PORTLAND – Rail enthusiasts turned out on a cold, rainy Saturday morning to ride the sold-out Amtrak Downeaster on its first regularly scheduled run from Portland to Boston.

A day after politicians and dignitaries rode the train, there were no bands, flags or crowds as the paying customers boarded in the darkness. But riders were enthusiastic about the service.

Martyn Payson of Falmouth said his friends were envious because he was able to snare a ticket for the first departure.

“They’re jealous. We’re pioneers,” Payson said as he and a travel partner stood shoulder to shoulder with bleary-eyed travelers awaiting their opportunity to board the 6:10 a.m. train.

The Downeaster’s departure marked the first time passenger trains have run between Portland and Boston since 1965.

It took 13 years and more than $50 million in public funds for track upgrades and equipment to implement the new route.

On Saturday, rail aficionados Lionel and Marilyn Caron of Lisbon rolled out of bed at 2:30 a.m. to drive to Portland and catch the train.

“It shows you how nuts we are,” said Lionel Caron as they waited patiently for their opportunity to board the train.

Another railroad cheerleader was Ron Palmquist of Cape Elizabeth, who said he was on the phone shortly after midnight Nov. 15 to buy his coveted tickets as soon as they became available.

“It gives me an opportunity to ride a track I’ve never ridden before,” said Palmquist, who has ridden trains across the country but not the 114-mile route from Portland to Boston.

The rain and darkness didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of riders including an 87-year-old man from Wells celebrating his birthday and two men calling themselves the “The Downeaster Duo” who passed out Maine potatoes.

While many riders were rail fanatics, some who boarded the first train were there by happenstance.

“I feel I’m unintentionally making history,” said Nolan Pearson, a newly retired professor from the University of Maine at Presque Isle who was working his way westward to Oakland, Calif.

The train was scheduled for four round trips Saturday.

David and Natalie Murray took an 8:45 a.m. train and arrived in Boston at 11:30 a.m.

They were headed to Harvard’s Natural History Museum with their 10-year-old grandson, Andrew Murray.

“We waited a long time for train service,” David Murray said. “It was a wonderful ride.”

The Portland-to-Boston round trip costs $35. It’s more than the bus, they said, but it’s worth it because they avoided the hassles of driving and parking.

The Portland residents hope to take the Downeaster once a month to Boston.

“We love Boston,” Natalie Murray said, noting that from North Station “you can get on the [subway] and go anywhere. It’s great.”

The new service started a day after a panel began work on a new blueprint for America’s passenger rail system that would take much or all of Amtrak’s authority and divide it among states or private companies.

While differing on many details, most members of the Amtrak Reform Council endorsed decentralizing intercity passenger rail.

Michael Dukakis, Amtrak’s acting chairman, said Friday that Congress needs to commit itself to funding Amtrak as part of a national transportation policy.

Without a viable high-speed train system, he said, the country’s highway and airport systems eventually will come to a grinding halt.

For now, the Downeaster is restricted to 60 mph and the 114-mile trip will take 2 hours and 45 minutes. Operators of the service hope to boost the speed to 79 mph, which would make the trip 2 hours and 20 minutes.

With an engine, three passenger cars and a cafe car, the Downeaster can carry 230 passengers.

Stops along the line include Saco and Wells in Maine; Dover, Durham and Exeter in New Hampshire; and Haverhill in Massachusetts. Seasonal stops in Old Orchard Beach will begin in June.