Empire Corridor. Most of the tracks and facilities on the Empire Corridor used by Amtrak are owned and operated by Consolidated Rail Corporation (CONRAIL), whose cooperation and approval was required before the program could be implemented.

Between Boston and Portland there exist track and a long-standing rail right-of-way available to companies in Massachusetts and Maine. Under a revitalization plan originally developed by Train Riders Northeast and now funded by the U.S. DOT Federal Transit Administration, the Boston-Portland Corridor is fast becoming a classic example of how a low-cost investment in existing underutilized transportation infrastructure can produce significant transportation benefits. The foreseeable return on investment may exceed tenfold.
   The immediate benefits of increased access and passenger mobility open downtown Boston to communities along the full length of the Boston-Portland Corridor, reflecting improvements in the efficiency of the Corridor between the two cities. But the benefits from bringing existing rail infrastructure literally "up to speed" through the planned project are more general and more far-reaching than simply getting passengers to Portland and back. These benefits include economic growth in a number of industries, and affect the entire Corridor area.
   The Economic Rent Model (ERM) is used to determine the impact from increased transportation activity, particularly improved access, that investment through the project will provide. Using the ERM, the project is projected to create some 996 new jobs in the service and manufacturing industries located along the corridor—over and above those required for the construction and operation of the rail system.
   This increased economic activity will generate a related increase in household income in the corridor of some $22 million per year, reaching both existing employees in the region and those with new jobs created or otherwise made possible by the project. Property within the affected corridor will increase by $460 million as improved access to Boston makes communities in the Corridor more attractive places to live and work. Overall, the project will require an investment of some $50 million, but will reap rewards of over $500 million over its life for residents and communities in the Boston-Portland Corridor. So high a return on such a modest investment is possible due to the enormous "sunk costs" represented by the existing right-of-way and track, and the comparatively modest cost of making effective use of existing assets.

July 1995