$20 Million Investment Comes for Downeaster Rail

Press Release

Today Congresswoman Chellie Pingree announced that the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority would receive $20.82 million for work on the Downeaster rail line between Boston and Brunswick.

"This is a critical investment to improve the Downeaster line by making it more reliable. If we want to continue to grow its ridership, the line has to make the trip between Maine and Boston as quickly and consistently as possible," said Pingree. "The Downeaster is a great tool for economic development for the region, but it's important that we make the needed investments to reach its full potential."

The funds, which come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will be used to:
· Add track capacity to reduce congestion and improve performance;
· Improve signaling; and
· Restructure grade crossings to improve on-time reliability of service

Today Pingree also criticized deep cuts to high-speed rail projects recently proposed in the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations budget. (The funding announced for the Downeaster today would not be affected.)

"In this struggling economy, we need to create and support jobs. Rail projects like these not only offer work to those who build them, but also to the businesses that develop around them," said Pingree. "Now is not the time to pull investments from our crumbling and outdated infrastructure. I'm very frustrated in how this proposal would send us backward and could hamper funding for the Downeaster in the future."

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