1. What’s the goal of this proposed project?

 

You probably know that there’s no way to take a direct train from Maine to anywhere South of Boston. You have to get off in Massachusetts and transfer to another station; they’re a few miles apart and there’s not always a convenient way to get between them.

 

They’ve been talking for decades now about linking the two Boston stations so the train can just keep going straight through Massachusetts, but support has picked up in Congress this year.

 

If this project ever gets off the ground, Boston will provide the initial funding. But they’ll likely need federal funding too. And that means they could use support from Maine’s Senator Susan Collins - she’s the vice chair of the Senate appropriations committee.

 

2. What has Collins said about the project? Would she use federal funds to help this rail link get built?

 

Historically, Collins has had no problem spending high amounts of federal cash to support local projects in Maine and the NorthEast. We just talked a couple of weeks ago about her earmark request for this year: $500 million for local projects around Maine, one of the largest requests among all senators.

 

But she hasn’t taken a firm stance yet on connecting the Boston train stations. She told the Lewiston Sun-Journal recently that it would be “convenient” but would cost “billions of dollars.” And she still wants to support the Downeaster train that runs from Brunswick to Boston - she’s earmarked money for them several times before.

 

3. Can you give us some more exact dollar figures? What will the project cost?

 

The cost is hard to predict because no one has decided the exact details of the construction project yet. A Harvard study said it would cost $4 to $6 billion. A study from the state of Massachusetts said $12 billion to $22 billion. But all the estimates are over five years old already.

 

Representative Seth Moulton says the rail link would bring economic benefits worth triple its cost, cut carbon emissions, and create almost 500,000 jobs.

 

But those benefits are all just for Massachusetts. Maine and the rest of New England will have the added convenience of easier travel to the rest of the country, but the economic benefits won’t be there to offset the federal cost. Congress is going to have to decide if it’s worth investing federal money.

 

4. How have similar projects around the country fared recently?

 

A railway in Santa Clara, California was delayed by 11 years with $8 billion in added costs. This summer they received $5 billion from the federal government, the second-largest federal transportation grant in history. Now it won't be completed until 2037.

 

We’ve seen similar situations with light rail systems in Baltimore and Minnesota this year. Delays of over 15 years that lead to increased costs of billions of dollars.

 

So if this project does get past the planning phase, we’re going to be monitoring it to make sure there’s some sort of accountability. It’s not fair for taxpayers to fund projects that end up costing two to three times more than lawmakers claim they will, as has often been the case recently.