enlarge Robert F. Bukaty/The Associated Press

A conductor keeps watch as the Amtrak Downeaster arrives Friday in Portland. Through November of this year, 347,586 people had ridden the Downeaster, compared with 291,794 in 2002, the first full year of operation. The Downeaster’s supporters envision the service expanding to Freeport and Brunswick.

The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority is seeking an annual appropriation of $7 million to $8 million to replace an expiring federal subsidy, which now accounts for nearly half of the Downeaster's annual $13 million operating budget. Without the state funding, or some other funding source, the service won't be able to continue.

Patricia Quinn, the authority's executive director, said the Downeaster has proven itself with a 30 percent increase in ridership since it started.

"We're hopeful that we get some commitment from the Legislature in this session because that helps us in our planning efforts, moving forward," she said. "It's hard to make plans, capital plans, changes to the service, if the future is uncertain."

Despite the Downeaster's success, approval of the funding isn't a sure thing because the state has a backlog of bridge and highway repairs.

Maine faces a shortfall in funding for highways and bridges, and a report released last month in response to the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minnesota calls for a $50 million to $60 million annual increase for bridges.

"My impression from the Transportation Committee is that they're more worried about roads and bridges than they are about rail," said Rep. Jeremy Fischer, D-Presque Isle, co- chairman of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee.

Fischer's committee, along with the Transportation Committee, will review the rail authority's request.

Lawmakers are facing a budget shortfall of $95 million during the coming session; supporters of the Downeaster are seeking a commitment for funding in the following two-year budget cycle, which starts July 1, 2009.

The funding has support from Gov. John Baldacci and the Maine Department of Transportation, but some lawmakers may be reluctant to commit to it before the next Legislature is seated, Fischer said.

Also dogging the Downeaster is the perception that the service benefits only southern Maine, along with New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

"The problem with the Downeaster is that it doesn't benefit all parts of Maine," Fischer said. "Where I'm from in Aroostook County, we don't see any benefit from the Downeaster, but we do have problems with roads and bridges all over the place."

The Downeaster's supporters envision the service expanding to Freeport and Brunswick, then farther north.

Already, people from across Maine use the Downeaster. "Every ZIP code in Maine is represented on that train," said Wayne Davis of TrainRiders Northeast, an advocacy group that lobbied to establish the Downeaster and now is lobbying for state funding.

The Downeaster began running on the dark, rainy morning of Dec. 15, 2001.

No one knew whether the first passenger train service between Portland and Boston in three decades would prove successful, despite studies and more than $40 million in tax money spent on track upgrades.

After the first year, ridership dipped before growing along with improvements, including reduced travel time, schedule adjustments and an additional daily round trip.

Through November of this year, 347,586 people had ridden the Downeaster, compared with 291,794 in 2002, the first full year of operation.

"When we started off, it was an attraction," Quinn said. "Now people are riding the train to get from point A to B because it's pleasant, it's economical and it's efficient."

Deputy Transportation Commissioner Greg Nadeau said the Downeaster provides a vital economic link between Portland and Boston, and an important transportation alternative at a time of rising energy prices, highway congestion and pollution.

Ten years from now, people will see the $7 million or $8 million annual investment as a small sum to pay for...