The Downeaster was extended from Portland to Brunswick almost 10 years ago. It’s time to prepare for the next logical step: extending passenger rail service up the Lower Road rail corridor from Brunswick to Augusta and connecting Maine’s capital and one of its largest employment centers with Portland, Maine’s largest city, and Boston, New England’s largest city.

The first critical step is long-term commitment to preserve the existing track and expand its use incrementally for passenger and freight use. Some trail interests are intent on tearing up the track for their trail, but that means destroying the ability to use the corridor for its highest and best use: passenger and freight rail use that provides economic and environmental benefits that a trail alone cannot come close to matching.

The Lower Road corridor can be used both as a trail corridor and a rail corridor, as the Gardiner-to-Augusta segment has demonstrated. The Lower Road can be used for the benefit of all, but preserving the tracks is essential.

Edward Hanscom
Gardiner