4 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

Portland, ME Forecaster, 1/11/11:

The operators of the Amtrak Downeaster will meet with the city's Transportation Committee next week to discuss a variety of initiatives, including a new passenger rail station on Commercial Street.

Here is the story.

And very good that this is being addressed, as it is known that the current rail/bus station is on a spur off the mainline. Reverse moves would have been needed for trains to continue north towards, or enter coming south from Brunswick.

[BillMagee]

It appears the proposed station is adjacent to the former Portland International Ferry Terminal. The ferry terminal was abandoned when the ferry service to Yarmouth, NS was stopped a couple of years ago. The Provincial government in Nova Scotia pulled the annual subsidy. The terminal building itself had some serious issues with toxic mold and was slated to be replaced. Now, with no international ferries, there is no need for an international terminal. We used the Portland to Yarmouth ferry several times back in the 1970's. It was an overnight trip from Portland to Yarmouth with a cabin and everything: kind of a poor man's cruise. One of those crossings was so rough that I came as close to seasick as I ever want to come. We drove off the boat in NS at 6am and I could not even look at food until noon. The last time we used it was in 1978 when our daughter was just a month shy of one year old. She hated that boat. That was the last time we used the ferry. She's 33 now.

[KevinKorell]

Bill and all, it's hard to believe that this thread is over 7 years since its last post. But I came upon it when searching for items about the Downeaster and a potential new Portland station.

 

Bill's experience with the ferry, then named the MS Prince of Fundy, is the same one I got to ride as a teenager on a trip with my parents in the mid-1970's.  That operation dissolved not too long after that, and several other operators and vessels have come and go over those years. The last incarnation of a ferry service between Portland, ME and Yarmouth, NS is a catamaran known as HST-2, run by Bay Ferries, and it started just 2 years ago in March 2016.  I believe it is still in service, though I don't know if they suspend for the winter. 

 

IIRC the Prince of Fundy was more like a cruise ship than a ferry, in that people had private rooms.  The boat made one round trip in 24 hours, with each one way trip about 10 hours long. So one trip was during the day, while the other direction was overnight.

 

There was also a dock at Bar Harbor, ME where there also were ferries (including the MV Blue Nose) that ran across to Yarmouth, NS.  Those also went through a few different operators and ships in their lifetime.  However Bar Harbor is well east of Rockport and across a few waterways.  To get trains there, it would require a further extension of train tracks beyond Rockport and east to Bar Harbor, something probably impossible.

 

The reason I bring this all up is that nothing has been done in the interim between the last response to this thread, and this current one, to move the Portland train station.  If it were to be moved to where the Portland International Ferry Terminal is, it would definitely open up intermodal possibilities which could help both the ferry and Downeaster ridership as they would feed one another.

[KevinKorell]

Another awakening of this thread, as the logical relocation of the station to avert the Downeaster backup moves is still only a thought.

 

Portland, ME Press-Herald, 4/19/24:

 

 

 

   Portland’s Amtrak station may move from Thompson’s Point    

 

 

 

The operator of the Amtrak Downeaster hopes to increase the passenger train’s efficiency and appeal to travelers by building a new Portland station along the main rail line that runs from Boston to Brunswick.

 

Read the story here.   And don't forget to read the comments below, which are on both sides of the station relocation debate.  Those against it cite the loss of intermodal connections.

[KevinKorell]

WGME-TV, Channel 13 in Portland, ME, 4/19/24:

 

 

  Portland Amtrak station could move closer to downtown      

 

 

The Amtrak Downeaster is hoping to fast track plans to move the Portland train terminal to a new home.

 

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