January, 2018 NNEPRA Board Meeting
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- Created: 29 January 2018 29 January 2018
The NNEPRA Board met at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. The well-attended meeting heard reports on the Downeaster's performance numbers and further details on the proposed Coastal Connection.
Representatives from the MidCoast were present to add their support for the proposed summer weekend service expansion.
Ridership & Revenue Report:
The first six months of NNEPRA's fiscal year delivered record-breaking numbers or as Executive Director Patricia Quinn put it, "It was a good story - the best ever!"
Ridership in FY2018 saw a 13% increase over FY2017. On the revenue side, income grew in FY2018 by 26%! Ms. Quinn noted that the last three months of FY2017 were plagued by extensive tie-replacement work.
Rockland Residents Enthusiastically Support Proposed Downeaster Expansion to the MidCoast
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- Created: 25 January 2018 25 January 2018
NNEPRA's Executive Director Patricia Quinn briefed Rockland residents and officials last night about the proposed seasonal expansion of Downeaster service to several mid-coast towns and cities. Bath, Wiscasset, Newcastle/Damariscotta and Rockland would be added to the route.
Those in attendance, more than 70, listened, asked questions and learned that the service could run from July to Labor Day in September with direct trains to and from Boston on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
29th TrainRiders/NE Annual Meeting
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- Created: 17 November 2017 17 November 2017
Our Annual Meeting was held at the Holiday Inn By The Bay in Portland on December 15th, 2017. We heard presentations from NNEPRA Executive Director Patricia Quinn (The Downeaster continues to grow in ridership and revenue.), MDOT Commissioner David Bernhardt (Maine is forging new alliances with rail companies and states.), President David Fink of PanAm Railroad (We are committed to supporting on-time Downeaster service.), Gene Skoropowski, Former Sr. VP of All Aboard Florida (Florida's first privately-funded passenger rail service will begin operation this month), Chairman Wayne Davis and Executive Director George O'Keefe.
Ms. Quinn regularly updates our membership on the Downeaster 'numbers.' They were impressive and her presentation can be seen here.
Gene Skoropowski proudly presented an overview of Floridays private passenger rail system now coming online - Brightline. You can view his presentation here.
In this year's video, the city manager of Bath, town managers of Wiscasset, Newcastle, Damariscotta and the executive director of Rockland Main Street spoke of what the proposed seasonal weekend service from Brunswick to Rockland would mean to their communities and the travelers on board the Downeaster.
Adjournment was at 3:30 pm. Many of those in attendance then boarded the Downeaster (on us) for a trip to Freeport to see L.L. Bean's spectacular Christmas display and program. Afterwards, they took the 5:25 pm in Freeport and continued on to points south. It was a train-friendly event.