Amtrak Downeaster Discussion Thread

It's important to exclude at least one of the positioning moves to/from the layover facility.

Will the crew change be in Rockland or earlier?

Downeaster Coastal Connection Service between Brunswick and Rockland has hit a snag. You can view the board comments at http://trainridersne.org/

"What was approved was a decision to move forward with an August weekend service, but with four important conditions:
1. An Amtrak-CMQ agreement being reached.
2. A positive MeDOT infrastructure report on the branch line
3. A trip no longer than two and a quarter hours.
4. The service must meet all Amtrak and FRA requirements"

TRNE provides no acknowledgement of one little detail - a 5th condition - set forth by the MeDOT Commissioner that "the administration and ME DOT do not support financially the proposed service and we will not approve use of additional state or federal funds for this purpose."

BTW, the TRN's video on our website did, in fact, include the MeDOT Commissioner's letter to the board referring to no additional funding.

Ms. Quinn also addressed the issue of the year-end PTC deadline for Amtrak service on host railroads and whether it threatened the Downeaster service. Her answer is on our video: https://youtu.be/1Q7jOOexrpQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cowford wrote:"the administration and ME DOT do not support financially the proposed service and we will not approve use of additional state or federal funds for this purpose."

That sounds strict but seems rather toothless - was there more to it than that? If not, I suspect its intent is just for appearances-sake of looking fiscally-responsible.

The MDOT Commissioner surely took his lead from short-timer Gov. LePage.
A job in DC awaits him.

TRNE wrote:BTW, the TRN's video on our website did, in fact, include the MeDOT Commissioner's letter to the board referring to no additional funding.

TRNE, while the issue in question is aired by NNEPRA in the video, Train Riders Northeast did not acknowledge MeDOT's minimum financial performance requirement as an "important condition" to "move forth". Why not?

Given NNEPRA's adjustments to the plan the condition has already been met ... therefore it's not really a pending item, unlike the other four.

Gokeefe - The chairman of NNEPRA said in the video that MeDOT's requirement "puts us in a position where we need to consult further with the department". If the "condition has already been met", then why the need for further consultation?

This is what he later said about the service: They're planning to scale it back to three weekends, two of which have special events, one is merely a weekend that will happen to have the dome car on some of the runs. Which means they'll have to spread the costs of advertising, crew training, etc., etc. over just three weekends. And it doesn't sound like they have come to a conclusion on an access agreement with CMQ, so are those costs even defined? As originally planned, the service was supposedly going to lose $2 for every $1 earned. Yet a reduced service will, well, "In our belief, those three weekends give us a pretty decent prospect of... uh... a break-even proposition..."

Cowford wrote:Gokeefe - The chairman of NNEPRA said in the video that MeDOT's requirement "puts us in a position where we need to consult further with the department". If the "condition has already been met", then why the need for further consultation?

My fault on that one. I missed the remark.

Not to shift this discussion back to North Station, but not sure I see another place to ask this? What is going on with the indoor connection from the MBTA North Station Orange/Green Line directly into North Station itself. The "Hub on Causeway" site implies this will be finished as part of its "phase I" before the end of 2018. Yet I see no activity inside North Station where you would think a big hole in the south wall would be opening up somewhere to complete this passage. And the former exit into the tunnel from the MBTA side is still boarded up.

For us frequent DE riders the outside detour is getting old, particularly in the WInter.

It is very much under construction and expected to be completed in 2018 as indicated. To the extent that one can believe the dates ...

swist wrote: Yet I see no activity inside North Station where you would think a big hole in the south wall would be opening up somewhere to complete this passage.

Punching a hole in the wall to access the new routes between Hub on Causeway and the existing North Station will probably be about the last thing they do before completion.

swist wrote:Not to shift this discussion back to North Station, but not sure I see another place to ask this? What is going on with the indoor connection from the MBTA North Station Orange/Green Line directly into North Station itself. The "Hub on Causeway" site implies this will be finished as part of its "phase I" before the end of 2018. Yet I see no activity inside North Station where you would think a big hole in the south wall would be opening up somewhere to complete this passage. And the former exit into the tunnel from the MBTA side is still boarded up.

For us frequent DE riders the outside detour is getting old, particularly in the WInter.

From the TDGardgen website:

Phase I is expected to be completed in three years, with an opening in late 2018. Upon completion of Phase I, there will be a covered, underground connection from the commuter rail to the subway at North Station, a new entrance to North Station via Causeway Street, and the public realm on Causeway Street will be complete.