Video: Amtrak Downeaster Expansion To Brunswick Officially Underway

Story posted August 03, 2010

Maine Governor John Baldacci was joined by state and federal officials as they presided over the official groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of Amtrak's passenger rail service to Brunswick, which would connect the town to Portland and beyond that, Boston.

More than 30 miles of track are being upgraded as part of a project made possible by $35 million in federal stimulus funds that were announced in January 2010. The state of Maine is providing another $3 million for the project that is expected to create 200 jobs.

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Gov. John Baldacci (D-Maine) at the August 2, 2010, groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of Amtrak Downeaster passenger rail service to Brunswick.

The installation of 50 strings of rail, some of which served as the backdrop for the ceremony, begins in the next few weeks, with passenger service slated to begin in the fall of 2012.

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Some of the estimated three million pounds of rail to upgrade the tracks from Portland to Brunswick.

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