PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 1, 2021
Picture this: From downtown Portland, you board a modern electric passenger train and head north to Falmouth, Yarmouth, Cumberland and Lewiston on a route through Auburn, then on to Montreal. This train is not a dream. The Maine Department of Transportation has such a plan. Completed in 2011, the Portland North alternative modes study was shelved by Maine DOT in favor of highway-widening and buses on I-295. We still have the plan, and it’s a good one. Since 2011, congestion is growing and the climate is deteriorating, primarily from human use of fossil fuels to operate vehicles. The railway infrastructure is intact and ready for restoration. We’re asking all the towns along the corridor to help fund a study of the 2011 plan to confirm our train station communities. We want realistic pricing. This is for the climate. It’s for social equity, and for a sustainable Maine economy. It’s time: Train time. ~ Tony Donovan, Maine Rail Transit Coalition