Maine Long Term Rail / Transit plans and Proposals (Portland, Lewiston: how much, taxes)

[DarkWolf]

Ive taken the Long Term Maine DOT / Amtrak plans and merged them with my proposals. My Proposals include building a small Tram / Streetcar network in Portland and Lewiston to connect into the Amtrak lines. I have visited your state twice....back in 2005 and 2009....stayed in Bangor , Portland , and drove threw Augusta. The Portland Transportation center needs to be moved closer to Downtown which will cause the Downeaster and other future lines to have higher ridership. While the Portland population is small now in 20 years i do see it growing to at least 250,000 as the Bos-Wash Megapolis grows into the Portland-Norfolk Megapolis.

Trams/Streetcars are very cheap to build and produce positive investments in return like TOD and companies relocating to Portland. Regional / Amtrak can do the same to the cities it connects into and im not sure if developments have already gone up along the Downeaster. The State or Feds don't have to pay for the New Tram lines , you can find a private company to build and run it. My Proposals are have taken form other transit bloggers in the Northeast and US.

I do have a bit of warning for you don't let a private company do the Regional Rail / Amtrak lines or else you'll see a expensive and terrible system due to low ridership. Trams / Streetcars would get higher ridership and would cost less to run and thus a private company should not have any issue running that if built right , along the right corridors. The Downeaster can become profitable if Maine , NH and Mass agreed to switch form the big bulky trains to the small DMU trains that consume less fuel and can hold the same amount of passengers. The Trams / Streetcars will be made in Portland,Oregon which has a small plant which is a branch off a Czech Company. Trams / Streetcars have 1-2x the Capacity of Buses and can be coupled together to add extra capacity. The DMU's are made by a few companies like Siemens , Bombardier , Talgo and CAF in the US either here in the Northeast or in Cali.

Portland Tram / Streetcar



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5-GlooFib4


DMU Train - no there not going to be that small maybe 2-3 cars long but in that design



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-BoGw_1w5o


In the Long Term plans....

Brunswick line - 28 mi
Portland - Lewiston - Bangor line - 141 mi
Brunswick / Augusta line - 52 mi


My Proposals

New Portland Transportation Center
Portland Tram System
2 South Portland Tram lines that feed into the Portland Tram system
Lewiston Tram system

Maine Long Term Rail / Transit plans and Proposals - Google Maps

[flycessna]

I love it but personaly I think its a pipe dream! I hate big government but love transportation and infrstructure and would love to see government stop spending money elsewhere and at least put it into something I can use and enjoy. We are the USA.. we should have the best and fastest trains...

But to get back to my point.. Government is already too big, we are too much in debt.. I see no way something like being profitable in Maine. We are to big land wise, isolated from the rest of the country and too loosly populated to support such a system. Lewiston busses are already empty all day long driving in circles..

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by flycessna

I love it but personaly I think its a pipe dream! I hate big government but love transportation and infrstructure and would love to see government stop spending money elsewhere and at least put it into something I can use and enjoy. We are the USA.. we should have the best and fastest trains...

But to get back to my point.. Government is already too big, we are too much in debt.. I see no way something like being profitable in Maine. We are to big land wise, isolated from the rest of the country and too loosly populated to support such a system. Lewiston busses are already empty all day long driving in circles..

I agree with you 100%. Maine is far too spread out to support a profitable train system. Without a government subsidy there would be no train service to Maine period! Trains were great back in the late 1800's and early 1900's but they're era is LONG GONE. Sure it's fun to ride a train for pleasure but they're not practical for everyday commuting this far out from a major city.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

We do not have a viable track system. The state just bought a junk railroad where trains must slow down to 15 MPH just to stay on the tracks. Now the major user of the system has gone to truck shipment. It would be hugely expensive to develop a rail system and the environmental industry has millions of dollars to tie up any such initiative in the courts for years.

[flycessna]

I pay my taxes and frankley I am disgusted where the money is spent. All one has to do is look at all the ear marks for crazy stupid stuff to get really discouraged.

Otherwise I might be interested in having government subsidize such a system.. Europe has great rail service but most would be amazed at how expensive it is to use even after the government paying for it.

There is no money up here to do anything but I would be thrilled if they could at least turn the old railroad beds into bike paths or have a decent bike path system... painting a white line down the side of these major roads doesn't do it for me..

[flycessna]

Originally Posted by Maineah

I agree with you 100%. Maine is far too spread out to support a profitable train system. Without a government subsidy there would be no train service to Maine period! Trains were great back in the late 1800's and early 1900's but they're era is LONG GONE. Sure it's fun to ride a train for pleasure but they're not practical for everyday commuting this far out from a major city.

My wifes grandfather moved to Lewiston around 1950 and he took the train from Boston to Auburn and made it here in just over two hours... A better time then todays train and even better then driving today on our new highways....

[cebdark]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

We do not have a viable track system. The state just bought a junk railroad where trains must slow down to 15 MPH just to stay on the tracks. Now the major user of the system has gone to truck shipment. It would be hugely expensive to develop a rail system and the environmental industry has millions of dollars to tie up any such initiative in the courts for years.

Yup. Personally, I'd love to see trains come back; however, I don't think the ridership would be there to support such an endeavor either.

I think we've gone round enough about the financial state of the state (and the federal government for that matter). "If you build it, they will come" is more than likely wishful thinking (at least at this point in time) IMO.

[DarkWolf]

Its doable , it would be Diesel making it cheaper. As for thin population , Finland and Norway have lines serving the Arctic region. The only thing your state needs to do is upgrade the tracks , signals , and stations....which is not that expensive. Maine needs to dump the large bulky Amtrak trains and go with the smaller fuel saving DMU trains. Amtrak actually is pushing for this , but the states don't want to spend the $$$ to switch even though it can save them a ton of $$$ in operating costs. Maine will one day in the not to distant future become a part of Northeastern Megapolis , so its best to prepare for the more congested roads now will cheaper Rail and Streetcars then later when it will be more costly.

[Maine Writer]

Why is someone from Jersey and has visited only twice interested in changing Maine?

[retiredtinbender]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

Its doable , it would be Diesel making it cheaper. As for thin population , Finland and Norway have lines serving the Arctic region. The only thing your state needs to do is upgrade the tracks , signals , and stations....which is not that expensive. Maine needs to dump the large bulky Amtrak trains and go with the smaller fuel saving DMU trains. Amtrak actually is pushing for this , but the states don't want to spend the $$$ to switch even though it can save them a ton of $$$ in operating costs. Maine will one day in the not to distant future become a part of Northeastern Megapolis , so its best to prepare for the more congested roads now will cheaper Rail and Streetcars then later when it will be more costly.

Just for grins, do you know how much it costs to rebuild a rail line per mile as opposed to building new?