(August 2, Brunswick, ME) It was an enthusiastic gathering of federal, state, local and rail officials and advocates that celebrated the kick-off of the $35 million Downeaster expansion project to Freeport and Brunswick. Administrator Joseph Szabo of the Federal Railroad Administration congratulated the State of Maine and NNEPRA for becoming the first recipient of American Recovery & Reinvestment Act funds. He said, "Maine sets the example for the other states. You're going to be the very first of our rail projects to put rail into the ground."

Chairman Wayne Davis of TrainRiders/Northeast was congratulated by Marty Eisenstein, chairman of the NNEPRA board, as "an instrumental player in getting the train operating" back in 2001. TrainRiders began circulating petitions for passenger rail service back in 1989. It certainly didn't happen overnight...but it has happened.

The project is expected to take two years to complete. What will it take to upgrade some 30 miles of PanAm Railways' tracks? Here are some the numbers:

• 35,000 ties
• 168,570 tie plates
• 522,650 track spikes
• 294,630 rail anchors
• 42,000 tons of ballast

Congratulations to all who made this achievement possible!