Downeaster Ridership Up 28%

Could someone please post a link to the Wall Street Journal story. I searched online for it and couldn't find it.

As far as connecting to Lewiston goes, the Lewiston Lower Road has already been rebuilt, I believe to Class III levels. The interesting thing about going to Brunswick is that the follow-on connections are immediate, no further capital expenditures would be necessary for Class III operating speeds to Rockland from Brunswick or to Lewiston from Brunswick. However, there would be capital needed for stations etc. but the main obstacle, rebuilt track, has already been overcome.

As noted previously the Rockland branch would not even need work for stations, major stations already exist making "D-Day" as in "Downeaster Day" connecting service provision possible.

gokeefe

gokeefe wrote:Could someone please post a link to the Wall Street Journal story. I searched online for it and couldn't find it.

As far as connecting to Lewiston goes, the Lewiston Lower Road has already been rebuilt, I believe to Class III levels. The interesting thing about going to Brunswick is that the follow-on connections are immediate, no further capital expenditures would be necessary for Class III operating speeds to Rockland from Brunswick or to Lewiston from Brunswick. However, there would be capital needed for stations etc. but the main obstacle, rebuilt track, has already been overcome.

As noted previously the Rockland branch would not even need work for stations, major stations already exist making "D-Day" as in "Downeaster Day" connecting service provision possible.

gokeefe

I would also appreciate this

I agree Messrs. Artman and O'Keefe, it is just plain not there and i looked for it on the web as well intending to post a URL to such. It appeared in the July 22 print edition on Page a-2. I believe the material was of AP origin so maybe there are contractual issues between AP and WSJ.

Several points at once:

Boston's free "Metro" illustrated the "28% increase" story with a picture of an Acela or HHP8 at South Station.

I don't think ME will look favorably on more NH stops. And even if NH antes up, you have to balance serving intermediate points with the overall trip time. Plaistow, NH is not a good candidate for the DE simply because it's less than 5 miles from Haverhill, MA. But this, and some intransigent state boundary/road issues make it an excellent candidate for extending at least some of the MBTA's Haverhill trips. I should write my (NH) legislator...

I can see adding another car to some or all trainsets (the DE doesn't AFAIK face the same platform-length issues as the MBTA's Reading line), but I'm not sure where they'll get the track time between Wilmington and Lawrence for a 6th RT, even if there's platform space at North Station.

I think it is worth saying that if NH were to pay its share of the Downeaster operating costs that the serice would then in essence become permanent and never again face the possibility of being cut.

Funding from NH would be a clear demonstration of a regional consensus of the value of the service, furthermore, ME legislators would recognize that they are co-dependent with NH for continuation of service and would think a lot more carefully about hurting something that benefits both states immensely. Even though ME would be paying in less for the service it would have greater value to ME, paradoxically to NH as well. For ME more value is generated because they are receiving something for less than they were willing to pay for it anyways (at least in the short-term), for NH greater value is generated because for a small investment they get full service in both directions, a say in operations, and a guarantee of permanent service without any capital investments in track, which at this time are very advanced, although they could go further.

In New Hampshire, the current talk is of an expansion of the commuter rail from Haverhill to Plaistow, not of adding a Downeaster stop.

Both MA and NH have a vested interest in this since it would allow the current MBTA layover facility to be moved to NH and out of a residential area and would provide a better place for NH commuters to catch the train instead of clogging up downtown Haverhill.

<http://www.eagletribune.com/punewshh/lo ... d=topstory>

Saw this article about T commuter rail being a possiblity now for NH... do you think it will affect Downeaster ridership?

I don't think MBTA service to Plaistow will affect DE ridership much; It would save residents of several Rockingham County towns 15 min. of congested driving (mostly MA 125 from I-495 to the border) to catch a train. Plaistow might reduce DE patronage at Exeter, but not eastwards, and Plaistow service doesn't mean the MBTA will start running expresses or add enough coaches so the current locals aren't SRO at North Station in both morning and evening rush hour. There are already dozens of Haverhill commuters who pay extra for the quick trip, cafe car and seats available on the DE.

I think if the Plaistow station was opened but without Downeaster service there is the potential for a long-term increase in DE traffic simply because of people getting used to riding the train to get from point A to B in that area. When they want to go somewhere else, such as Maine, they'll consider the DE along with other transportation modes, instead of perhaps previously where they only would have considered a bus or car.

Not sure if this is the right place to mention this, but yesterday's 697 was more than an hour and a half late getting into Portland. I overheard a lot of first-time riders saying "never again" and "I should have taken the bus" -- not good. The delays weren't the fault of Amtrak or the Downeaster crew, but still, a few of these customers might have been convinced to try the train again in the future if, for instance, they were offered a free beverage or something of that nature, rather than just a "sorry for the inconvenience."

I always take those "never again" comments with a grain of salt. Things can happen beyond the control of the provider which make for an unpleasant experience. If I said "never again" for each horrible travel experience I had on various modes of travel, I'd never go anywhere! The idea of providing some relief as MEC noted, does go along way to allaying irritated customers. I wonder if the Portland staff would have authority to do so. My bet is that they'd have to go through a chain of command to do something like that. Has anybody yet found out the cause of the delay?

"Signal issues," as far as I could tell. They didn't really tell us what was going on (again, not a good thing... leave people to guess and they'll assume the worst, AND get annoyed in the process). Not sure what was wrong specifically, but between Durham and Saco, it seemed like we never got above 30 MPH, and we had to "stop and proceed" about a dozen times. The grade crossing signals were working fine so it wasn't that.

I just took the Downeaster up to Portland yesterday and back down today. It's a nice ride, and seems to be a well run and popular service! It's nice to see positive results now and then. Maybe New York will get its act together and improve Empire Corridor service instead of just making empty promises. If the Downeaster can have a cafe car at 2.5 hours...

Note, Maine pays most (all?) the cost of the cafe car on the Downeaster.

NY pays nothing towards the trains that terminate in Albany. I believe Amtrak gave them the option of taking up the contract, but NY said no.

I think the cafe car is a good investment, even on relatively short runs like the Downeaster. I've talked to several people who had the option of taking either the bus or the Downeaster and they cited the cafe car as one of the reasons they chose the Downeaster over the bus.