Brunswick, ME | |||||||||||||
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General information | |||||||||||||
Location | 16 Station Avenue Brunswick, Maine United States | ||||||||||||
Coordinates | 43°54′41″N69°57′57″W / 43.9114°N 69.9657°W | ||||||||||||
Line(s) | CSX Brunswick Branch | ||||||||||||
Platforms | 1 side platform | ||||||||||||
Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||||
Connections | Greater Portland Metro Bus: BREEZ Western Maine Transportation Services: Brunswick Link Bus, BlueLine Commuter Bus [1] | ||||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||||
Parking | Yes | ||||||||||||
Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||||
Other information | |||||||||||||
Station code | Amtrak: BRK | ||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||
Opened | November 1, 2012 | ||||||||||||
Passengers | |||||||||||||
FY 2023 | 83,230 [2] (Amtrak) | ||||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||||
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Brunswick Maine Street Station, or Brunswick station, is a multi-modal, multi-use real estate development in Brunswick, Maine. Located on Maine Street, it consists of commercial offices, service centers, healthcare, retail, restaurants, theater and residential space. Brunswick Station is also a transportation hub for city buses, taxis, and passenger trains. [3]
The development is split into two parts, the "West" and "East" sides (West and East of Union Street respectively). The west side will consist mostly of residential apartments and homes, along with some retail and commercial office space. The east side consists of mostly retail and commercial office space, along with some apartments. The east side is also the location of the passenger train station. This development was built on the vacant lots surrounding the railroad junction between Portland, Lewiston, Augusta, and Rockland. [3]
The first steps of the project began on August 20, 1998, when the Town of Brunswick purchased the land that the development is on for $655,000. [4] Not until 2004 (four years after the Downeaster's Boston-Portland service began) did the town begin to consider creating a commercial development around a train station. [4]
On May 28, 2008, the planning board approved the final plan for Maine Street Station. The plan, developed by JHR Development of Maine, was submitted on January 15, 2008. The current plan was scaled down from the original proposal. Ground was broken for the station on October 18, 2008. A branch of the Bowdoin College bookstore opened in one of the buildings constructed as part of phase I of the development on October 30, 2009. [5]
Construction of Building Three (connected to the platform) was completed in 2009, along with site work and preparation for the other buildings, including Building Four, which hosts the train station. In December 2010, construction began on Building Four (designed by Gawron Turgeon Architects, and built by Wright Ryan Construction). Mid Coast Hospital's Primary Care & Walk-In Clinic is the anchor tenant in this 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) development. [6]
On January 28, 2010, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority received approval for a $35 million grant from the federal government to fund track and signal upgrades for the Portland-Brunswick line. [7] Pan Am Railways began work on the line in spring 2010.
The station serves as a terminus for Amtrak's Downeaster service. The station is staffed by volunteers. [3] In 2012, Amtrak built a longer high-level platform in preparation for the extension of Downeaster service. Service to Freeport and Brunswick began on November 1, 2012.
Maine Eastern Railroad operated passenger service between Brunswick and Rockland from 2004 to 2015. Maine Eastern used the open lot on Cedar Street prior to the construction of the first phase of Maine Street Station, when it began boarding passengers from a portable platform at the beginning of the 2010 season.[ citation needed ]
Limited Brunswick–Rockland excursion service was operated in 2023, but plans for a trial of regular weekend service did not come to fruition. [8]
Rockland is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 6,936. The city is a popular tourist destination. It is a departure point for the Maine State Ferry Service to the islands of Penobscot Bay: Vinalhaven, North Haven and Matinicus.
North Station is a commuter rail and intercity rail terminal station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is served by four MBTA Commuter Rail lines – the Fitchburg Line, Haverhill Line, Lowell Line, and Newburyport/Rockport Line – and the Amtrak Downeaster intercity service. The concourse is located under the TD Garden arena, with the platforms extending north towards drawbridges over the Charles River. The eponymous subway station, served by the Green Line and Orange Line, is connected to the concourse with an underground passageway.
The Downeaster is a 145-mile (233 km) passenger train service operated by Amtrak and managed by the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA), an agency of the state of Maine. Named for the Down East region of Maine, the train operates five daily round trips between North Station in Boston, Massachusetts, and Brunswick, Maine, with ten intermediate stops.
Springfield Union Station is a train and bus station in the Metro Center area of Springfield, Massachusetts. Constructed in 1926, Springfield Union Station is the fifth-busiest Amtrak station in the Commonwealth, and the busiest outside of Greater Boston.
Durham–University of New Hampshire station, also known as Durham–UNH station or simply Durham station, is a passenger rail station in Durham, New Hampshire, served by Amtrak's Downeaster line. The historic depot, which now houses the UNH Dairy Bar, is situated just west of downtown Durham on the campus of the University of New Hampshire (UNH). The station is owned by the university, but an adjacent parking area is managed by the town of Durham. On average, about 161 rail passengers board or detrain daily at Durham, making it the third-busiest Amtrak stop in New Hampshire.
