Train tracks at festival site to stay in use

BANGOR – Railroad officials Thursday urged those attending the National Folk Festival this weekend to use caution around the active railroad tracks that run through the waterfront site.

“This is a manageable situation,” said David Fink, executive vice president of Guilford Rail System, which will continue to run its regular schedule during the three-day folk festival, expected to bring tens of thousands of people to the city.

Fink said Guilford Rail security officers would work closely with the Bangor Police Department to keep festival goers at least 15 feet back when the trains come through the area.

Festival director Susan Pierce said Thursday that organizers have assigned volunteers to barricade both sides of the three railroad crossings at the festival site. Those volunteers also will discourage people from standing or playing on the tracks.

“Whenever there is an opportunity to barricade, we will,” Pierce said.

The train runs six times on Friday, from about 6 p.m. to 3 a.m., and four times on Saturday from about 3 p.m. to midnight, Fink said.

No trains run Sunday.

Fink said the rail system could not alter its “somewhat set” schedule because it would throw off connecting trains and operations at the paper mills it serves.

Furthermore, Fink said he only heard of the festival’s proximity to the tracks after being contacted Tuesday by rail safety advocate Fred Hirsch of Old Town.

Hirsch, the assistant state coordinator for Maine Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit group that promotes safety along railroad tracks and crossings, also urged caution.

“A train can be approaching from either direction at any time,” he said. “Anytime is train time.”