page_title: Downeaster (train)
section_title: Brunswick extension
hierarchical_section_title: Downeaster (train) / History / Brunswick extension
caption_attribution_description: English: Special Amtrak train at Brunswick in June 2012, 5 months before the start of service
context_page_description: The Downeaster is a 145-mile regional passenger train service, managed by the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, an agency of the state of Maine, and operated by Amtrak. Named for the Down East region of Maine, the train runs from North Station in Boston, Massachusetts to Brunswick, Maine, with 10 intermediate stops. The train operates five daily round trips between Boston and Brunswick.
  In 2018, the Downeaster carried 551,038 passengers and earned ticket revenue of $10.2 million.
context_section_description: Service to Brunswick was originally intended to begin within five years of the Downeaster's 2001 launch, but was delayed by lack of funding and other obstacles. Ground was broken in October 2008 for the Brunswick Maine Street Station, a retail development that included shops, condominiums, an inn, and office space. In January 2010, NNEPRA received a $35 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for track and signal upgrades for the Portland-Brunswick line. Pan Am Railways began work on the line in summer 2010, and on May 14, 2012, the platforms in Brunswick and Freeport were declared complete. Service began on November 1, 2012 with two daily services to and from Boston.
  The extension to Brunswick led to the construction of an enclosed layover facility there, just west of the station; trains had been stored outdoors in Portland. The facility opened in November 2016, permitting a third daily Brunswick–Boston trip. NNEPRA announced plans for the facility in 2013, with construction slated to run from summer 2013 until late 2014, but local opposition delayed the project. Neighbors of the planned location demanded further environmental studies, saying they believe the facility would hurt nearby areas. State politicians became involved; Governor Paul LePage, concerned about job creation at Brunswick Landing, suggested alternate locations in eastern Brunswick. Several Democratic state legislators asked NNEPRA to build in an existing rail yard in South Portland, and to focus on the "core product" of Boston-Portland service instead. Legal challenges to the facility ended in January 2016.
  In 2017 and 2018, NNEPRA constructed a 4-mile (6 km) passing track, the Royal Junction siding, on the 30-mile (48 km) single-track section of line between Portland and Brunswick to enable an increase from three to five daily round trips to Brunswick. The increase to five weekday round trips between Boston and Brunswick (with four Brunswick round trips and one Portland round trip on weekends) took place on November 12, 2018. All five weekend round trips began running to Brunswick on May 20, 2019.
  NNERPA plans to extend an existing 2-mile (3.2 km) siding in Wells by 6 miles (9.7 km), which will allow an additional daily Brunswick-Wells round trip. Wells station will be modified with a second platform and a footbridge. In February 2020, NNERPA was awarded a $16.9 million federal grant for the project.
  In July 2019, local officials proposed an infill station in West Falmouth adjacent to a Maine Turnpike exit.
caption: A Downeaster special train at Brunswick Maine Street Station in June 2012, five months before the start of service
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