$17m for Downeaster improvements
pressherald.com/2020/02/27/agency-that-operat...
pressherald.comPosted Feb 29, 2020, 12:44 PM UTC
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pressherald.comThey need an Express train from Portland to Boston. No stops in between. I'd pay so much extra.
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Take the Concord express bus that leaves from the exact same building and only takes 2 hours and has more trips.
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The bus is more comfortable than I expected, too
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Is it really that bad? I've only ride once but it felt the stops happened really fast.
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The stops are pretty quick but they happen every 20 min. Could turn a 2.5 hour ride into under 2 easily. Even not frustrating when nobody gets off and two people get on. Forget those people is what I'm saying, I'll pay part of their ticket for an express.
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I have to travel for Boston for work sometimes and I want to take the train because it’s much more comfortable but the bus gets there faster and has a better schedule.
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limitations of not enough population served. the Acela works because they can snipe traffic from the entire north eastern seaboard.
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The train is 90% filled from Portland. Every stop after picks up 2 or 3 people. It could sell out from Portland alone.
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but it’s about financial feasibility.
it’s data from 2016 vs. 2018 so slightly off, but Acela had annual ridership of 3.5 million (2016) whereas Downeaster was (2018) 550 thousand.
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Why are you comparing the 2?
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Ok I love infrastructure improvements but why are my tax dollars going to something that’s going to charge me again at the point of exchange. We need nationalized rail.
Edit: we need affordable national rail.
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Amtrak is nationalized rail.
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But it’s still not affordable. I’d much rather travel by rail when I need to travel but when the cost is $200 for a flight and over a grand for rail it’s just not an option.
I am hopeful that we’ll get there though.
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This isn’t entirely true. Amtrak is (forced by Congress to) run as a for-profit company, which means it’s not truly nationalized in the sense that it does not run as a public authority. This affects ticket prices. They charge highly on the Northeast Corridor (only place they make a per passenger profit) and rely on that money plus state subsidies to run a lot of the other service.
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How did I not know this. Wow. Maybe I just assumed it was private because it’s so freakin expensive.
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Well, I am not sure how you have come to the conclusion that it's expensive. It's $6 round trip from Brunswick to Portland. $90/month for a commuter pass. You can't even park in Portland for that cheap. The only reason fare is that cheap is because it's nationalized rail. They would have to double the fare just cover operational costs on the Downeaster, which is one of Amtrak's most successful lines. Never mind covering capital costs.
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Lol how do you get to work from the train station?
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Huh maybe I’m thinking of something else, that is pretty cheap.
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In what other country are the trains free to ride?
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Just saw a story about Luxembourg doing it today actually.
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Luxembourg is an excellent place to run this experiment, I predict it will show such positive results it will be copied. Probably not until we’re old and gray in Maine.
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I hope so! Rail infrastructure is so important in the fight against climate change!
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"The federal funds will also allow the rail authority to add a sixth daily round trip between Brunswick and Wells..."
Here's to hoping that 6th run fills the gap between the 5am and 8am service to Portland. It seems like such a missed opportunity to service commuters who's work day starts at 8am.