SourcePublic ownership of railways is not a new concept in all three states. Massachusetts (page 8-9) bought out the commuter railway lines from the Boston & Maine Railway (B&M), Pan Am's predecessor company, in 1976, and more recently, purchased the River Line from Springfield to the Vermont border. New Hampshire has acquired much of the former B&M and hired freight operators for lines with an economic future and converted the lines without one into trails or roads. Similarly, Maine owns part of the former Maine Central, another predecessor company to Pan Am. Acquiring the entire company would unite disjointed publicly owned lines, allowing for a seamless passenger rail network.
Service
In Massachusetts, I propose restoring 5 daily round trip passenger trains between Albany and Boston via 12 intermediate stops including North Adams, Greenfield and Fitchburg. With track upgrades to 79 mph, additional sidings, and new DMU rolling stock, the trip should take about 4h 10m. Most of the trains could connect in Greenfield, Schenectady and Albany to trains going to Montreal, Toronto, Niagara Falls, New York City, St. Albans, Washington, and Chicago. While Amtrak runs a 5h20m stub train from Boston to Albany via Springfield to provide a one-seat ride to Chicago, a 41 minute connection in Schenectady would be faster and not require a 37m-1h14m stop in Albany to connect or disconnect from the Chicago-New York City train. Local politicians are interested in passenger trains and this level of service would be highly popular.
Maine already funds 5 daily round trips, the Downeaster service. I propose expanding this service to 17 daily round trips. Instead of serving six stations in southern Maine, service would expand to nine other cities including Augusta, Rockland, Bangor and Auburn. Four daily round trips on the Northeast Regional and one daily NighTrain would connect Maine to New York City and Washington, DC. New Hampshire’s commuter rail service would connect to these trains as well. Like the Downeaster today, the new trainsets would include food service.
Given its proximity to Boston, New Hampshire is better served with commuter rail service instead of intercity service. I propose hourly service to Nashua, Manchester and Concord as well as hourly service to Portsmouth and Rochester. Some trains would connect to the Downeaster and other trains instead of running all the way to Boston.
Rolling stock
While locomotive-hauled trains are the default of many passenger operators includes MBTA and Amtrak’s Downeaster, the three states should buy Stadler FLIRT diesel multiple units (DMU) instead. Instead of only having powered wheels on the locomotive, DMUs distribute the locomotive’s power throughout the trainset, allowing for significantly faster acceleration. DMUs save about 1 minute per stop compared to locomotive-hauled sets. Stadler’s DMU’s also have lower floors (1.87’) than Amtrak’s Downeaster trains (4’), allowing for cheaper, level platforms, allowing passengers to board trains without climbing stairs, which improves accessibility and speeds up boarding, saving time at each stop. In addition to having faster acceleration, DMUs use less fuel than locomotive-hauled trainsets of similar length. Maine and Massachusetts should acquire 13 intercity versions of the FLIRT (199 seats with a small food service area) while New Hampshire should acquire 13 commuter rail versions (224 seats with no food service). For periods of high demand, the spare DMU trainsets can be coupled to the other trainsets to expand capacity.
SourceWhile DMUs are great for shorter routes with lots of stops, locomotive-hauled trains are still useful for busier, longer distance routes with fewer stops. I propose seven trainsets for service to New York City and two for overnight service to Washington, DC. The New York City trainsets would include either a Siemens Charger diesel locomotive equipped with a 3rd rail shoe or a Bombardier ALP-45DP which two large diesel and electric engines. For coaches, Amfleet coaches could be used or new coaches could be acquired such as the Siemens Venture coaches under construction for California and the Midwest. Cab cars would allow for quick turnarounds in Bangor and New York City. Amtrak is receiving new Viewliner II sleeping cars and reportedly bought too many to economically use so leasing 6-8 of them for NighTrain service from Bangor to Washington would be feasible.
Ridership and revenue
Using Amtrak's Downeaster pricing and a recent commuter rail study, I calculated a rough estimate of ridership and revenue.
Track and infrastructure
Similar to many railroads in the 1960’s, the Boston & Maine Railroad and Maine Central Railroad fell upon hard times and lacked the money to maintain their track. By the time both lines were purchased by Tim Mellon, the track had years of deferred maintenance. Unfortunately, Mellon did little to improve the track and physical plant, instead further deferring maintenance to the point of removing signal systems, second tracks and sidings. The Pan Am employee timetable shows the low speeds of their track. Even today, Pan Am is known for its slow freight trains. Substantial upgrades are required to return lines to passenger service and improve the speed and reliability of freight service. New signal systems will need to be installed on lines lacking them. Double track and sidings will need to be restored. And new stations and platforms will need to be built. While it is possible to upgrade privately-owned freight tracks, the specifications and scope of such upgrades are at the whim and will of the private owner, often raising the cost of passenger rail projects.
