.
Why not make the railroad exempt from taxes? I know. This is too simple for government to grasp.
Wow Jeffery; the provider class taxpayer! Just who is that, anybody who pays income taxes or maybe just the very privaleged. I’ve paid lots of income tax in my 62 years and I would much rather see it go into a balanced transportation system instead of a highway centric one.
As far as I can find out some Highway Trust Fund monies go to transit but none goes to Amtrak. More critically during the past four years, the federal government has appropriated $53.3 billion from the general fund of the Treasury to bail out the Highway Trust Fund. That’s almost 30 percent more than the total federal expenditure on Amtrak since 1971. Meanwhile our highway infastructure continues to deteriorate.
Wow Jeffery; the provider class taxpayer! Just who is that, anybody who pays income taxes or maybe just the very privaleged. I’ve paid lots of income tax in my 62 years and I would much rather see it go into a balanced transportation system instead of a highway centric one.
As far as I can find out some Highway Trust Fund monies go to transit but none goes to Amtrak. More critically during the past four years, the federal government has appropriated $53.3 billion from the general fund of the Treasury to bail out the Highway Trust Fund. That’s almost 30 percent more than the total federal expenditure on Amtrak since 1971. Meanwhile our highway infastructure continues to deteriorate.
If the sevice grows too quickly, the self propelled cars might not work out…
Note that since the time that Vermont backed out on the plan to purchased DMU cars, the ridership on the Vermonter has grown substantially, raising questions of whether the fixed capacity of the DMUs is appropriate…
The best answer is probably a mix of DMU and conventional trains–use DMUs for the schedules with low ridership–to maintain a reliable schedule–while having conventional trains available to move people with fewer capacity limits.
Mr. Guse,
Here are a couple sites where you can engage with your wingnut ranting:
There are others. Bear in mind this: On any of them, you will surely get your tri-color, star-spangled pachyderm soundly kicked by bloggers who are far more articulate and politically astute than we mere railfans can hope to be. They would have a blast cutting you down to size and putting you in your place. That is if you dare to actually engage and not just snipe from cover.
In any event, just go away from here. Your presence is utterly tiresome. You have worn out your welcome here. Get lost.
What??? they’re not going to use Pan Am’s line. I can’t imagine David Fink missing an opportunity to get his crappy 10-25 mph track upgraded on somebody else’s dime. Sadly, the whole project sounds like a boondoggle to me - I’m sure it will waste a lot of money, like the Brunswick Downeaster project. I wish they’d subsidize bus service first to see if the ridership is there, then make a decision whether to spend the millions needed to upgrade the right of way. Establish rail operations only in areas where traffic density would warrant rail service.
Jeffery, as with most places, traffic volume depends on time of day. Most vehicular traffic during the day are from 6 to 9 am and 4 to 7 pm. Try being out there during those hours with everyone trying to get home in a hurry.
I do not think they have gotten all the figures out yet. For instance, the Back Cove Trestle was damaged by fire in 1983 or 1984 and deemed unsafe for rail traffic. Rebuilding this timber pile structure is a must. Then there is the 2 miles of track that isn’t there, well it is but the wrong gauge. Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad runs on the ROW there.
There is other trackage in the area and I would be interested in seeing the comparison between the two routes. Both in the initial cost of repairs and in the amount of potential people served.
I like trains; I always have…but I have doubts about a plan to spend yet more scarce public money for this plan. The federal highway system made passenger trains and a parallel interurban line between Lewiston-Auburn and Portland obsolete over 50 years ago. I know times and demographics have changed, but not so much here in interior 2013 Maine I’m afraid.
The feds appropriate money everywhere and I would most likely recommend they look around a little before spending this kind of money here. I’m certain there are more criticle and pressing needs for light rail lines elsewhere. I probably just failed the pork-barrel politician test…oh well!