Luxurious Passenger Rail Service Has Returned to Mid-Coast Maine
Transporting passengers to a bygone era of luxury and worry-free travel, Maine Eastern Railroad is the summer’s newest attraction on Maine’s celebrated scenic coastline.
Earlier this month, Maine Eastern Railroad, owned by the New Jersey-based Morristown & Erie Railway (M & E), kicked off its first full season. The train will provide roundtrip passenger service Thursdays through Sundays from Brunswick to Rockland with stops in the coastal communities of Bath and Wiscasset now through Labor Day weekend. Weekend transportation will continue through Maine’s famed foliage season with the train scheduled to run through October 31.
M & E’s first passenger rail service came to Maine in the summer of 2004 at the request of Governor John Baldacci, who hoped that the company could provide passenger service to support the hugely popular Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland using their already existing freight line between Brunswick and Rockland, set some 55 miles apart.
As a result, M & E initiated Maine Eastern Railroad, running trips during the festival in August. The train’s arrival marked the first time in decades a major passenger train has serviced Maine north of Portland. 2005 marks the railroad’s first full season, and increased marketing efforts and an expanded schedule are expected to draw new attention to the train.
July 29, 2005
Posted in: United States NorthEast