BRUNSWICK — The neighborhood group that fought construction of an Amtrak maintenance and layover facility in West Brunswick will not challenge the facility’s stormwater permit in Superior Court. The decision means construction of the estimated $12.7 million terminal, which proponents say is needed to provide more efficient and possibly expanded passenger rail service in Maine, […]
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Posted inNation / World, New England, sj-web
Amtrak derailment injures 6 in Vermont
UPDATED 1:05 p.m.: A hospital executive says six people are in the emergency room after an Amtrak train derailed in Vermont when it apparently hit rocks on the track. Central Vermont Medical Center CEO Judy Tartaglia says the patients have injuries that are not life-threatening. They include neck, back and shoulder pain, lightheadedness and a […]
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Foes of Amtrak layover site in Brunswick vow to keep fighting
BRUNSWICK — The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority is eager to move forward on a proposed train layover facility, after receiving tentative approval last week for a stormwater license from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. But opponents of the project are not backing down. A DEP-issued storm-water license is the final hurdle NNEPRA […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Amtrak Downeaster to add seasonal stop in Kennebunk
KENNEBUNK (AP) — Amtrak will begin stopping in Kennebunk within the next two years. The Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/1yHWmLk ) reported Amtrak will establish the stop in the spring of 2015 or 2016. The move will restore passenger train service to Kennebunk for the first time in more than 50 years. The train will stop at […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Amtrak’s Downeaster wrapping up difficult month
PORTLAND (AP) — Amtrak’s Downeaster is wrapping up the worst month for train cancellations since the passenger rail service launched more than a decade ago. The train’s on-time performance usually runs around 80 percent but it dipped to about 15 percent in July and ridership has dropped because of delays and cancelations caused by track […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Amtrak releases identity of woman struck, killed by train in South Portland
SOUTH PORTLAND — A 39-year-old South Portland woman was killed Saturday evening when she was struck by a southbound Downeaster train about one mile south of the Portland Transportation Center. Nyla J. Howard was hit by Train 698 at 6:55 p.m., according to an email from Amtrak spokeswoman Kimberly Woods. Woods said Howard was trespassing […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Winter track damage slows, cancels Amtrak Downeaster runs
PORTLAND (AP) — Amtrak Downeaster passenger rail service between Boston and Maine has been delayed or canceled this week so damaged tracks can be repaired. The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, which manages Downeaster service, said inspectors determined that harsh winter weather and heavy snow melt had destabilized the ground under about 27 noncontiguous […]
Posted inNews, sj-web
Man killed by Downeaster train in apparent suicide in Old Orchard Beach
OLD ORCHARD BEACH — One of Amtrak’s Downeaster passenger trains struck and killed a man shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday, Old Orchard Beach police have confirmed. Lt. Timothy DeLuca said that a white male was killed when he stepped out in front of the southbound train at the Union Avenue Crossing. The man was pronounced […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Ridership on expanded Downeaster route above projections
PORTLAND (AP) — Amtrak’s Downeaster train carried nearly 50 percent more passengers on its expanded Portland-to-Brunswick route than rail officials expected in the first year of the service. Patricia Quinn, director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, said from the start of the service on Nov. 1, 2012, through Oct. 31 about 52,000 […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Amtrak considers more Brunswick trips
BRUNSWICK — New figures released last week by Amtrak show the Downeaster train from Boston to Portland and Brunswick is busier than ever, prompting officials to contemplate eventually increasing the number of trips. Ridership on the Downeaster is up 3 percent from last year, and up a “staggering” 123 percent since the service started in […]