Freight Railroads

The State of Maine is served by six private railroads operating over 1,100 miles of trackage traversing most metropolitan and many rural areas of the State. Three of these railroads, the St.Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad (SL&A), the Guilford Rail System, and the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railroad (MMA), form the core of the regional rail network. The State, through the Three Rail Carrier Strategy, works with these railroads in the development and improvement of State policy.

The State and the three railroads also evenly split the cost of some capital improvement projects. Also, the State of Maine owns over 300 miles of track, some of which is used by short line railroads such as the Maine Eastern Railroad and the Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad.

Rail service is an important component of the freight transportation mix in Maine since it is particularly cost-effective when moving high-volume, low-value commodities over long distances and gives shippers another choice besides highway transport when moving their products to market.. In recent years, there has been a major effort in investing and improving rail infrastructure by MDOT.

Click on the following for information pertaining to:

• Freight railroads operating in Maine

• A history of railroading in Maine

• The Industrial Rail Access Program (IRAP) 
  

For more information about rail freight in Maine please contact Nathan Moulton in OFT

• Federal Railroad Administration

• Association of American Railroads

• Operation Lifesaver