Maine already owns the Rockland Branch and the line from Brunswick to Augusta. Both require rehabilitation to allow faster train speeds, especially as the state has allowed the line to completely disappear in Augusta. The state should acquire the line from New Hampshire to Brunswick and add a second track. The state should also acquire the branch to Auburn and the mainline from Waterville to Bangor, upgrading both to allow 80 mph passenger trains. In Portland, Maine will need to move its passenger station to its former site on Congress St to avoid the reserve move off of the mainline that the Downeaster makes today. In Boston, the Grand Trunk line through Cambridge would need to be grade-separated, likely on a double-track viaduct, and will need a new station at Kendall Square, allowing connections to the Red Line. Upgrading this line is essential for trains going from Maine to New York City.
Massachusetts should buy the line between Fitchburg and Schenectady, 154.8 miles. Most of the line is Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Class 2 (25 mph freight trains and 30 mph for passenger trains) so upgrading the track speed to Class 4 (60 mph and 80 mph respectively) would make passenger service feasible and improve the quality of freight service. About 6-7 daily freight trains use the line so some passenger sidings may be needed. New stations and platforms in would need to be built in seven towns and Greenfield station would need another platform. One of Albany’s platforms would need an extension to create a low platform and Boston’s North Station would need a new low platform.
New Hampshire should buy the Nashua-Concord mainline. The line’s second track would need to restored and the existing track would need extensive rehabilitation to return to Class 4 as the track is only Class 1 (10 mph for freight, 15 mph for passenger trains) north of Manchester and Class 2 from Manchester to Lowell. New eight stations would need to be built throughout the line.
While there may be some private freight rail interest in Pan Am, reportedly the company has been on the block for years with no bites. Therefore, public ownership with private freight rail operator (s) is the way to build a transformative passenger rail system across northern New England.
Track and infrastructure
Similar to many railroads in the 1960’s, the Boston & Maine Railroad and Maine Central Railroad fell upon hard times and lacked the money to maintain their track. By the time both lines were purchased by Tim Mellon, the track had years of deferred maintenance. Unfortunately, Mellon did little to improve the track and physical plant, instead further deferring maintenance to the point of removing signal systems, second tracks and sidings. The Pan Am employee timetable shows the low speeds of their track. Even today, Pan Am is known for its slow freight trains. Substantial upgrades are required to return lines to passenger service and improve the speed and reliability of freight service. New signal systems will need to be installed on lines lacking them. Double track and sidings will need to be restored. And new stations and platforms will need to be built. While it is possible to upgrade privately-owned freight tracks, the specifications and scope of such upgrades are at the whim and will of the private owner, often raising the cost of passenger rail projects.
Maine already owns the Rockland Branch and the line from Brunswick to Augusta. Both require rehabilitation to allow faster train speeds, especially as the state has allowed the line to completely disappear in Augusta. The state should acquire the line from New Hampshire to Brunswick and add a second track. The state should also acquire the branch to Auburn and the mainline from Waterville to Bangor, upgrading both to allow 80 mph passenger trains. In Portland, Maine will need to move its passenger station to its former site on Congress St to avoid the reserve move off of the mainline that the Downeaster makes today. In Boston, the Grand Trunk line through Cambridge would need to be grade-separated, likely on a double-track viaduct, and will need a new station at Kendall Square, allowing connections to the Red Line. Upgrading this line is essential for trains going from Maine to New York City.
Massachusetts should buy the line between Fitchburg and Schenectady, 154.8 miles. Most of the line is Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Class 2 (25 mph freight trains and 30 mph for passenger trains) so upgrading the track speed to Class 4 (60 mph and 80 mph respectively) would make passenger service feasible and improve the quality of freight service. About 6-7 daily freight trains use the line so some passenger sidings may be needed. New stations and platforms in would need to be built in seven towns and Greenfield station would need another platform. One of Albany’s platforms would need an extension to create a low platform and Boston’s North Station would need a new low platform.
New Hampshire should buy the Nashua-Concord mainline. The line’s second track would need to restored and the existing track would need extensive rehabilitation to return to Class 4 as the track is only Class 1 (10 mph for freight, 15 mph for passenger trains) north of Manchester and Class 2 from Manchester to Lowell. New eight stations would need to be built throughout the line.
While there may be some private freight rail interest in Pan Am, reportedly the company has been on the block for years with no bites. Therefore, public ownership with private freight rail operator (s) is the way to build a transformative passenger rail system across northern New England.
