Maine Officials Give Start Date for Amtrak Service

Maine Governor Angus King spoke for many involved in reviving Amtrak service from Portland to Boston when he announced the initiation date for the Downeaster. In his remarks, King acknowledged years of frustration and delays in getting the train running.
This has been a day that?s been some time in coming. I?m here this morning, to announce, I think, a great event in the recent history of maine, and one that I think will make a significant difference in the future of maine.

Maine and the federal government have spent over 50 million dollars to revive the train from Portland to Boston. No train has run on the route since 1965. But Governor King said a drive to Boston now would convince Maine residents that the time for the service is right. He even took a shot at New Hampshire to help make his point.
?although you can go down the newly widened maine turnpike, and you can go through new Hampshire and pay the extortionist toll, (snickers) and then you can get, I couldn?t resist. And then you get to the outskirts of boston and everything is fine. But then you can spend an hour, literally an hour from the tobin bridge getting into downtown boston.

Despite the good news coming from Augusta, not all the controversies besetting the line are totally resolved. The trains will begin running at a top speed of 59 miles per hour, rather than the 79 miles per hour that state authorities and Amtrak wanted. David Fink, executive vice president of Guilford Rail System, owner of the rails, said the trains will run at the slower speed to assure safety.
12 18 we?ve done a media trip where we showed the issues that we have over going 79. one of them is there are 59 grade crossings and the other is that the strength of the rail will not support 79 miles per hour. We still believe that, there?s additional testing that needs to be done. We think in the end the tests will show that our company is correct, and we?re only going to do it if its safe?12 41

State officials in New Hampshire say they expect healthy ridership for the new Downeaster service at the line?s three New Hampshire stops: Dover, Exeter and Durham. Kit Morgan of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation says he?s heard that more people in the northeast are taking trains instead of flying, since the terrorist attacks of September 11th . But Morgan said he?s not sure what effect the attacks will have on this line.
04 21 this particular service is not competing as directly with air travel as some other Amtrak services, like down the northeast corridor. But, for someone who is going from nh or maine, down to further south, to ny, Philadelphia, or someplace like that, they might this might make the rail option a better one for them. 04 43

Planning officials in the three New Hampshire towns to be served by the train say they are looking forward to the establishment of service. Steve Stancel, Dover?s director of planning and community development, says the city is counting on the train to help revitalize the downtown area. Stancel says he excited about the possibilities, and he?ll know when that goal has been achieved, because of a common urban problem.
09 01 we are encouraged. And we also think that it would be a good thing if we didn?t have enough parking. Because that would mean, obviously, that the service took off like a rocket and it?s a valuable resource to the downtown area. 09 19

Once it begins running in December, the Downeaster is scheduled to make four round trips a day, at 35 dollars per circuit. Officials say the train may expand service in the future, once it has become a well established way to travel.