ROCKLAND – For the second consecutive season, Maine Eastern Railroad has experienced double-digit growth in its passenger excursion service. The railroad, a subsidiary of the Morristown and Erie Railway in New Jersey, announced a 26 percent increase over 2006 passenger numbers.

Final tallies for the 2007 season show that more than 17,000 passenger seats were filled during the trips that run between Brunswick and Rockland, including pickups in Bath and Wiscasset, said Gordon Fuller, executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Fuller said the numbers do not include riders of the annual Polar Express and Candy Cane specials in November and December.

But while ticket prices remained at 2006 levels, the cost of off-road diesel fuel increased by as much as 30 percent. A federal mandate that became effective on Oct. 1 requiring off-road diesel engines to burn low sulfur diesel fuel also added an extra 17 cents per gallon over conventional diesel fuel.

The company has operated the passenger excursion service since 2004 as the result of a request initiated by Gov. John Baldacci to run a special Lobster Festival Train into Rockland that summer.