AUBURN, Maine — An Aug. 25 hearing before a Maine Department of Transportation advisory council heard conflicting proposals to use 25 miles of idle state-owned tracks for a Portland-Auburn commuter rail system, or to remove those tracks to create a trail.
Meanwhile, a Canadian-based organization, the Night Trains Foundation, has suggested yet another use: as a key link in an overnight passenger train from Montreal to Boston.
Rail, trail advocates jockey for position
As part of the state’s passenger rail service plan submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration in 2019, Maine commissioned an “Economic Evaluation Study for Commuter and Passenger Train Service Between Portland and the Lewiston-Auburn area.” With the survey’s findings expected to be released next month, rail and trail advocates outlined their respective plans to the DOT’s Portland-to-Auburn Rail Use Advisory Council
A Maine Rail Transit Coalition presentation attempts to make the case for “battery-operated trains” that would run on the former Grand Trunk tracks, where Genesee & Wyoming’s St. Lawrence & Atlantic holds the freight franchise. Albert Fazio, P.E., who has extensive experience with NJ Transit’s Camden-Trenton River Line and Amtrak before joining BRT Services, LLC, as a consultant, told the committee, “If you can’t see it and touch it, you can’t see what we are proposing here.”
The coalition’s argument is that the short line is an ideal candidate for frequent rail service precisely because there are currently no freight customers south of Auburn.
This counters the premise advanced by the Casco Bay Trail Alliance that a parallel, active former Maine Central route, operated by CSX following its acquisition of Pan Am Railways, is available for passenger trains. A portion north of Portland was upgraded with 2009 economic stimulus funds to host Downeaster trains to and from Brunswick, Maine, but capacity and track improvements — as well as a new agreement with CSX — would be required to initiate passenger service. In any case, trains on that route wouldn’t operate frequently throughout the day, as in the Transit Coalition proposal.
The Eastern Trail Alliance points to the popularity of a well-patronized trail south of Portland to Kennebunk, Maine, as well expressions of support from communities along the line to Auburn, as evidence that this is the best solution. However, both Genesee & Wyoming and the Transit Coalition have stressed the importance for preserving the line for future freight use.
A yet-to-be-determined amount of public investment will be necessary for both alternatives. In rail’s case, long-dormant tracks will at a minimum require new ties and surfacing; accessible stations will need to be constructed and equipment procured.
A number of commuter rail systems, as well as New Jersey’s River Line light rail, operate diesel multiple unit (DMU) trainsets. But Stadler, whose FLIRT DMUs are used in Texas on Trinity Metro’s TEXRail line between downtown Fort Worth and DFW Airport, has recently developed an electric version whose mid-trainset battery-equipped unit can be swapped for diesel power. Existing battery applications also include Detroit’s Woodward Avenue Q Line streetcar, where svehicles draw and store electric power from overhead wire for use on stretches where catenary isn’t present.
Overnight proposal faces significant challenges
Preserving the railroad would also be a prerequisite for initiating a Montreal-Boston overnight train, which could conceivably coexist with a daytime commuter rail operation. The Lewiston Sun Journal reports the Night Trains Foundation is seeking “agreements with Canadian Pacific and Genesee & Wyoming…and (preliminary) talks with the American firm are going well.” The proposed 14-hour schedule would include intermediate Maine stops at Bethel, Auburn, Portland, and Old Orchard Beach; locals refer to the resort town as the “Canadian Riviera” because so many tourists from Canada vacation there in the summer. In winter, Bethel is a major ski destination.
Canadian National’s Grand Trunk subsidiary ended daily Montreal-Portland, Maine, passenger service in the early 1960’s but continued to operate a summer weekends-only “Passenger Special” round trip until 1967. The 1963 version departed Montreal at 10 p.m. Friday and arrived into Grand Trunk’s Portland waterfront station at 6:20 a.m. Saturday, before returning to Montreal that afternoon. Maine Narrow Gauge has operated the isolated downtown remnant following a fire that destroyed Grand Trunk’s Back Cove trestle in 1984.
A summer-fall excursion concept was briefly revived on the route in 2002 when Randy Parten launched the Acadian, a daytime Montreal-Portland cruise train featuring meals served in heritage domes acquired by the Texas businessman. But the service never attracted a critical mass before 2003’s SARS outbreak contributed to its demise. Speeds on that run rarely exceeded 30 mph.
There are many obstacles to initiate passenger service today. The 1963 Montreal-Portland travel time was scheduled at 8 hours, 20 minutes, but track conditions have further deteriorated since then. The first phase of the project is targeting the Montreal- Sherbrooke, Quebec, segment for frequent commuter service, but no costs have been developed for that or necessary U.S. investments. Although the Night Train Foundation advocates “envision 120 passengers in sleeper cars and 70 in coach seating” for the overnight run, securing surplus road-worthy rolling stock today is a tall order.
Additionally, a track connection would need to be constructed at Yarmouth Junction, where the St. Lawrence & Atlantic crosses the CSX route used by the Downeaster. (The Maine rail group is proposing a station here.)
Plans to link Montreal and Boston have been floated previously; turning the Auburn-Portland segment into a trail would forever preclude any such service. But the main task for the Maine Department of Transportation once the study is released will be enhancing public mobility in an increasingly congested part of the state. The rail-versus-trail outcome hangs in the balance.
— Updated at 9 p.m. CDT to restore words dropped from paragraph beginning “A Maine Rail Transit Coalition presentation …”
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