TIMES RECORD • March 9, 2021
The Downeaster, which runs from Brunswick to Boston, is currently transporting 15% of the riders they were prior to the pandemic. “Now that things are coming back, and there’s demand coming back, we are hopeful and we expect that ridership is going to rebound and return,” Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority Executive Director Patricia Quinn said, noting that 85% of the Downeaster’s riders traditionally have been traveling to or from Boston. As part of the “Moving Maine Forward” plan, Gov. Janet Mills announced that residents of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut are now, like New Hampshire and Vermont, permitted to travel to Maine without having to quarantine or provide negative test results.