WOBURN, Mass. — One of the pleasant surprises in the Amtrak and MBTA pairing has been the success of the Downeaster, a train that makes four round trips daily from Portland, Maine to Boston. One of the stops on the trip is at the Anderson Regional Transportation Center in Woburn, the Woburn advocate reported.
In nine months time, the Downeaster has had more than 245,000 passengers and Amtrak Vice Chairman Michael Dukakis has acknowledged the popularity of the train between Boston and Portland.
“The Downeaster has proven what we had already learned from the Acela Express,” he said. “When this country invests in comfortable, reliable, convenient rail service, the public will take advantage of the train in huge and significant numbers.”
With more than 20,000 passengers riding the train in September, officials praised the Downeaster’s new route and said the passenger rail is on pace for a banner year. Adding the stop at Anderson has increased passenger flexibility and provided more options for the MBTA and Amtrak operating between Maine and Boston.
Patricia Douglas of the New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) said there were myriad reasons Woburn was chosen as a stop for the Downeaster. Because Anderson RTC has a high level platform, the trains can open all their doors, making Woburn a one-minute stop. Also, the idea to implement a stop north of Boston was important to give commuters another option of transportation other than driving into the city.
“Now that the Downeaster will be making stops at the Anderson Regional Transportation Center, we expect this will ease the congestion at North Station, making the commuting experience much more pleasant for both MBTA and Downeaster customers,” stated MBTA General Manager Michael H. Mulhern in July.
The Anderson RTC is located near both major highways, Interstate 93 and Interstate 128, and there is ample parking with more than 1,000 parking spaces available. Another important feature at this stop is the access to Logan Express, the MassPort service that provides transportation to Logan Airport.
The Downeaster has been operating from Maine to Boston since December 2001 but the Woburn stop was only added this past July. According to the schedule, a round trip from Woburn to Portland, Maine just passes the two hour mark. One-way trip ranges from $4 to $21 per person and depends on the start and end point. The Downeaster also provides various passes like the Monthly Commuter Pass and Ten-Day Pass. NNEPRA says that the purchase of monthly and multi-ride passes increased by 43 percent in September which they find consistent with people heading back to work after the summer months. Although sales were down by 27 percent in the same month they attribute that to a post Labor Day travel lull, as well as it being the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks, revenues are expected to exceed the initial projections by 44 percent.
Because the NNEPRA is trying to promote weekday business, they are currently offering those who ride Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays until Nov. 14 a full price round trip ticket and half price for a companion.
In July, Executive Director of NNEPRA John Englert stated that “one our primary goals is to develop mid-week business to balance the leisure traffic we have on the weekend.”