Executive Director Patricia Quinn and her staff reported details of FY2014 to a packed meeting room of interested parties. Here are selected items from the Annual Report:

Performance Statistics:

• • 4% increase in Ridership - 536,524 total
  • 6.2% increase in Revenue - $8.6 total
  • 58% On Time Performance 

On Time Performance

MBTA work on the Shawsheen River Bridges required weekend track outages and forced 12 Downeaster trains to be cancelled. The severe winter created severe track conditions in the spring, resulting in the cancellation of 24 additional trains and the estimated loss of 4,000 riders and $64,000 in revenue.

Passenger Profile

Passengers chose to ride the Downeaster for a variety of reasons:

• • 45% - Leisure
  • 28% - Visit friends and family
  • 17% - Business
  • 2% - Medical
  • 2% - College
  • 6% - Other

During FY2014

• • 57% - Traveled to or from Maine (66% of revenue)
  • 30% - Traveled between NH and Boston (25% of revenue)
  • 25% - Traveled on passes (16% of revenue)

Customer Satisfaction

Throughout the year of challenges, passsengers continually ranked the Downeaster the highest among Amtrak trains for customer service with an overall satisfaction rating of 93%.

FY2015

NNEPRA projects a 3% drop in ridership due mainly to tie replacement & bridge projects.

Our 26th Annual Meeting was held on Oct. 16th at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. Our keynote speaker was Ross Capon, Transportation Consultant and President Emeritus of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. Ross has testified countless times before Congress on behalf of railroad passengers. He is a member of the Federal Railroad Administration's Railroad Safety Advisory Committee along other federal and rail transportation boards. Ross shared his extensive knowledge of Amtrak's struggles to find congressional funding over the years. He is a long-time friend of TrainRiders/Northeast can be seen on the Downeaster as he vacations in Maine.

Patricia Quinn, NNEPRA Executive Director, displayed her 'numbers game' which was an easily digestible story of the Downeaster's successes and challenges. 

Wayne announced an intiative to expand Downeaster service to New York City - it would be a direct route, bypassing the North and South Station bottlenecks. Video: http://youtu.be/YTJI5DJuc8E

MPBN report: http://news.mpbn.net/post/rail-riders-seek-better-connections-between-maine-and-new-york

PPH article on drone video of BLF site: http://www.pressherald.com/2014/10/23/drone-deployed-in-brunswick-battle-over-rail-facility/

In addition, an eye-riveting video of the Brunswick Layover Facility site was unveiled, analyzed by Jeff Reynolds who lives in the West Brunswick neighborhood.

A fine and informative evening was enjoyed by all!