The state-owned rail line between Brunswick and Rockland won’t get passenger rail service until at least 2017.
In September, the Maine Department of Transportation selected Central Maine and Quebec Railway to take over freight service on the line with a 10-year lease.
The Bangor Daily News reported that MDOT will wait until next year to solicit proposals for providers of passenger service that would start in 2017.
For the freight lease, Central Maine and Quebec Railway beat out Maine Eastern Railroad, which had proposed year-round passenger service connecting with Amtrak’s Boston-to-Brunswick Downeaster line, the BDN reported. However, that would have required a subsidy from the state.
Maine Eastern had run a summer tourist train on the route for 12 years.
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