Train Lobby Pushes for Taxpayer Funds to Extend Railway to Bangor and Orono with a Poll Showing Lukewarm Support from Mainers

The Maine Rail Group (MRG), a pro-railway non-profit lobbying organization, is presenting survey data claiming that 58 percent of Mainers would “occasionally” ride a train line between Portland and Orono in order to push for a new taxpayer-funded passenger railway.

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“This survey shows that Maine people support the vision we have for offering reliable, rapid passenger service to our three largest metro areas,” said MRG President Peter Cole.

“This will bring the same benefits to the Second Congressional District now enjoyed by the First District, and forge a major connection to Boston,” he added.

The MRG funded a survey, conducted by Digital Research Inc., to gauge support for a proposed Amtrak line that would extend from Portland, through Auburn, Lewiston, Waterville, Bangor, and Orono, with possible additional stops between the cities.

The survey found that a little over half of the 600 Mainers surveyed said they would at least occasionally ride the train, with just nine percent saying they would ride it “all the time.” The survey also determined that 62 percent would at least somewhat support a statewide bond to fund the project, with the majority of funding to be provided by the federal government.

These results were enough for the MRG to consider their plan a runaway success and continue to advocate for taxpayer dollars to build the railway.

“In our efforts to promote alternative transportation throughout Maine, we have found many new allies, and it’s gratifying that Maine voters agree,” Cole said.

Amtrak, which has long been subsidized by the federal government routinely runs losses of about $1 billion each year. One of its biggest backers in Washington was former president Joe Biden who, when serving in Congress for nearly four decades, used it to commute between Delaware and the nation’s capital.

The MRG testified last month in favor of a bill from Rep. Tavis Hasenfus (D-Readfield), directing the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority to apply for federal funding to begin work on the new railroad.

The organization claimed that the railway line could transform Bangor into a major tourist hub and that it would draw more students to Maine colleges.

“College students would be more attracted to come to Maine knowing that they
could easily and affordably visit friends and family. College students will quickly
become enamored with Maine and remain adding to the economic development of our state,” he said.

Rep. Hasenfus crafted his bill, LD 487, as an emergency measure so that, if passed, it can become law immediately, rather than waiting the customary 90-day period after passage before it is enacted. He justified the bill’s emergency status by claiming that the 90-day delay would prevent Maine from meeting the deadline to apply for the 2025 grant.

According to the bill’s fiscal note, it would cost the state $40,000 to “gather information and prepare the application for federal funding,” though this number is not an accurate assessment of the ultimate taxpayer cost of the railway, as it only includes costs associated with developing a funding application rather than the actual cost of the railway’s development.

The massive railway project has the potential to turn into a financial disaster, mirroring Boston’s infamous Big Dig meant to restructure the city’s highways, which ran billions of dollars over budget, with one 2012 estimate suggesting that total costs ballooned to over $24 billion.

That project was also plagued with years of delays, various failures, and leaks in tunnels, and even caused the death of a woman in 2006 when a poorly constructed tunnel collapsed.

MRG’s proposed railway also invites comparisons to California’s catastrophic high-speed railway, planned to be completed by 2020 at a cost of $30 billion. The project remains incomplete with no estimated end date, and projected costs have skyrocketed to over $100 billion.