Proposed train service would face competiton from airlines
Fondation Trains de Nuit, a Montreal-based Canadian "personne morale sans but lucratif" (non-profit corporation) has proposed a scheme to organize operation of overnight passenger trains between Boston and Montreal.
Latest proposed route from Boston to Montreal would be 14 hours long and pass through:
- Durham, New Hampshire
- Old Orchard Beach, Portland, Auburn and Bethel, Maine
- Then back into New Hampshire, through Gorham and Berlin
- Island Pond, Vermont
- Coticook, Sherbrooke, Bromont, Saint-Jean-sur-Riehelieu, and Canadiac, Quebec
Organizers have commissioned market research which they say shows that about 4000 people travel daily between Boston and Montreal, and that 1000 of them would opt for train service if available; also that the service would be profitable with 200 or more passengers per day.
Obstacles include:
- Canadian track on the proposed route requires $100M+ worth of work to be made usable.
- Much of the US track on the route is limited in speed to 35 mph.
- A private operator and rolling stock will have to be found.
- Owners of the track - Saint Lawrence and Atlantic Railway, and others - will have to buy in and be paid.
- Recruitment, labor-relations and pay issues with train crews will have to be resolved.
- Border crossing will involve customs control on both sides of the border.
Montreal-Boston passenger train last ran five decades ago. Restart is expected to take at least 2 years.
Google just quoted me an airfare for a one-way non-stop 1 hour 25 minute flight of $209. Would a 14-hour train trip be able to compete with that price today?
I'm skeptical. But stay tuned for possible updates.
