PARIS — Two years after holding the Bethel Rail Rally to drum up enthusiasm for passenger rail through Western Maine, the goal may be closer than originally thought.
At its Sept. 4 meeting, the Androscoggin-Oxford-Coos Counties Corridor Committee will hear four proposals about making the idea of passenger rail connecting Portland and Montreal a reality.
The idea of restoring passenger rail through the region emerged as early as 2007, but didn’t really take off until the Rail Rally in 2011.
In the past year, 13 towns in Androscoggin and Oxford counties, on a line from Mechanic Falls to Bethel, signed resolutions in support of the project joined the committee, according to a statement from the committee.
Municipal buy-in has been invaluable for the project, Bethel Chamber of Commerce Director Robin Zinchuk said Tuesday.
Although passenger rail advocates have been prepared for a long process before passenger cars begin chugging through Western Maine communities, an interest by private investors may speed up the time line significantly, Zinchuk said.
In particular, the study completed as part of the Rail Rally indicated that extending a rail line from Portland or Montreal to Bethel might make the project viable for other stops, she said.
At next week’s meeting, committee members are expected to hear proposals ranging from an overnight Montreal-Boston “hotel” train to full-fledged Amtrak passenger rail service.
According to the committee’s statement, the proposed overnight train would leave Montreal in the evening and stop in Bethel and Portland, where travelers would switch to the Downeaster line for the final leg to Boston.
A proposal by the Golden Eagle Railway Corp. includes luxury cars for a Boston-Portland-Montreal service and could include additional stops in Maine and New Hampshire, while a third proposal from the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad is for a Portland-Auburn service with the possibility of connections into the western corridor.
The possibility of Amtrak service through the corridor, studied by the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority in 2011, is also expected to be discussed at the meeting.
pmcguire@sunjournal.com
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