And there the reason has to be-
1. The Falure of the State of Maine to develop a Intermodal Port at Bangor and Portland
2. The unwillingness to Develop the towns of the interior to catch up to the rest of the hustle and bustle of the North East
3. We have been doing this way for a hudred years why should we change now
4. Last but not least---Mills fighting against any other industry moving in to "There" towns so has to keep a Captive labor force that cant just pick and move
HUH?
1.) Where would traffic come for ports such as Bangor or Portland? It mostly goes to Montreal or NY/Newark. Halifax and St. John aren't what they used to be either... that's one big reason why rail traffic in the area has dropped off so much. Jsut cause you built a harbor doesn't mean Maersk is going to be loading a stacktrain there every morning headed to California.
2.) What's this about "unwillingness" to develop? First, many folks would welcome a little more industry. Second, who the heck wants maine to be all gridlocked and congested and devloped like "the rest of the hust;e and bustle" o fthe northeast. Look, Maine is not even in the same ballpark as the rest of the northeast in terms of population or industry... you really have to compare Maine with places like New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Minnesota, Colorado, etc.... Maine, economically and demographically, is much more in line with those places, and not at all simialr to MA, NJ, CT, etc... long may it be so. Mainers would like a few more jobs, but most want nothing to do with being "just like" Ma or NJ or CT... and in terms of population, geography, and types of industries... again, you have to compare apples and apples, not apples (say, Mass.) with watermelons.
3. Who are you speaking for?
4. again HUH? What other industries are the mills "fighting against"? The potato processors? Walmart? The bottle redemption guy? Surely you don't think Microsoft was going to locate Corporate HQ in dowtown Fort KEnt but got chased off by Irving and Fraser?
Now, to get back to your subject line.... yes, geopgraphically, MMA is, on the whole, among the most "remote" regional railroads out there. There are only a handful... ONR, maybe MRL, the former BC Rail and ACR, etc.- that are in the same leage or more so in terms of physical "remoteness".