Kennebunk station

Kennebunk

1873-built Kennebunk station building in September 2016
Location Depot Street, Kennebunk, Maine
Coordinates 43°22′57.2″N 70°31′45.7″W / 43.382556°N 70.529361°W / 43.382556; -70.529361Coordinates: 43°22′57.2″N 70°31′45.7″W / 43.382556°N 70.529361°W / 43.382556; -70.529361
Owned by Dietz Associates (station building)
Line(s) B & M (Pan Am Railways)
Platforms 1 side platform[1]
Tracks 1
Construction
Parking 55 spaces[2]
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened 1873[3]:95
2017 (planned)[2]
Closed January 3, 1965[2][1]
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station
Downeaster
Seasonal stop only

Kennebunk is a planned intercity rail station on the Downeaster route, to be located off Depot Street in Kennebunk, Maine. Station facilities will be located in the extant station building, with a new high-level handicapped accessible platform outside.[1] Seasonal service is planned to begin in 2017 or 2018.[2][4] The depot was previously used for passenger service from 1873 to 1965.[3]:95[2]

History

Boston & Maine Railroad

Kennebunk station around 1910, at which time it was the junction for the branch line to Kennebunkport

From the 1840s until 1873, the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) used the Portsmouth, Saco and Portland Railroad to reach Portland, Maine. That year, after the joint lease of the PS&P by the B&M and the Eastern Railroad ended, the B&M built an extension of its mainline from South Berwick, Maine to Portland.[3]:95 The foundation for a station at Kennebunk on the new line was begun in 1872 and the station opened the next year.[1] The station was built as a single-story clapboard structure, typical of B&M stations on the line.[3]:164

The Kennebunk and Kennebunkport Railroad opened in 1883 from Kennebunk to Kennebunkport, Maine. The B&M operated service on the branch until 1926.[3]:162-164 Mainline service ton Kennebunk continued until the final day of service on January 3, 1965.[2] The station building remains, largely unchanged over the past 130 years.[3]:164

Downeaster

Track side of the station, where the platform will be located

In 2001, Amtrak begun Downeaster service between Boston and Portland, which ran past but did not stop at Kennebunk. Some residents started to call for a stop at Kennebunk to attract tourists to the town, with serious discussions beginning in 2010.[1] In May 2014, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (which governs Downeaster operations) agreed to add a station stop at Kennebunk. Service as soon as 2015 was considered, but will be delayed until at least 2016 due to the timing of state funding.[1]

In June 2014, Kennebunk voters approved a $300,000 tax increment financing (TIF) plan, which along with $60,000 from current Maine Department of Transportation Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds and another $800,000 in CMAQ funds in 2016 will supply the $1.16 million needed to build the station.[1] In October 2014, $183,000 of the TIF money was dedicated to build a 55-space parking lot near the station.[1] In October 2015, the town signed a grant agreement for the station, though the remaining state funds are not yet guaranteed.[4] The town will also pay the $45,000 in annual maintenance costs from the TIF funds.[4]

A small section of the former Boston & Maine depot building will be leased for use as a waiting area, as required by a deed restriction placed when the property was purchased from the B&M in the 1960s.[2] A 300-foot platform with a high-level section for handicapped access will be built behind the station building.[1] The platform will not be complete until 2017 or 2018 due to the timing of the CMAQ funds; a temporary platform was intended to open in 2016 but was not completed.[4] Like Old Orchard Beach, it will be a seasonal stop only open from April to October, though town officials hope it may eventually be a year-round stop.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Gillman, Faith (26 December 2014). "Next stop, Kennebunk: Amtrak's Downeaster welcomed as seasonal economic boost". The Village. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bell, Tom (October 29, 2014). "Downeaster train service adds stop in Kennebunk". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lindsell, Robert M. (2000). The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press. ISBN 0942147065.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Lynch, Nathan (28 October 2015). "Downeaster platform in Kennebunk chugging along". Journal Tribune. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
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