Extending the Downeaster to New York and DC

The highly successful Downeaster has connected Maine to Boston for a quarter century and its plans call for greater frequency and extensions further into Maine. What if it was extended south to New York City and Washington, DC?

Two years ago, my family and I tried without success to recreate the East Wind route which was a seasonal train connecting Washington to Maine between 1940 and 1955. Despite having an hour to connect between Back Bay and North Station, delays due to heat restrictions caused us to miss it. Fortunately, we were able to hop on a commuter train to Newburyport and my folks picked us up from there. We took the C&J bus directly to South Station on the way home. The experience highlights a key impediment to connecting Maine with points beyond Boston. This year, our trip to Ogunquit, ME took 11 hours to drive from suburban Washington, DC, reiterating the need for a train option.

Grand Junction Option

Although both of Boston’s South and North Stations lack a direct rail connection, the MBTA uses the Grand Junction line to transfer its locomotives on the south side to the north side’s Boston Engine Terminal for heavy maintenance. The Downeaster would operate as a four-car section of a Northeast Regional train. After reaching South Station, a diesel locomotive would back up to the Downeaster section and pull it out towards the Grand Junction line where it would back up straight into North Station and a waiting 5-car Downeaster consist. After connecting the two sections, the train would pull out towards Maine, making all of the Downeaster's usual stops. 

Amtrak in Cambridge, MA on the Grand Junction line on a non-revenue move between Boston's North and South Stations (source) 

The Grand Junction track is in poor shape and lacks crossing gates at several busy Cambridge streets. To make the reverse move in a safe and timely manner, it should be upgraded to at least 30 mph (up from 5 mph today), crossing gates should be added at the four streets that lack them and medians should be added at all streets to deter drivers from going around the gates. Traffic signals would need to to be coordinated with crossing gates as well  Since this track is owned by the MBTA and very lightly traveled, constructing these improvements should be relatively straight forward. One complication is MassDOT’s plans to close the line for several years to rebuild I-90. 

Since the four-coach consist attached to two existing trains, this route adds relatively little additional operating cost besides the reverse move. It also has higher revenue potential than the current Downeaster route due to the distances and population of the destinations. Using summer 2025 timetables, Brunswick to Washington travel time would be 11:50-12:15 which is comparable to a busy summer day drive with several stops. If the Downeaster and Northeast Regional schedules were optimized to reduce connecting time, travel times would drop to 11:41 in both directions. 

Springfield Option

The East Wind initially ran between Washington, New York and Portland, using the line between New London, Worcester, Lowell and Haverhill to get to Maine. It later ran to Providence, following a different route to Worcester. However, neither line hosts passenger trains today and both would require expensive upgrades to produce a relatively slow, curvy and indirect route. Instead, the train would depart the Northeast Corridor in New Haven to run to Springfield and follow the Lake Shore Limited route to Worcester. It would then use the historic East Wind route which recently received a substantial upgrade from new owner CSX which allows 40 mph freight trains and potentially, passenger trains up to 59 mph. The train would take approximately 12:34 to go between Brunswick and Washington, DC. 

Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited in Worcester, MA (source) 

This route requires some additional capacity between Springfield and Worcester so part of the former second track should be restored. Capacity upgrades may be required on the Worcester-Lowell-Ballardvale line too. Eventually, positive train control and 79 mph top speed should be added. Since this train would run separately from the existing Downeaster service to Boston, capacity  upgrades may be required between Haverhill and Brunswick as well. 

To reduce operating costs, this train should combine with the Vermonter in Springfield. Long term, 2-3 additional separate Downeaster trains should be added with one terminating in New York City. 

About a third of Portland's airline passengers go to cities along the Northeast Corridor (770,000 per year) and for Manchester, it is about 25% (320,000). The latter just lost all of its flights to New York City. Given the increased flight delays and traffic impacts, a Downeaster southern extension will would be highly successful.