Oops! Newspaper Article Ignores TrainRiders/NE's Pivotal Role in the Creation of the Downeaster. Our President was Quick to Educate the Writer

Photo: Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald file

We're always pleased when the Downeaster shows up in the media. Such was the case when the Portland Sunday Telegram recently published an extensive article on the underground North/South Rail Link, connecting North and South Stations. A recent Harvard University study resurrected the long-delayed proposal, citing economic, environmental and passenger train efficiency benefits.

What caught the sharp eye of TrainRiders' president, F. Bruce Sleeper, was a single sentence. Here is Mr. Sleeper's letter of clarification to the writer, Steve Collins.

"I have just had the chance to read your 10/6/2024 Maine Sunday Telegram article on the North/South Rail Link in Boston.  With one exception, I found it to be an interesting and timely discussion of the Link, a project that TrainRiders has supported for many, many years.  I would, however, take exception to the following statement made in the article:

Though the connection between the two stations never got approval –President Ronald Reagan thought it was too costly – the effort ultimately led to creation of the Amtrak Downeaster that restored passenger rail service to Maine for the first time since 1965.

It was not the Link effort that led to the creation of the Downeaster; it was TrainRiders.  In 1990 we formed a political action committee, RailVision, to obtain signatures of registered Maine voters on a petition asking the Maine legislature to enact citizen-initiated legislation requiring the Maine Department of Transportation to reinitiate passenger rail service between Maine and Boston.  Ultimately, we gathered almost 90,000 signatures, far more than the approximately 52,000 required by Maine’s Constitution for such a petition.  In 1991, the Maine legislature passed that legislation (the “Passenger Rail Services Act”) and it was signed into law by Governor McKernan, becoming the first citizen-initiated bill passed by the legislature without first being presented to the people of Maine for a vote.  All of this occurred independently of efforts by many, including TrainRiders and, most especially, John Businger in Massachusetts to move forward with the Rail Link in Boston. 

TrainRiders worked long and hard to obtain the Downeaster service, and we continue to support it to this day. In 1995, we worked with MDOT to modify the Act to, among other things, provide for the creation of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (“NNEPRA”) to manage the then anticipated service for the State of Maine (I personally served on NNEPRA’s inaugural board in my then-capacity as legal counsel to TrainRiders).  The service commenced in December 2001 with on-board volunteer hosts provided by TrainRiders, a program that continued through the onset of COVID.  We continue to this day to provide hosts at several of the stations along the line.  We also worked to obtain the extension of the service from Portland N=north to Brunswick in 2012.   

Too many people today take the Downeaster for granted, assuming, it seems, that the service dropped out of the sky one day.  Clearly, you did not make that mistake, for which we are grateful.  I hope that my provision of this information will, however, allow you to have a more complete picture of what actually led to the creation of the Downeaster."

TrainRiders continues to work with NNEPRA, MDOT, State Legislators and our Washington Delegation on behalf of today's ridership. Our goal is to improve and expand "America's Favorite Train." Won't you join us?

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The full artical by Steve Collins: https://www.pressherald.com/2024/10/05/boston-eyes-8-billion-rail-plan-that-would-benefit-maine/

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