Talk:Downeaster

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I'm pretty sure that "downeaster" also refers to a type of ship, but I do not yet have a good source for it. I've heard it referred to as such in the Billy Joel song Downeaster Alexa, and a Google search yields a few ships (such as the Franconia and the Indiana) that are supposedly of that style. When I get more info, I'll put it up at Downeaster (ship). --zandperl 23:41, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] article title

Perhaps it would be a good idea to change the title of the article to "Amtrak Downeaster" or "Downeaster passenger train" or something along those lines. The word "downeaster" does have other meanings, especially before December 2001.

—BMRR 20:01, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

While, yes, It does have other meanings, I don't think any of those meanings have articles of their own. We could re name this and make downeaster a diambig page, that is, if you could provide a list of links to populate that page with. --KPWM_Spotter 21:23, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] NNEPRA

The article should include some information about NNEPRA—especially the fact that the Downeaster is funded, managed, and promoted primarily by NNEPRA, not Amtrak.

Some history would be nice too, e.g. the 12+ years that various groups spent advocating for the service and fighting with Guilford to make it happen.

Feel free to add a remark in those regards, just make sure to provide a good source/reference. Personally, I've never heard of the NNEPRA, and Wiki doesn't have an article on them, but if it's something that is worthy of being added, go ahead. --KPWM_Spotter 19:11, 18 September 2006 (UTC)
"NNEPRA" stands for Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority. It is the government agency, overseen and funded by the Maine Department of Transportation, that coordinates passenger rail services in Maine—particularly the Downeaster. Amtrak is simply the contractor chosen by NNEPRA to operate the Downeaster.
—BMRR 00:36, 19 September 2006 (UTC) (sorry I forgot to sign my first comment re: NNEPRA)
I don't believe NNEPRA is a governmental agency, strictly speaking, although it does of course have very close ties to the Maine DOT. --Wspencer11 (talk to me...) 20:41, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Station stop section

Wouldn't it make more sense to have the list of stops link to the towns themselves rather than to the Amtrak stations? There's no earthly reason for there to be an article on the train platform in Exeter, for example, but there's a perfectly good article on the town already. --Wspencer11 (talk to me...) 20:45, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

I've now changed these. --Wspencer11 (talk to me...) 13:47, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Expansion to Bangor (or even into Canada)?

If the service to Portland becomes successful enough to make a profit (or at least to break even), are there any thoughts of expanding the service to Bangor or beyond—or even into Canada? 66.234.220.195 (talk) 21:16, 11 February 2008 (UTC)


I doubt that it will ever make a profit. I also doubt that it will ever break even, although it might eventually come closer to breaking even than it does right now. Profit (or lack thereof) is not a particularly useful measure of the success of a public transportation system.
With that in mind, MaineDOT, NNEPRA, and Amtrak, are all planning on extending the Downeaster from Portland to Brunswick in the not-too-distant future. MDOT and the Gov's office also want to see some kind of passenger rail service from Portland to Lewiston-Auburn, and if that works out, the next step would be Augusta, and then Bangor.
I haven't heard anything about extending the Downeaster to Canada. There has been talk of creating a passenger rail link from Maine to Montreal, but it would most likely be unrelated to the Downeaster.
—BMRR (talk) 22:17, 11 February 2008 (UTC)