PORTLAND (AP) – Amtrak’s Downeaster that runs between Boston and Portland appears to be making up some lost ground after a slump during the winter and early spring, officials say.

Overall, both revenues and ridership this year are lower than during the inaugural year, but rail officials remain optimistic about the future of the service that began in December 2001.

A speedier train, more convenient schedule, better marketing efforts and an improved economic climate will eventually increase ridership, said Ron Roy, the state’s director of passenger transportation.

The numbers looked particularly bad earlier in the year as a “bubble of curiosity” created by the novelty of the new service dissipated, he said.

Ridership dropped 20 to 30 percent in the winter and early spring. But May ridership was down only 7 percent, and the numbers evened out in June and were nearly equal to the previous year, said John Englert, executive director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority.

While the first-year numbers were something of a fluke, the first part of this year wasn’t normal, either.

The transportation industry across the board was hurt by the weak economy, rough winter weather, fears of terrorism and the war in Iraq, he said.

“The whole industry froze up. Nobody was going to travel,” he said. “People just sat at home and watched the war on TV.”

Because of the lower ridership levels, the authority canceled plans to increase ticket prices as much as 5 percent on days with high ridership levels.

Fearing the loss of more riders, the authority kept the current one-way adult fare of $21. While it also kept its same-day round-trip fair $35, it eliminated the round-trip discount for weekends.

The authority also cut costs by eliminating two office positions and cutting the food service budget by $50,000.

Englert said increasing the train’s speed will attract riders who now find the 2-hour and 45-minute trip to Boston too slow.

The train’s top speed between Portland and Plaistow, N.H., is now 60 mph but the U.S. Surface Transportation Board ruled in January that the train could boost its speed to 79 mph.

So far, the owner of the track, Guilford Rail System, has declined to let the train do so during another appeal.

Guilford, which contends the $48 million upgrade of the track won’t support the higher speed, has lost two appeals to the Surface Transportation Board. Now it contends the board does not have jurisdiction.

Higher train speeds will reduce the trip to Boston by at least 11 minutes, Roy said, and some scheduling changes might trim off several more minutes.

Wayne Davis, chairman of Train Riders Northeast, said the train’s current 60 mph limit presents a perception problem.

“Sixty miles per hour is not exciting to people,” he said. “But you tell them 80 miles per hour, they say, ‘wow.’ When we get to 80, we will develop a whole new constituency.”

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On the Net:

http://www.thedowneaster.com

AP-ES-07-06-03 1256EDT