The availability of train transportation from Maine to Boston – and vice versa – will increase dramatically starting Monday, but Maine’s quarantine rules for visiting or receiving visitors from Massachusetts remain in effect.
Amtrak Downeaster trains will run four daily round trips from Brunswick to Boston. Trains are scheduled to be sanitized daily with enhanced cleaning protocols before and after each round trip.
After being shut down completely by the coronavirus on April 13, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, which oversees the Downeaster, began offering a single weekday round trip on June 15, designed primarily for essential workers. During that time period of limited opening, no station facilities or food service were available.
Starting Monday, commuters can take a train out of Brunswick four times a day. The Monday-Friday schedule has Brunswick departures at 4:30, 7 and 11:18 a.m., and 4:10 p.m. The weekend schedule has trains leaving Brunswick at 5:30 and 7:30 a.m., and 12:20 and 5:10 p.m.
Currently, residents of Massachusetts are still required to either have a confirmed negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of visiting Maine, or commit to a 14-day quarantine upon entering Maine. Further, Maine residents who visit Massachusetts – or any state other than New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey – are required to either quarantine for 14 days or receive a negative test upon returning to Maine.
Crews and passengers will be required to wear face coverings in the station, while boarding and once on board. Passenger limits of 50 percent of seating capacity have been set.
Onboard food service will be available, though the Downeaster Cafe will be closed, and some station facilities will be reopened. The Downeaster also makes Maine stops in Freeport, Portland, Old Orchard Beach (except the early morning train), Saco and Wells on its way to Boston’s North Station.
Concord Coach Lines has not yet resumed its bus service. The company suspended all operations on March 28 because of the pandemic, including its Portland-to-Boston/Logan Airport route.
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