FAIRFIELD, Maine — Clyde Dyar, Fairfield’s economic development director, raves about the comfort and convenience of Amtrak’s Downeaster, the passenger rail line that runs from Portland to Boston, the Kennebec Journal reported.
His hope is that one day that passenger rail service will extend through central Maine as far north as Bangor.
Dyar, as a member of the Maine Rail Passenger Corridor Committee, has traveled across the region to generate grassroots backing for the idea.
Elected officials in Waterville, Fairfield, Newport, Pittsfield, Hallowell, Bangor, Brunswick, Topsham, Etna, Hermon, Bowdoinham and Levant have pledged their support.
“I had some concerns until I saw the Portland to Boston line,” Dyar said, “and it has been so dynamic that, yes, I see it can being successful (in central Maine).”
Amtrak already is extending its Downeaster line north to Brunswick, a project that the state Department of Transportation estimates will take four to six years to complete.
But DOT has yet to include passenger rail service in central Maine as part of its 20-year master plan.
Dyar said his committee’s chief goal is to convince DOT to revise that plan to make a Portland-to-Bangor extension a part of its long-term strategy, making use of the existing rail corridor.
Guilford Transportation owns and operates the tracks, which it uses exclusively for hauling freight.
Ronald L. Roy, director of DOT’s Office of Passenger Transportation, sees development of passenger service into central Maine as a logical move.
“I think as residents become more reliant on rail service, I think you will see a natural pull to move toward Bangor,” Roy said.
Dyar said the benefits of passenger service into central Maine go far beyond an opportunity to take a weekend pleasure trip to Boston.
Rail travel could helped generate economic development and play a major role in efforts to revitalize downtown areas given that the existing rail corridor goes through those traditional centers of business, Dyar said.
Jack Sutton, another member of the rail committee, also sees that potential.
“It would direct growth toward the city center, I think, if done right, and I think the Downeaster has been done right,” Sutton said.
Dyar said passenger service offers a back to the future benefit for the business community. Train travel, while an old mode of transportation, becomes a highly productive form of travel when paired with laptop computers.
Earlier this year, Dyar and Rep. Paul L. Tessier, D-Fairfield, rode the Northeaster to Boston for a business conference.
Dyar said he and Tessier, laptops in tow, made productive use of every minute on the train. Enclosed in a comfortable, quiet environment with no traffic concerns, the two could focus on business with no distractions, save the sound of steel on steel.
“I was just amazed that we could do business for three hours,” Dyar said. “Normally, I would write that time off going to Boston — other than being on the cell phone.”
Roy said a growth in passenger rail service could reduce traffic on roadways, which would in turn decrease harmful emissions into the atmosphere —train travel, in effect, could be a breath of fresh air.
John Butera, executive director of the Central Kennebec Valley Growth Council, said less pressure on roadways also could mean less money has to be spent to maintain those roadways.
“Even though we are not bursting at the seams in terms of traffic on our road infrastructure, when you get more people to take (a train) for transportation, it eases the strain on our roadways,” Butera said. “It means DOT doesn’t have to pave them every five to 10 years.”
For now, however, rail service in central Maine is merely a concept that is attracting a growing number of believers.
“It is going to take time and effort and a lot of people,” Butera said. “Any big initiative like this takes time, effort and people.”