ME: Rail advocates renew push for passenger service to Bangor

Narrowly defeated last year, rail advocates have returned with refreshed legislation aimed at restoring passenger service from Portland to Bangor.

This time they hope to overcome opposition over how much it would cost and whether enough people would ride it and win state support, similar to the effort that brought the Amtrak Downeaster to southern Maine nearly 24 years ago. Previous opponents, including the Maine Department of Transportation, are expected to continue their fight.

Proponents see passenger expansion as a practical and necessary investment that would share the opportunity for economic development that rail delivers with more rural parts of Maine. At the same time, it would provide sustainable mass transportation for residents, workers, commuters, tourists heading for Acadia National Park or waterfront concerts in Bangor and students attending colleges in Lewiston, Waterville, Bangor and Orono.

"The track is already there. The opportunity is there," said Rep. Tavis Hasenfus, D- Readfield, who submitted the bill. "We should leave no stone unturned to make it happen."

The bill, scheduled for a public hearing Thursday, would direct the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA), operator of the Amtrak Downeaster, to apply for federal seed money. The funds would be used to develop a proposal for passenger service from Portland through Auburn, Lewiston, Waterville and Bangor to Orono on the CSX Corp. freight line. Other stations would be added as passenger service developed.

LD 487 is a slight retooling of a previous bill, LD 860, introduced by Sen. Joe Baldacci, D- Bangor, that was rejected last year. The Senate approved Baldacci's bill, 23-11; the House voted it down, 80-64.

The previous bill also drew strong opposition from officials with the MDOT, Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce and NNEPRA, who testified that passenger service to Bangor would be too slow, attract too few riders and cost too much to establish and operate.

But proponents of the new bill say opposition last year was based on recommendations from an advisory group that didn't consider Lewiston when factoring traveler interest. That's because proponents and the advisory group initially considered a different rail corridor that passed through Brunswick and would have bypassed Lewiston.

Excluding Maine's second-largest city was a mistake from the start, Baldacci said, noting the importance of connecting its three largest municipalities: Portland (population 69,104), Lewiston (38,404) and Bangor (31,628).

It's also unfair to deny passenger service to central and northern Maine, he said, especially after investing more than $50 million ($89.7 million today, when adjusted for inflation) to bring the Downeaster from Boston to Portland in December 2001 — and continuing to spend $17 million annually to subsidize the service that now extends to Brunswick.

"We're denying the same economic benefit to the northern half of the state and two of Maine's largest cities that was granted to our coastal communities," said Baldacci, the new bill's co-sponsor. "It's short-sighted, really, for the MDOT to say they've got enough to take care of."

Mass transit and economic benefits

LD 487 is scheduled for a hearing Thursday before the Legislature's transportation committee. It would provide $20,000 to apply for as much as $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop a proposal for passenger rail between Portland and Orono.

Hasenfus grew up in nearby Winthrop, where the CSX line, formerly the Maine Central Railroad, brought summer visitors to boat and swim at a resort on Maranacook Lake in the early 1900s. The railroad ended passenger service in 1960.

"A lot of my constituents are interested in having passenger rail service again and the economic benefit that would come to communities along the corridor," Hasenfus said. "It would be a shame not to give this a really good look."

Hasenfus and other proponents said they expect MDOT officials and others to resurrect their opposition, but they question old feasibility data that doesn't account for a stop in Lewiston or the impact of recent track upgrades made by CSX, which would make passenger service faster, more attractive and a less-expensive proposition.

CSX Transportation, which operates on 481 miles of track and maintains 269 public grade crossings in Maine, has made rail improvements in the last two years allowing freight train speeds to increase to 40 mph, up from 10 to 25 mph. The improved tracks would allow passenger trains to travel up to 60 mph, according to Federal Railroad Administration standards.

MDOT opposition persists

In testifying against the previous bill, Nate Moulton, transportation planning director at MDOT, said a study completed in February 2023 estimated that it would cost $375 million to $902 million in equipment and track improvements to expand passenger service to Bangor, depending on which lines were used.

Moulton said current Downeaster service covers about 50% of its costs with passenger fares and requires an annual public subsidy over $17 million. He noted that passenger service to Bangor would parallel interstates 95 and 295, where commuters can travel up to 70 mph in personal vehicles or buses. He referred to an MDOT pilot commuter bus service that started last year between Lewiston- Auburn and Portland.

"Given the relatively low transit demand, low population densities, high capital and operating costs, low climate and equity benefits, and extensive transportation needs statewide, (MDOT) has determined that it would be imprudent to continue the study of extending passenger rail to Bangor at this time," Moulton said.

MDOT didn't respond to a request to interview Moulton but indicated via email that its opposition hasn't shifted. It also expects the cost of establishing passenger service to Bangor would be even higher than previously estimated because of inflation.

That doesn't fit the department's planning model.

"In our regular transportation planning, (MDOT) places a priority on pragmatic improvements that balance the department's limited financial resources with anticipated benefits to the greatest number of people," said Paul Merrill, department spokesperson.

Support for passenger expansion

Notable support for the previous bill came from the Portland City Council and Mayor Mark Dion.

"It has become clear that a guiding vision of the future use of critical state corridors is necessary, for everything from passenger transportation to freight to active transportation connections," Dion said. "The actions included by this legislation would provide the high-level analysis needed to move the state of Maine on a path toward sustainable community development and away from auto-centric planning."

The transportation committee also heard support from residents of Portland, Lewiston, Waterville and Sherry Foster of Bangor, who said passenger service to her city would create jobs, promote economic development and allow "more eco-friendly travel," especially for people who don't drive or can't afford cars.

The Maine Rail Group plans to support passenger rail on the CSX line, as it did before, said Doug Rooks, spokesman for the nonprofit that promotes rail service in Maine and New England.

"That is the best railroad track in Maine and it's the most direct connection to all major population centers in the state," Rooks said. "We believe people would pay for the service, and that's what we want to test."

Other bills submitted this session would allow the MDOT to remove tracks and build recreation trails on 33.5 miles of a state-owned rail line between Brunswick and Augusta (LD 29) and on nearly 10 miles between Portland and Yarmouth (LDs 30 and 511).

A bill submitted by Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D- Lewiston, and co-sponsored by Baldacci — LD 472 — would direct the Maine-Canadian Legislative Advisory Commission and the New England and Eastern Canada Legislative Commission to examine restoring passenger rail from Boston to Montreal.

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