Over the last 15 years, Maine has been a leader in bringing back passenger train travel. Armed with substantial federal funding – first from Sen. George Mitchell’s skills as Senate majority leader, then from President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill – Maine has intelligently planned and executed daily Amtrak train travel from Portland to Boston and, since 2012, to Brunswick as well.
But the Brunswick service isn’t fully functional – it needs to add more departures and arrivals – and it can’t do that until a layover building is built south of Maine Street Station, now a retailing and office hub, and home to Brunswick’s municipal building.
The layover building is fully funded and mostly permitted. The Federal Railroad Administration approved the design, and ruled no further environmental review is needed. But, last month, a snag developed when a Superior Court judge agreed with abutters they hadn’t been properly notified when the New England Passenger Rail Authority (NEPRA) applied for a state stormwater permit subsequently approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
NEPRA was apparently misled by DEP about the notification requirement, and the application has since been re-filed, with proper notice.
But the legal glitch allowed opponents to resume their piling on, attracting an odd group of politicians who’ve decided that, since the project is “controversial” with a small group of neighbors, there must be something wrong with it.
Those politicians now include state Sen. Stan Gerzofsky, D-Brunswick, who opined that, even though NEPRA followed every legal step, it “abused” the neighbors. Gov. Paul LePage (R) also weighed in, although the source of his interest isn’t clear. LePage’s only contribution was to suggest the layover building be located at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station site, an idea considered earlier and rejected as impractical.
Now there’s a letter from six Democratic legislators who suggest that Brunswick be abandoned altogether and the layover building moved to South Portland, which they believe will improve the chances of trains running to Lewiston.
None of these suggestions makes any sense.
The legislators’ letter was initiated by Rep. Mike Shaw, D-Standish, who’s a conductor on Amtrak’s Downeaster run, and a very good one, I’m told. But he doesn’t understand the purpose of the layover building. It’s to allow more trains to run to Brunswick daily, with the last train remaining in the building, saving an empty “deadhead” run back and forth to Portland, as now occurs.
The funding for the building is not transferable. Building in South Portland would continue to leave Brunswick without adequate service, while doing nothing to promote trains to Lewiston, which would run on different tracks, with different ownership.
Letter signers included several veteran lawmakers — including Peggy Rotundo, House and Senate Appropriations chair, and Ed Mazurek, House and Senate Transportation chair — who should have known better.
The arguments against the layover building revolve in what seems like an endless loop. Opponents cry foul because the building falls under federal authority, rather than state or town regulation, but also question why NEPRA applied for the stormwater permit – a move the agency made voluntarily so it wouldn’t seem deaf to the neighbors’ complaints.
And you might think it obvious that Brunswick homeowners would want to end the hours-long idling of Downeaster engines at the station – and many do – but since the building will be located a bit further south, it involves a different group of neighbors.
Let’s face it: You can’t please all the people all the time. The impacts of a fully enclosed train overnighting in Brunswick would seem to most of us rather minor, yet there’s a group that passionately disagrees, and whose concerns can’t be met without scuttling the project.
One can thus understand why other politicians want to stay out, but someone may have to speak up – perhaps U.S. Sen. Angus King, the town’s most prominent resident?
The tempest will pass, and we shouldn’t forget the good news beneath it all. Maine is becoming a destination for train travel in Northern New England, easily eclipsing Vermont, which has tried to bring back trains, and New Hampshire, which has done almost nothing.
Those who support these encouraging developments should remember that, without good planning, train service often fails. It took years to overcome the “trains are history” belief, and it was only dispelled by the overwhelming success of the original Downeaster.
Service to Lewiston may come, but planning and funding must come first. We will do doing no one – riders, communities, downtowns, taxpayers – any favors if trains don’t fill the seats, and they don’t run on time.
Douglas Rooks is a former daily and weekly newspaper editor who has covered the State House for 29 years. He can be reached at drooks@tds.net.
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