Open House at the Brunswick Layover Facility
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- Created: 23 October 2016 23 October 2016
Another milestone today for the Amtrak Downeaster as NNEPRA held an Open House at the 655' long, three-trainset barn.
The entire NNEPRA staff was present answering questions from the hundreds of visitors. As one observer said, "What was all the fuss about?" Enjoy the comments.
NNEPRA and its staff have been through YEARS of opposition from the neighboring community and this event celebrated the rail authority's accomplishment - an indoor facility to service the Downeaster trainsets (welcomed by the maintenance crews, particularly in the winter); an additional Brunswick-Boston round trip on November 21st; a more flexible schedule; and a welcome boost to efficiency, ridership and revenue.
NNEPRA 2016 Annual Meeting
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- Created: 14 October 2016 14 October 2016
NNEPRA held its Annual Meeting last night in Freeport, Maine. Executive Director Patricia Quinn released the best statistic of the evening: "Fiscal year 2017 started strong with our highest first quarter ridership since the service was inaugurated!"
Much of the second quarter of FY2017 will suffer due to the current service disruption as some 15,000 ties are being replaced on the PanAm section of the line between Wells and Portland. This work is scheduled to end on November 21st when the third round trip from Brunswick to Boston will begin. This schedule improvement is due primarily to the Brunswick Layover Facility, which will go 'on line' next month.
Video of a trainset entering the BLF was scheduled to be shown at the meeting - produced by Maine HDTV in cooperation with Consigli Construction, NNEPRA and Amtrak. You can view it here.
Public Hearing on OPEGA's Review of NNEPRA
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- Created: 08 October 2016 08 October 2016
The public hearing of the Maine Government Oversight Committee was held on October 6th, in Augusta. The purpose was to allow public comments on the recent Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability's (OPEGA) review of NNEPRA's financial and operational administration of the Amtrak Downeaster. Those who were displeased that the report failed to find fault with NNEPRA management, refocused their attention from trying to prevent the construction of the Brunswick Layover Facility to requesting further investigation of the decisions of NNEPA Executive Director Patricia Quinn as well as the board itself. Ms. Quinn, TrainRiders/NE Counsel F. Bruce Sleeper and an impassioned Board Chairman Martin Eisenstein returned the fire. Here's a sampling of the hearing.