Passenger rail service between Brunswick and Rockland, with a ferry connection, could be chugging along by summer.
State officials are eying purchase of three, self-propelled Budd cars. At least one of these could be operating along the Rockland Branch on an excursion basis, said Tracy Perez, policy specialist at the Maine Department of Transportation. Eventually, she said, the seasonal run could become year-round, serving Bath Iron Works and other mid coast commuters.
A plan to connect with ferry service might take more time to develop.
Budd car service could begin prior to anticipated Amtrak passenger service between Portland and Brunswick, a stretch of track bed owned by Guilford Transportation.
DOT hopes to see the Brunswick-Portland link operational by 2004 or 2005.
Perez said platforms for the mid-coast train are being considered at two sites in Wiscasset: near the airport and downtown; and at sites in Newcastle and Thomaston. The former Maine State Prison property is a possibility. Rockland’s brick railroad station, currently home to Coastal Community Action Program, is owned by the state.
A $30 million upgrade to the state-owned Rockland Branch is nearly complete, she said, and her department is seeking proposals from potential operators for the Budd cars. A plan to connect the train to ferry service at Atlantic Point in Rockland will take several years to develop, she said. The ferries would take passengers to Bar Harbor and Nova Scotia.
The biggest challenge of all, Perez said, may be getting people out of their cars.
In other rail developments, the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railroad has acquired the Bangor and Aroostook line, and intends to serve Mack Point in Searsport. Despite rail improvements, the percentage of freight being hauled over roads by trucks has been increasing, and is estimated today at 90 per cent.
– Steve Cartwright