The railroad history of Portland, Maine, began in 1842 with the arrival of the Portland, Saco & Portsmouth Railroad (PS&P). Most of the rail activity in Portland concerned agricultural goods bound for export and European import freight. But Maine's largest city also enjoyed 125 years of continuous passenger rail service from 1842 until 1967, and has been served by Amtrak since 2001. For most of Portland's history, passenger train schedules were designed with intercity travel—to Boston, Montreal, Nova Scotia, and points west—rather than daily commuting.
Haverhill station is an intercity and regional rail station located in downtown Haverhill, Massachusetts, United States. It is served by Amtrak's Downeaster service and the MBTA Commuter Rail Haverhill/Reading Line; it is the northern terminus of MBTA service on the line. Haverhill is one of two major hubs for MVRTA local bus service; the Washington Square Transit Center is located 1⁄5 mile (0.3 km) east of the rail station.
Wells Regional Transportation Center is an Amtrak train station in Wells, Maine. The station sits next to the Pan Am Railways mainline, formerly the Western Route mainline of the Boston and Maine Railroad.
Saco Transportation Center, also referred to as Saco or Saco–Biddeford in some timetables, is a passenger transportation station in Saco, Maine, served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system, and other transportation providers. On average, about 110 passengers daily board or alight Amtrak's Downeaster service at the station, making it the third-busiest stop in Maine. The station is located next to the Pan Am Railways mainline, formerly the Western Route mainline of the Boston & Maine Railroad.
Portland Transportation Center is a bus and train station in Portland, Maine, United States, served and run primarily by Concord Coach Lines and Amtrak Downeaster passenger trains. It is also served by Megabus, as well as the Greater Portland Metro route 1 and BREEZ bus services. The station is open from 4:30 AM to 12:15 AM and from 2:45 AM to 3:15 AM.
Maine Eastern Railroad was a railroad that operated in coastal Maine, between Brunswick and Rockland, on the former Maine Central Rockland Branch rail line. Maine Eastern passenger trains connected with the Amtrak Downeaster passenger train and Pan Am Railways at Brunswick Maine Street Station. The state of Maine did not renew the operating contract with MERR, which effectively ended operations at the end of 2015.
Freeport station is a passenger rail station in Freeport, Maine, which is located on Amtrak's Downeaster line. The Downeaster operates from North Station in Boston to Brunswick Maine Street Station in Brunswick, Maine, via the Portland Transportation Center in Portland, Maine. Freeport was part of a $38.3 million project to rehabilitate 30 miles (48 km) of track between Portland and Brunswick. Most of the money came from the federal government with an additional $500,000 of state money spent on platforms on Freeport and Brunswick. The first official service to the station was on November 1, 2012.
Trainriders Northeast is a non-profit citizens' organization group based out of Portland, Maine, in the United States. It was established in 1989 to advocate for the extension of passenger rail service from Boston to Portland and points north. Today Trainriders Northeast may be most well known for their role in bringing passenger service back to Portland, with the Amtrak Downeaster.
Rockland station is a railway station located at Union and Pleasant Streets in Rockland, Maine. It is the eastern terminus of the Rockland Branch, a state-owned track connecting Rockland and Brunswick. The historic station building was built in 1917 by the Maine Central Railroad, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 as Rockland Railroad Station. It presently houses a restaurant, and served for a time as Rockland's city hall. The line is presently inactive, having most recently had seasonal passenger service from 2004 to 2015 operated by the now-defunct Maine Eastern Railroad. The line would then be leased to the Central Maine and Quebec Railway (CMQ) from 2015 to 2020, then to Canadian Pacific Railway following its purchase of CMQ in 2020. CMQ originally planned to reintroduce service on the line, but not with excursions.
Yarmouth station of Yarmouth, Maine, is located on the east side of the railroad tracks, just south of Maine State Route 115, the town's Main Street. The railroad station was built in 1906 by the Grand Trunk Railroad, and is a well-preserved example of an early 20th-century passenger rail depot, an increasingly rare sight in the state. The building, which is now in commercial use, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 10, 1979.
Holyoke station is an Amtrak intercity train station near the corner of Main and Dwight streets in Holyoke, Massachusetts, United States. The station opened on August 27, 2015, eight months after Amtrak's Vermonter service was re-routed to the Connecticut River Line through the Pioneer Valley.
Union Station was a train station in the Libbytown neighborhood of Portland, Maine, which operated from 1888 to 1960. Located on St. John Street, it was demolished in 1961 and is now the site of a strip mall.
Kennebunk station is a former train station located off Depot Street in Kennebunk, Maine. The station opened in 1873 and closed in 1965; it is now occupied by a private business. Planning began in 2014 to add Kennebunk as a stop on the Amtrak Downeaster route, but the town cancelled the project in 2018.
Rockland Ferry Terminal is a public ferry terminal and intercity bus stop in Rockland, Maine. It is the mainland terminus for ferries to three island communities in Penobscot Bay: Vinalhaven, North Haven and Matinicus. Concord Coach Lines provides bus service to Portland, Bangor, Boston, and nearby towns.
Public transportation in Maine is available for all four main modes of transport—air, bus, ferry and rail—assisting residents and visitors to travel around much of Maine's 31,000 square miles (80,000 km2).