Welcome to TrainRiders/Northeast

News Brief

Just in Time for Christmas shopping...You can now donate to TrainRiders/NE by enrolling in the SMILE program at Amazon. For every eligible purchase you make, we'll receive .5% of your purchase price. Go here for more information and after signing up, search for "trainriders northeast" and select it as your preferred non-profit. It costs you nothing but will benefit New England's premier passenger rail advocacy organization. We thank you for your support.

30th Annual Meeting of TrainRiders/Northeast - Friday, December 14th in Portland

Details: Written by TRN Webmaster TRN Webmaster; Published: 25 November 2018 25 November 2018

30th Time for our Annual Meeting - this year we're celebrating 30 years of grassroots advocacy on behalf of passenger rail in the Northeast. Our pride and joy, the Amtrak Downeaster, will be marking its 17th year of serving Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

It will be held at the Holiday Inn By the Bay in downtown Portland on Friday, December 14th, 2018. Those wishing accommodations at the Holiday Inn should call Marketing Director Sally Page for a special low rate (207-775-2311, Ext 2141).

Registration begins at 11:00 a.m. (both north and southbound trains arrive in Portland before 11:30 a.m.). The meeting opens at 12:30 p.m. and concludes at 3:30 p.m. If you come by train, you'll be bussed to the hotel in time of the buffet luncheon.

brightline geneskoropowski Our Keynote Speaker will be Eugene (Gene) Skoropowski, Senior Passenger Rail Consultant, TY Lin International, whose 40 years of railroading experience brought Florida's first privately-funded passenger rail service to fruition. Gene was responsible for establishing Brightline as an operating railroad in Florida, developing the service plan (train operations), selecting the rolling stock (trainsets), designing of the rolling stock maintenance facilities, hiring and training of operating crews (engineers & conductors), projecting operating costs and revenues and preparing the company’s passenger rail operations program. Gene is a long-time friend of TrainRiders/NE and we welcome his insight into the current state of passenger rail in America.

Both Maine Senator Susan Collins and Stephen Gardner, Executive Vice President of Amtrak, are unable to appear because of conflicting commitments.

NNEPRA Executive Director Patricia Quinn will provide us with the Downeaster's impressive record-breaking numbers from Fiscal Year 2018.

Mariah Morales, of Amtrak's Government Affairs team, will fill us in on Amtrak's relationships with coalitions, trade associations and advocacy groups.

Maine DOT Commissioner David Bernhardt, PanAm Railways President David Fink and Executive VP Cynthia Scarano will be our guests as well.

Following the meeting at 4 p.m., you are invited to board a bus for a tour of Portland's downtown, waterfront and Deering Oaks Park holiday display. We'll return you to the station in time to catch the train south at 6:15 p.m. or the northbound train at 7:30 p.m.

Lest we forget, TrainRiders/NE was responsible for creating the Downeaster in the first place, and we're not finished yet. We're working to expand the rail service to other Maine points. We're planning a connection at North Station to allow us to cross the platform for a train to NEW YORK CITY via Worcester. We've got plenty yet to do in the coming years!

You can make your Annual Meeting luncheon reservation online as well as renew your membership by going here.

NNEPRA Annual Meeting Celebrates FY2018

Details: Written by TRN Webmaster TRN Webmaster; Published: 30 October 2018 30 October 2018

The NNEPRA Annual Meeting was filled with the sweet smell of success.

FY2018
New records were set in FY18 - Ridership (7.7% more than FY17) ticket revenue (18.9% more than FY17) and passenger miles (10.7% more than FY17).

Nine months of FY18 set new ridership records.

The Downeaster maintained one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings in the country in FY18 at 90%.

Kennebunk Cancels Planned Downeaster Stop!

Details: Written by TRN Webmaster TRN Webmaster; Published: 10 October 2018 10 October 2018

...from SeacoastOnline.com by Donna Buttarattzi

KENNEBUNK -- The Board of Selectmen voted Tuesday to pull the plug on plans for an Amtrak Downeaster station that would have brought passenger rail service to downtown Kennebunk.

Four years after voters approved $300,000 for a seasonal train stop in town, the board voted unanimously Tuesday to officially halt the plans that appeared to be close to coming to fruition just a few weeks ago.

Board Chairman Dick Morin read a statement from the board saying, “As we narrowed the conversation regarding the details of the project with regard to things such as renting versus owning and space availability for parking and restrooms, it became more apparent that this location, with its significant limitations, presented a situation that would make us losers if it won, meaning if it was successful, and losers if the project failed at that location.”

NNEPRA Joins Other States to Keep the Dome Car Rolling

Details: Written by TRN Webmaster TRN Webmaster; Parent Category: TRNE News TRNE News; Published: 06 September 2018 06 September 2018

The bi-monthly Downeaster Operations Meeting was held on the Great Dome Car yesterday. It was an appropriate location after Amtrak announced plans to eliminate the very popular car from their fleet as of December 31st, 2018. The proposed "sunset" of the car was clearly on the minds of those who were interviewed.

NNEPRA Executive Director Patricia Quinn announced that a group of states, including Maine, have inquired of Amtrak as what it would cost to refurbish and keep the Dome car in service, rather than have it permanently taken out of service at the end of this year.

Come along for the ride and hear from those on board.

Trains Magazine Article Reported That Amtrak Would Halt Service on All Non-PTC Routes - That Included the Downeaster! Amtrak Issued a “Clarification”

Details: Written by TRN Webmaster TRN Webmaster; Parent Category: TRNE News TRNE News; Published: 28 August 2018 28 August 2018

An article in Trains Magazine set off a firestorm of conflicting statements and nationwide pushback after it stated that the Amtrak Board had decided not to run service on trackage that is not Positive Train Control equipped after December 31st of this year!

This would have eliminated Amtrak service on the Downeaster route and seven other essential Amtrak services.

TrainRiders/NE along with other grassroots passenger rail organizations joined with the Rail Passengers Association to demand clarification from Amtrak as the story contradicts Amtrak's previous position that risk assessments would be conducted to determine what adjustments might be needed on non-PTC trackage.

Trains Magazine has now received "clarification" from Amtrak top management:

"Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari tells Trains News Wire, "where PTC is not implemented and operational, it is expected that nearly all carriers will qualify for an alternative PTC implementation schedule under law.

"For those carriers and routes operating under an extension or under an FRA-approved exemption, Amtrak is performing risk analyses and developing strategies for enhancing safety on a route-by-route basis to ensure that there is a single level of safety across the Amtrak network.

"For those very limited routes where a host may not achieve an alternative schedule by year’s end, Amtrak will suspend service and may seek alternative modes of service until such routes come into compliance."

NNEPRA and Amtrak have been conducting a risk assessment of the Downeaster route and, according to a knowledgeable source, preliminary results do not indicate any factors which would jeopardize the Downeaster Service.

Phew!

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