Maine Eastern begins passenger service May 26

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1

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Maine Eastern begins passenger service May 26

2

“Tourist” trains are neat just like antique cars on a highway. What is needed is modern (new) low floor, quick accelerating and FREQUENT passenger service connecting at Portland with the service from Boston that will allow convenient service to Rockland and towns along the coast. There is plenty of European equipment available off the shelf to make this work. The diesel Sprinter Service from Oceanside CA and Escondido type equipment would work very well. Hourly departures in the summer would generate good traffic over a route that has been upgraded and ready to use for “real” passenger service. Again, like “tourist trains” but we need transit not something one has to drive to!!

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Will the connection be in both directions?

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I agree with Mr. Trudy, but for now at least this is a good start. The station in Brunswick will have two tracks on either side of a common platform for an easy cross-platform connection between the two services, with coordinated schedules. Hopefully, good ridership will encourage expanded schedules, which is what happened after Amtrak started its Downeaster service.

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This is a wonderful operation and should not be missed by anyone, rail fan or not.
The train itself is reminiscent of 1950s streamliners, the sea and harbor views are fun and the destination, Rockland, is classic “Maine Coast”!

Mal

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I’m afraid you’re off base on this on Mr. Trudo. There is no market for transit service in this area. Hourly service would be ridiculous. The tourists will ride the train for entertainment in the summer just as they would go to an amusement park but there are not enough locals who will ride the train on a regular basis to justify regular service. Brunswick is the largest town in the mid-coast region and ti doesn’t even have 25,000 people. I predict that the Amtrak extention will be a very expensive failure. Not enough college students to justify the expense and the station location downtown is not near the interstate so it won’t attract other riders. Plus llimited service of only 2 or 3 trains a day makes it inconvenient. I’ll continue to drive to Portland where ridership justifies hourly departures of trains and busses providing convenient reliable service.