RAILROADS AND BOXCARS

The appeal of returning passenger rail to much more of the state has very little to do with nostalgia and a lot to do with moving Maine from the outskirts of a transportation network to a vital piece of its center. This is possibly helpful to relieving congestion in a few areas and certainly helpful in providing travel options to many parts of Maine, including those that would most benefit from expanded freight rail. That makes gubernatorial candidate Barbara Merrill’s recent proposal well worth considering.

On Tuesday, Rep. Merrill, an independent from Appleton, repeated the goal of expanding rail service between Maine and Montreal, outlining several possible routes and acknowledging any route would have to accommodate the demands of freight. Versions of this proposal have been around for years but the idea has not progressed because it has included no clear means of funding. Rep. Merrill provided an answer yesterday.

She would fund part of the cost of the service through gambling aboard the train. “I know some will object to my plan because they oppose gambling,” she said in the understatement of the month. But “unlike the proposed casino in Sanford that I also personally opposed, the train will not threaten a neighborhood or even a region by depreciating residential property values or causing traffic congestion.”

Rep. Merrill likened the gambling train – she’s calling it the Maine to Montreal High Roller – to the high-speed ferry, The Cat, which runs between Maine and Nova Scotia and operates a casino without objection, apparently, of casino opponents in Maine.

There’s no sense deciding how a railroad casino would work here or whether it would raise sufficient money to subsidize the cost of the train until more specifics are known and economic studies are completed. What’s interesting is that a candidate is addressing a serious issue in this state – the inadequacy of its transportation infrastructure – and offering something besides only the usual rhetoric of working with our federal partners, which has gotten Maine not very far at all.

The day before Rep. Merrill’s announcement, Gov. John Baldacci signed an executive order urging further study of possible rail expansions. His order might be amended to consider his opponent’s proposal as well as the feasibility of saving rail lines Down East before the whole region is turned into a trail without a rail in sight.

Maine should invest in its passenger and freight railroads because it needs them to remain connected to the region. Absent new money from Washington or Augusta, the state requires a creative approach to financing. Rep. Merrill offers Maine an intriguing option.