There are almost too many reasons to list as to why Searsport/Mack Point could never be a player in the container business. For starters, to compete with the other big East Coast terminals from an infrastructure standpoint, you are talking about expenditures in the tens of millions of dollars (if not more). Just the environmental studies and engineering costs alone would be staggering!! Then you have the problem of which Class one is going to partner up with you. The CPRS, CSXT, NS & CN all have high speed, single line routes from the East Coast to Chicago, so why would they ever want to work with the MMA and have to split up the revenue? They wouldn't - plain and simple - which means you'd always be at a major rate & service disadvantage. Then you have the probelm of there being no big population center near Searsport. Places like NYC/NJ, Norfolk, Philly, etc all have millions of people living within 100 miles of them. That is clearly not the case with Searsport, as almost everything would need to move a great distance after being unloaded there. Lastly there is already over capacity at places like Boston, Baltimore & Halifax, so what makes you think Searsport could come in and get business when long existing facilities like those cannot?
I hate to sound negative and would love to see it work, but it just never could under present conditions.