$1 million is headed for Yarmouth-to-Auburn tracks
AUBURN – An estimated $1 million in federal money may soon be headed to a 13-mile stretch of railroad tracks between Yarmouth and Auburn, the first step toward bringing passenger trains to the Twin Cities.
Congressional votes are expected next week on the measure, a small piece of the 2004 Omnibus Spending Bill.
Along with millions of dollars for other Maine transportation projects, this portion would fund an analysis of the rail spur, said Ron Roy, director of the Maine Office of Passenger Transportation. The money may also pay for some initial engineering.
The tracks in question run from Yarmouth, past Pineland, through New Gloucester and into Auburn.
Changes could be years away, though, said Roy.
Currently, Maine’s train-related goals are focused on extending passenger rail service from Portland to Brunswick. If all goes according to plan, that could be operating in 2007, Roy said.
Extending service to Auburn would come later.
“This will be our first serious look,” he said.
Passenger service to Auburn and beyond has been in the works for several years. The eventual goal is to improve tracks all the way to the Canadian border, allowing someone to board a train in Portland or Auburn and take it all the way to Montreal.
“We want to make this linkage,” said Roland Miller, economic development director for the city of Auburn.
The city wants to be a travel hub, just as it has become an inland port for rail and bus freight.
An “intermodal” passenger station for trains, planes, buses and cars is planned for the south end of the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport.
Comments are no longer available on this story