Is it rail vs. trail? No. But… maybe?🚴🛤️
Transportation is the highest polluting economic sector in Maine — it accounts for 49% of our state’s carbon emissions, according to the Maine Climate Council. And this is true in the broader U.S., too: Greenhouse gas emissions from transportation make up 28% of the pie, the largest source of the country’s emissions, according to the EPA. Solving this piece of the climate change puzzle won’t come easily. Electric cars help, but won’t get us there on their own.
This leaves greener transit solutions, like trains and biking, to do a lot of heavy lifting. But both funding and space are limited, and these alternatives can sometimes end up competing for both.
Rail once crisscrossed America the way modern highways do. Fueled by coal, a heavily polluting energy source, they nevertheless transported people, and goods, en masse. Per passenger, trains beat out cars for environmentally friendly travel — especially given modern trains, which are much safer and more efficient than those of yore; the same is roughly true for shipping goods via freight train versus 18-wheelers.
But with the rise of highways, train use declined in the U.S., for myriad reasons — that’s another story (or book, or anthology). And many of the miles of train tracks that used to carry freight trains full of goods between towns and cities, as well as people, were abandoned.
Train tracks are often owned by public utilities, or owned and managed by states themselves. In Maine, many tracks are owned by the state and managed by the Department of Transportation, while others are owned privately by railroad companies. Some tracks are well maintained, with talks to bring back more options for passenger rail, but others have fallen into disrepair.
Two bills up for consideration this legislative session, LD 29 and LD 30, aim to put the unused tracks to use. If funding can be secured, the Maine DOT would convert miles of unused train tracks into a loop of walking and biking trails. The trails could span all the way from Portland to Augusta, with sections looping through Brunswick, Auburn and several other towns. The two bills have so far been passed by the House. The State Senate moved to place the bills on the special highway table — which means they’re discussing funding options.
Since the 1960s onwards, rail trails have popped up all over the country in an attempt to put these publicly managed byways to use again. Railroad tracks are mostly flat, and often weave through scenic areas and along coasts or rivers. Turning abandoned railroad tracks into walking and biking paths gets people moving and draws tourists, rail trail advocates say.
“But the big driver behind why we're looking at these different segments of rail is because there's been a lot of studies that have shown that at this time, it is just not feasible for passenger rail,” said State Sen. Mattie Daughtry who represents Brunswick, and other towns in Southern Maine.
“One thing I want to be really clear about is, this doesn't take out the tracks at any time,” she added. “It could be reconverted back into passenger rail. It actually works within the existing rail bed.”
Options include blacktop paved over wooden tracks, with the metal rails still visible, or a dirt and gravel path rolled out over both.
But train advocates say “trail until rail” isn’t honest or realistic — that in reality, it would add just one more barrier to an already difficult process of bringing back passenger rail.
“The Merrymeeting Trail people claim that their trail would be ‘interim,’” writes Steven Turner of Belgrade, Maine, in a letter to the editor in the Press Herald. “What rail company is going to bulldoze a trail and build a new rail line from scratch?”
Bruce Sleeper knows what goes into restoring passenger rail in an inactive train corridor. As president of Train Riders Northeast, he’s been involved in launching the Downeaster train service between Portland and Boston, and securing the extension of the line up to Brunswick.
“Once you've ripped up the rails from a rail line, it costs far too much to put them back in to make it economically feasible,” he said.
“Of the thousands of miles that have been abandoned for rail use in the United States, there have been only less than 100 miles which have been reconverted after rail has been converted to trail, reconverted back to rail again,” he added.
Sleeper told me that he hasn’t been able to find an example of an “interim” rail trail being converted back into rail service. In my research, I could only find 8.9 miles of rail trail on the Lake Superior Railroad in Michigan’s upper peninsula that had been reclaimed by the railway, with just 1.9 miles actually being converted back into active rail. (Feel free to write in with more examples, if you know them!). Sleeper’s worry is that once the tracks are gone, they’re gone — and it may be true.
There are already rail trails in Maine. One, the Kennebec River rail trail, connects Augusta to Gardiner, spanning 6.5 miles. I recently met a couple who bike it multiple times a week. They moved to Maine from Ohio where, they say, rail trails are all over the state, and people use them not just for exercise, but to commute.
Nash Callahan, owner of Capital City Cycles in Augusta, Maine, is one of those people. He doesn’t own a car, and bikes to work in Augusta from Farmingdale every day using the rail trail.
