(The following report by David Darman appeared on New Hampshire Public Radio on December 26, 2006.)
CONCORD, N.H. — Amtrak’s Downeaster train has celebrated its fifth anniversary.
In 2001, train advocates claimed the Downeaster would fill a transportation need by giving commuters a way to get off crowded roads.
Political leaders promised the train would bring economic revival to the cities and towns that it serves.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s David Darman has looked into whether any of those promises have come true yet.
He files this report.
Even before the Downeaster’s first ran, train proponents predicted it would prove a popular way to travel between Portland and Boston.
Their prediction has become a reality, as the number of riders has multiplied over the past five years.
Patricia Douglas of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, or NNEPRA, says passengers up and down the line have made the Downeaster a great success.
i think we’re going to finish up 2006, with somewhere around 335,000 passengers. and that compares to last year, which was our best year to date, at just under 294,000 passengers. so, we’re looking at increases in excess of 40,000 people between last year and this year.
Nearly 40 percent of the line’s riders come from the three stops in New Hampshire, in Dover, Durham, and Exeter.
NNEPRA officials say most of the people who ride the train are commuting to Boston area jobs.
SX UP: train approaches
John Frances commutes from Rochester and catches the early morning train in Dover.
Frances says a few weeks ago, he began taking the Downeaster to his new job in Cambridge.
He says his decision lets him avoid paying tolls, high gas prices, and the expensive cost of parking his car.
i think i’m saving at least eleven dollars a day….by taking the train. you can buy yourself lunch. yeah…not to mention the aggravation because of the traffic.
There’s no doubt that the train has been successful attracting riders.
But on the day the Downeaster was launched at Boston’s North Station 5 years ago, Amtrak’s then chairman promised more than transportation from the train.
That chairman, former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis said the train would leave prosperity in its wake.
Boston is going to benefit enormously. maine is going to benefit enormously. new england is going to benefit enormously. New Hampshire’s going to have rail service. at long last New Hampshire is being dragged into the twenty first century. (snickers)
A survey done two years ago for NNEPRA found the train helped generate about 7 million dollars of economic activity in New Hampshire.
The Downeaster helped bring in an additional 15 million dollars to Maine.
Despite official reports of economic benefit, many businesses close to the tracks in Exeter say they don’t get many additional sales from train travelers.
That’s true even at the building that once served as the town’s station, right next to the platform.
The front of the building is now Gerry’s Variety, which has a kiosk where travelers can buy tickets to get on the Downeaster.
Co-owner Laurie Goupil (Goo-ple) says she loves the train, but having a kiosk in her store isn’t really an advantage.
…unfortunately, it hasn’t done anything good for our business. but we do get a lot more people coming in to use the machine and we’re always glad to go and help people how to use it. its a little challenging sometimes for the first time that somebody tries it.
Exeter’s retail experience is certainly not what train proponents predicted when the Downeaster got going.
But the train is so popular, there are plans to expand the usually full parking lot.
In Dover, city officials say their stop also attracts many riders, and that some stores near the station have reported additional sales because of the train.
Patricia Douglas of NNEPRA says there’s even greater evidence in Maine that the train is spurring economic development.
She says new apartments have sprung up in Old Orchard Beach, near Portland.
Douglas also says a developer plans to renovate an old mill yard near the station in Biddeford, after decades of neglect.
he believes that a lot of the businesses that he’s attracting to his mill complex that he’s refurbishing as office space, alot of them have ties to boston and its location that’s made the difference.
The train’s success in attracting riders and even some business has not gone unnoticed in Maine.
The state’s Governor, John Baldacci issued an executive order in September that called for extending the Downeaster line to Brunswick.
In the meantime, NNEPRA plans to add a 5th round trip to its schedule in the next few months.
It would replace bus service that now makes the last run of the day.