Train to service Rockland during Lobster Festival

ROCKLAND – People who love lobster but hate traffic have a new option for travel to this year’s Lobster Festival.

Maine Eastern Railroad will operate a passenger train from Brunswick to Rockland beginning Aug. 5, the second day of the festival, through the celebration’s end Aug. 8, according to Patricia Douglas, a spokeswoman for the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority.

“This is the first step in reintroducing passenger rail service on the Rockland branch,” Douglas said Friday.

The train’s four refurbished coach cars can carry up to 220 people for the once-a-day trip, leaving Brunswick at 7:30 a.m. and arriving in Rockland by 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 7, for the festival parade. On the three remaining days of the festival, the train will leave Brunswick at 9 a.m., she said.

Passengers on the 2 1/2-hour trip, which will include a stop in Bath, will be dropped off at Atlantic Point, near MBNA’s Rockland offices. They will then be able to walk the 10 minutes to downtown, Douglas said.

“It’s 2 1/2 hours, but sometimes that is competitive with traffic” on Route 1 in the summertime, she said.

The train track in town will be extended 150 feet and a sidewalk alongside it will be paved. The sidewalk will connect to the nearby boardwalk, Douglas said.

Passengers will board the train for the return trip at 4 p.m. and can have a snack in the dining car or enjoy the sight of deer and osprey while rolling at a comfortable 30 mph, Douglas said.

“It’s a beautiful ride,” she said.

Three of the passenger cars were used on the Acadian Railway, an excursion service that ran through Greenville to Montreal for about a year, shutting down in May 2003.

The temperature-controlled cars, including one accessible to the handicapped, feature windows at every seat and new upholstery, Douglas said.

“All the cars have been totally redone,” she said.

The round trip cost is $40 for adults and $30 for children ages 2 to 15.

The new service resulted from Gov. John Baldacci’s request for a pilot passenger rail program north of Portland, Douglas said.

Though typically dense with tourists during the Lobster Festival, Rockland may see even more visitors from southern Maine this year, Douglas said.

Maine Eastern, which operates freight trains on the same Brunswick-to-Rockland track, may offer weekend excursions through October during peak foliage season, Douglas said.

Long-term plans also include connecting to Amtrak’s Downeaster service, which runs from Boston to Portland, by 2009, she said.

For more information, visit www.lobsterfestivaltrain.com.