“It's a great way to get quickly from Hallowell or Gardiner into Augusta,” he said. “Even in the winter, they keep the path cleared off and salt it, so it’s safe and fast and flat and a great way to get from town to town.”
Callahan said he sees a lot of fellow commuters riding to Augusta, especially on E-bikes, and he predicts those numbers will multiply if the trail can connect all the way to Portland. He says there’s a lot of enthusiasm in the biking community for this trail, which has been years in the making.
Sleeper, the train advocate, says he’s not against trails — he just wants them to be built alongside the train tracks, rather than on top of them. However, this would more than double the cost of the project, according to a report commissioned by Maine DOT.
In 2023, the Lower Road Rail Use Advisory Council estimated the costs of various options for the train corridor from Brunswick to Augusta: an interim rail trail; a rail with trail, or a new trail built alongside the train; and options to restore freight and passenger rail. The majority recommended converting 33.5 miles of the track to an interim trail, which they estimated to cost $34-43 million. By contrast, expanding passenger rail along the Lower Road could cost over $300 million, the report estimated. Building a trail alongside the rail line could cost between $146-$152 million.
Those figures look big. But in an opinion piece for the Press Herald about rail vs. trail, Aaron Hanlon writes that while the price tag of rail with trail and passenger rail can look high, the cost to Maine of not building out alternatives to cars is higher.
“That sounds like a lot of money when compared with nothing. But when compared with what our present over-reliance on the highway system costs Mainers — both in car expenses that come directly out of our own pockets and tax expenditures of hundreds of millions per year to maintain roads (a total of nearly $7 billion since 2018) — rail is much more affordable than you might think.”
Despite the bills having passed the House and, provisionally, the Senate, the future of the rail trail plans are still uncertain. Whether the rail trails will receive the funding they need, and what modifications may be made, are up to the Senate, the DOT, and eventually, Gov. Janet Mills.
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Even though more than 7 in 10 Americans believe climate change is happening, and 6 in 10 are worried about it, two-thirds of us rarely, if ever, talk about it. That’s according to the Nature Conservancy, which released a guide to talking about climate change last year.
Research shows that people form their beliefs not just from facts they know, but also based on what those around them believe. And, the more we hear something, the more we tend to accept it. So by simply having a conversation with friends or family about climate change, we’re already moving the needle.
Reasons for not wanting to talk about it run the gamut, from feeling hopeless, not wanting to offend someone or to bum them out, not wanting to nag, not knowing how the other person feels about climate change… but whatever the reason, it’s OK to talk about it. If you’re feeling hopeless about climate change, opening up and sharing that with loved ones is a fine place to start.
During the conversation, it’s important to meet people where they are, and lead with empathy. We’re not trying to win an argument or score debate points. Shutting someone down in a social-media style verbal sparring match is a great way to make them feel defensive and not want to engage. Listening, finding common ground, and validating shared values is key.
Here are the rules of engagement:
Start with what’s already happening
Rather than debating the future impacts of climate change, we can start with that we’re already seeing — higher impact and more frequent storms, wildfires, heatwaves, invasive species… whatever you’re passionate about.
Meet them where they are
Openly and genuinely listen to their perspective and concerns. Being patient and reflecting back what they say to show you understand is key. And, knowing it may take more than one conversation — and just being OK with finding common ground as a starting point.
Forming a connection outweighs imparting facts
Science is important, but it can’t change hearts and minds alone. Research shows humans are moved by stories — and the emotions they can evoke. Moving people emotionally is key to leaving a lasting impression, i.e. “There's a beach I grew up going to every summer, but it’s so different now — sea level rise and extreme storms have moved the sand all around and made it almost unrecognizable.”
Conversation is more important than conversion
People rarely change their mind on the spot, and usually not from being bested in a spirited debate. We usually try to avoid being seen as “wrong” about something, unless it’s a very safe space. But if curiosity, rather than argument, is the rule, studies show people will leave conversations more open to changing their mind in the future.
Respect the person across from you
You may disagree, and they may even be sharing facts you know are wrong. But try to avoid interrupting, eye-rolling or raising your voice — and if you slip up, apologize and get back on track. If you don’t understand how they could think the way they do, ask! Their answers may surprise you — and help you find common ground.
Starting these conversations will signal to our friends and neighbors that climate is not only on our minds, it’s a priority. And once they see that climate change is important enough for you to talk about, it’s easier for them to talk to others about it, too.
Until next time,
Molly
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