RENDERING COURTESY / NNEPRA
The Wells Transportation Center provides Amtrak service from Boston to Brunswick five times daily.
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Wells train station renovations will allow for additional routes for southern Maine travelers
Photo / Courtesy of Amtrak
Amtrak’s Downeaster rail service
Construction began this week at the Wells Amtrak station, which will mean more convenient travel schedules for southern Maine workers come fall.
Natalie Bogart, deputy director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority told Mainebiz that passenger platform reconstruction will allow for additional Downeaster train service between Brunswick and Wells.
For now, trains from Wells head to Boston and Brunswick five times daily, but the first train headed north in the morning doesn’t get into Portland until 11:25 a.m. and to Brunswick at 12:10 p.m.
The schedule won’t be adjusted until construction of a second passenger platform has been completed, which will allow trains arriving from opposing directions to board and disburse passengers simultaneously. A temporary boarding platform will provide passenger access to trains and no interruption of service is anticipated.
Gorham-based Great Falls Construction will manage the $11.8 million project.
“We are delighted to work with Great Falls on this important project that will provide more options for Maine residents to get back and forth to work without adding to traffic congestion," Patricia Quinn, executive director of the rail authority, said.
The platform expansion is part of a $31.9 million project funded in part by the Federal Railroad Administration through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement grant program, with matching funds provided by the Maine Department of Transportation and CSX Transportation. The first phase of the project was a six-mile extension of the second track, completed in 2024.
The Wells Transportation Center is on Route 109, near Exit 19 of the Maine Turnpike. In addition to passenger trains, the station serves buses, vans, taxis and seasonal trolleys. There is a park-and-ride lot for carpoolers, bus and RV parking, and a lot for travelers needing to park for more than 24 hours.
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