The Legislature’s passage of a bill to fund an expansion of rail service could hasten the return of trains as a viable freight and passenger transportation option in southern and coastal Maine. The bill, LD 2019, is expected to raise $3 million in fiscal year 2009-2010 and $3.1 million in fiscal year 2010-2011 from a tax on car rentals, which lawmakers expect will affect tourists more than residents.

Most observers agree the Portland-to-Boston Amtrak Downeaster connection has been a success, with passenger numbers exceeding projections. The time has come to invest in pushing rail service farther north to Brunswick, and this bill helps achieve that. Senate President Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport, who championed the plan, argues that developing the next leg of the rail link will widen out train possibilities north of Brunswick.

“If you get to Brunswick, that’s a nexus point for going to Rockland and beyond and to getting to Augusta,” Sen. Edmonds told the BDN earlier this month. As the upgraded line approaches Brunswick, it will access Yarmouth Junction, which provides connections to Lewiston-Auburn and points west and north. Lewiston-Auburn is a key freight port for trucks and trains, so the upgrades could help alleviate the cost of bringing goods into the state and shipping them out.

Developing rail in rural areas, such as the Calais line, has been a harder sell to make. And other corridors, such as the Belfast & Moosehead Lake line (which actually never connected to Greenville), have not proven to be viable. But investing in rail where it parallels I-95 or I-295 and U.S. Route 1 seems like a safe bet.

Having the freedom that comes with driving a car historically has been a key part of a Maine vacation. But with gasoline prices expected to hit $4 per gallon this summer, it’s not hard to imagine tourists riding the rails to Rockland, when the service eventually reaches that far north. The Department of Transportation has considered a high-speed ferry connection from Rockland to Mount Desert Island, and while hard times have put that project on the back burner, the tipping point of $4 per gallon gas could revive those plans. Perhaps the passenger trains that begin trending northward should bear the “Vacationland” slogan.

Bob Hastings, CEO of the Rockland-based Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the upgrade is cast as an eventual connection from Rockland to Portland. “But what we actually get is service to Boston, New York and beyond. America can reach Rockland by rail,” he said.

And on a personal note, Mr. Hastings said his in-laws, in their 80s, can no longer drive to visit, but soon will be able to board a commuter train two blocks from their home south of Boston, “and meet us at the Rockland depot, two blocks from my office. Now how do you put a price on that?”