AUGUSTA (AP) – A New Jersey company that introduced excursion rail service between Brunswick and Rockland says seasonal passenger trains between Brunswick and Augusta could become a reality in two years.

“In a couple of years, absolutely. We think there’s a market up there,” said Gordon Fuller, vice president and chief operating officer of Morristown & Erie Railway Inc. of Morristown, N.J.

Operating as Maine Eastern Railroad, the company recently began the Brunswick-Rockland service, a 57-mile run that takes two hours and 15 minutes.

It features restored stainless-steel railcars from the 1940s and 1950s that seat 54 to 58 passengers. A dining car offers food and beverages.

The 34-mile run from Brunswick to Augusta would include long stretches beside the Kennebec River. The trains would run on Wednesdays and Saturdays during the season and could approach speeds of 40 mph, Fuller said.

“I wouldn’t want to run less than three cars (including a dining/lounge car),” he said.

Fuller said he has ridden the rails from Brunswick to Augusta in a high-wheel car, a small vehicle that workers use for repairs and inspections.

“Maine is blessed with some beautiful scenery,” he said.

A Maine Eastern train likely will travel the route sometime in late August or early September to inspect the tracks and rail bed.

Ron Roy of the state Department of Transportation said the rails and beds are in good shape between Brunswick and Augusta, although Fuller said some minor work may be needed.

Morristown & Erie is in the third year of a 10-year contract to lease the state-owned Brunswick-Augusta and Brunswick-Rockland lines.

Fuller is also interested in establishing freight service to Augusta and said he has been talking to several businesses about that possibility.

Roy said year-round passenger train service to Augusta and Rockland would be feasible only if Amtrak follows through on its long-range plan to extend its Boston-to-Portland service up the coast to Brunswick.