• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Passenger Trains Could Roll Along Kennebec on Brunswick-Augusta Route

Posted on: Friday, 8 July 2005, 21:00 CDT

Jul. 9--AUGUSTA -- Seasonal passenger trains could be clanging beside long stretches of the Kennebec River between Brunswick and Augusta in two years.

"In a couple of years, absolutely. We think there's a market up there," said Gordon Fuller, vice president and chief operating officer of Morristown & Erie Railway Inc. of Morristown, N.J.

The company, operating as Maine Eastern Railroad, launched an excursion service this week between Brunswick and Rockland. That ride, 57 miles each way, takes two hours and 15 minutes.

The Brunswick-to-Augusta run, which could be a similar trip, covers 34 miles each way on a rail bed built beside the Kennebec from Richmond to the capital city.

"I wouldn't want to run less than three cars (including a dining/lounge car)," said Fuller. The seasonal passenger train could approach 40 mph and run on Wednesdays and Saturdays, he said.

The Brunswick-to-Rockland trip unveiled last week features restored stainless-steel railcars from the 1940s and 1950s that seat 54 to 58 passengers. A dining car from British Columbia provides food and beverages for riders.

Fuller said he has ridden the rails from Brunswick to Augusta in a high-wheel car, a small vehicle that workers use for repairs and inspections.

"Maine is blessed with some beautiful scenery," he said.

A Maine Eastern train likely will travel the Brunswick-Augusta route sometime in late August or early September to inspect the tracks and rail bed. Fuller said some minor work may be needed.

Ron Roy of the Office of Passenger Transportation in the state Department of Transportation said the rails and beds are in good shape between Brunswick and Augusta. Approximately 6.5 miles of the northern end of the railroad tracks run beside the popular Kennebec River Rail Trail from Gardiner to Augusta.

Morristown & Erie is in the third year of a 10-year contract to lease the state-owned Brunswick-Augusta and Brunswick-Rockland lines. Safe Handling Inc. of Auburn was the previous leasee.

Fuller said he also wants to establish new freight service to Augusta in the coming years. He said he has been talking to several businesses in the city about that possibility.

When Maine Coast Railroad operated the Brunswick-to-Augusta line in the 1990s, Pine State Trading Co. -- off State Street -- was a regular customer for deliveries.

Freight stops along the Brunswick-to-Rockland corridor have included Maine Yankee Atomic Power Co., Dragon Cement Co. and Bath Iron Works.

Roy said year-round passenger train service to Augusta and Rockland would be a bit harder to establish. It would be feasible only if Amtrak started year-round trains into Brunswick.

Amtrak, the nationally-subsidized railroad, offers service in Maine only as far north as Portland.

"It's the cost we're working on," he said.

Amtrak's long-range plan is eventually to extend the line beyond Portland -- but Congress has been grappling with debt and unprofitability in much of the national rail service.

The Augusta City Council and Mayor William Dowling already have endorsed year-round passenger train service to the city. On March 3, 2003, the council adopted a resolution encouraging DOT to support a Brunswick-to-Augusta route.

In fact, trains still do make their way into Augusta, on the east side.

Guilford freight trains deliver supplies to businesses, including Cives Steel Co. and Blue Seal Feeds Inc.

-----

To see more of the Kennebec Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.kjonline.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

More News in this Category