Future passenger rail lines linking the Twin Cities to the rest of Maine don’t have to rely on Amtrak, according to business and transportation leaders.

Light rail or single-car systems might be a better way to go.

“We have an increasing number of people living in Lewiston and Auburn that commute to Portland,” said Lucien Gosselin, president of the Lewiston Auburn Economic Growth Council. “We’re going to have to provide transportation systems for those people. Rail is a direct alternative for us, and we have the potential to bring it right into downtown Lewiston.”

Governor John Baldacci on Monday called for a study of rail possibilities north of Portland. Baldacci’s study, due by December, would outline the steps needed to extend passenger rail through Portland and up to Brunswick and Auburn.

The lines are already there, Gosselin said. Guilford Rail’s freight lines connect Auburn to the rest of New England and St. Lawrence and Atlantic owns tracks between Auburn and Montreal.

“But many of those crossings are not geared up to handle passenger rail,” Gosselin said. Amtrak has considered expanding service up past Portland, but Gosselin said the future might not depend on it.

Jeff Monroe, director of the City of Portland Ports and Transportation department, agreed. “The Amtrak model calls for big locomotives with a bunch of cars attached,” he said. “It might be in our best interest to start smaller.”

Monroe said the best place to start is developing a network of intermodal passenger stations linked by bus lines at first. “I say, start with rubber, not rail,” he said. “Develop the need for it, and then make the next step up.”

That would be a light-rail train system running commuters between Maine cities.

“And once that’s developed, then you can make the step up to heavy passenger rail,” he said.

Locally, there are plans to build a combined rail, road and air intermodal passenger port near the Auburn Lewiston Municipal Airport. Gosselin said the growth council has been to preserve railway rights from that center and into the hearts of both cities for a number of years.

“One idea is to provide a commuter service, right from Lewiston into Brunswick,” Gosselin said. “We still have about 900 residents here working at Bath Iron Works, using van pools to get there. So we treat that idea as a very important part of our long-term planning.”