Passenger Trains > Amtrak (SIC) considers more Brunswick trips

Amtrak(SIC) considers more Brunswick trips
Bangor Daily News
Beth Brogan, Bangor Daily News

Monday, October 21, 2013

> BRUNSWICK — New figures released last week by Amtrak show the
> Downeaster train from Boston to Portland and Brunswick is busier than
> ever, prompting officials to contemplate eventually increasing the
> number of trips.

> Ridership on the Downeaster is up 3 percent from last year, and up a
> “staggering” 123 percent since the service started in 2005, according
> to Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Northern New England
> Passenger Rail Authority,which operates the service for Amtrak. The
> number of people using the train for tourism increased 30 percent in
> the past year alone, Quinn said, and the amount of people arriving in
> Brunswick on the mid-afternoon train and leaving in the early evening
> for Boston has increased up to 20 percent during the week and 60
> percent on the weekends.
>
> “People are not only riding the train, but coming here, going to
> local businesses, staying overnight, buying things in restaurants and
> stores and contributing to the local economy. [It] is extremely
> exciting for us,” she said.
>
> The increase in ridership has NNEPRA thinking big thoughts about the
> future, including the possibility of increasing the number of
> roundtrips between Brunswick and Boston to five per day, with an
> additional train running from Portland to Boston. That would be good
> news for local business owners, who say they see more customers when
> the trains are running...

Amtrak (SIC) considers more Brunswick trips


TO regulars will notice mistakes in this article:

It is not Amtrak that is considering more Brunswick trips. Amtrak is
not involved in route planning at all...it's been the local agency, New
England Passenger Rail Authority all along.

NNEPRA does not operate the service for Amtrak; Amtrak runs the trains
as a contractor to NNEPRA, which specifies service levels, equipment
type, fares and food service standards, and contracts out that food
service to a non-Amtrak contractor.

And the Downeasters began operation on December 14, 2001, not in 2005.

It is especially surprising that a MAINE news outlet would have neglected the
primary role played by a MAINE agency in getting the service started and keeping
it running...and its passengers happy.

I can just see the big smile on Wayne Davis face......

Steve

bluesboyst Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I can just see the big smile on Wayne Davis
> face......


He and Patty Quinn have been happy for more than ten years!!