Maine needs solutions to the challenges of climate change, affordable housing and increased traffic congestion in both the Greater Portland area and throughout the state of Maine.

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Ben Chipman, co-chair of the Transportation Committee, can help solve all three problems. L.D. 406, as amended, would create a “vision plan” for the four state-owned rail lines that terminate in Portland and in the equally fast-growing Brunswick area. These railroads were purchased through bond issues approved in the 1980s by lawmakers and voters to restore rail service when it became feasible. That moment may now have arrived.

The bill is due for votes before the Senate and House after being hotly contested in committee work sessions. Surprisingly, a prominent naysayer has been the Maine Department of Transportation – the powerful and suddenly well-funded agency dedicated to supporting all modes of moving Mainers and visitors to their destinations.

It’s well funded for now, through the generosity of the Biden administration and Congress, with hundreds of millions of dollars supercharging road and bridge construction. Unfortunately, MDOT has shown no similar concern for expanding passenger rail networks. All new rail money is being channeled back into existing service from Portland to Boston.

We must think bigger. Sen. Chipman’s bill does.

Yet the Legislature is also considering legislation to tear up tracks on the Mountain Division and St. Lawrence and Atlantic lines that feed directly into Portland, forever ending the chance for a light-rail transit system serving Maine’s largest metro area.

We can’t allow that to happen.

Throughout the country, metro areas of Portland’s size are exploring and commissioning new light rail transit systems to relieve congestion, reduce carbon emissions, and allow construction of affordable housing where it’s most desirable and feasible.

With existing Amtrak service as the backbone, a revived system of passenger rail connections throughout southern Maine is possible.

The Mountain Division line runs through Westbrook to Standish and beyond. The St. Lawrence and Atlantic begins at the Ocean Gateway Terminal and runs through Falmouth, Yarmouth, Pineland and on to Auburn and Lewiston. From Brunswick, there’s the Lower Road to Gardiner and Augusta. And finally, the Rockland Branch heads through Bath and Wiscasset; the New England Passenger Rail Authority is proposing a pilot project for light rail transit to Rockland.

MDOT says most of these lines have been studied for rail service, but this is highly misleading. It uses outdated information and resists the exploration of new possibilities.

Previous studies used a single hand-picked consulting firm, and consistently overestimate costs of rail service while underestimating ridership. They include none of the technical specifications necessary to obtain federal support.

Further, they consider only Amtrak-style trains, which are appropriate for the existing Downeaster service – and which many legislators would like to extend to Lewiston and Bangor – but not state-owned lines better suited to light rail.

They’re also based on outmoded assumptions about automobile ownership and housing preferences. For those who can’t or choose not to drive, trains can be a lifeline.

Equally important, MDOT’s studies ignore the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, for which electric-powered trains are the best alternative. Consider: At rush hour, it can take 40 minutes to drive six miles from outer Portland neighborhoods to the waterfront. Streets below Congress are too narrow to fit full-sized buses.

MDOT’s current Rail Use Advisory Commission process, despite its name, has been devoted almost entirely to recreational trail use, giving short shrift to any serious consideration of rail. It takes each line separately, with no attention to how they’d connect with Amtrak trains.

In essence, MDOT pits trail and rail supporters against each other. From the beginning, the potential for rail with trail should have been paramount; there’s already an example on the Lower Road from Gardiner to Augusta. Mainers should be able to rely on state transportation planners for a real vision of the state’s needs, not only today but for years to come.

L.D. 406 will make sure MDOT provides that vision. Only then will Maine’s taxpayers get their money’s worth for investments made decades ago.

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