The September Performance Report offers the following good news:

Ridership of 43,955 made September 2008 another record
breaker for the Downeaster, with an increase of 20.7%
over last year.

With an average of 1,465 riders per day,
the Downeaster generated $592,862 in ticket revenue for
the month, an increase of 17.2% over last year.

September marked the completion of the first quarter of
FY2009. Downeaster ridership is pacing about 30% ahead
of last year and about 14% better than projected for the
first quarter of FY09.