Federal and state transportation officials gathered in Brunswick this morning to mark what they called a milestone in the development of rail travel in northern New England. Work officially began on the extension project that will provide an extra 30 miles of track linking Amtrak's Downeaster service between Boston and Portland, with midcoast Maine.

"The first steam engine pulled into Brunswick in 1849, and I'm here to tell you that the train has returned," said Joe Szabo, chief of the Federal Railroad Administration, at the formal groundbreaking of the Downeaster extension, a project which marks the start of a nationwide effort to upgrade America's passenger rail system

Szabo was in Brunswick to hand over $35 million in stimulus funds awarded to the project earlier this year as part of an $8 billion grant program authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. "Today's groundbreaking is noteworthy, not only because it marks the use of $35 million in our funding distributed here to Maine for this project, but also because this state has demonstrated such a significant understanding of the process that is necessary to expand rail," Szabo said.

And such is Maine's commitment to expanding its railroad system, says Szabo, that the project was fast-tracked in Washington, and Maine has now become the first state in the U.S. to break ground on the project.

It was a proud moment for Wayne Davis, chairman of Trainriders Northeast, a passenger rail advocacy group that has spent almost a decade lobbying for the expansion of the Downeaster. "Today's event is another milestone on our quest to provide transportation choices, as well as significant economic benefits, including jobs for the entire region," Davis said.

About 200 jobs are expected to be created over the next two years, as the railroad track between Brunswick, Freeport and Portland is upgraded. The passenger service is due to begin in the fall of 2012, taking passengers from Boston all way to Brunswick if they want -- a journey of more than 140 miles.

Before all that can happen, though, there's work to be done: Nearly 30 miles of track need to be upgraded, and that process began straight after the groundbreaking ceremony, as a giant spike-driving machine began began securing sections of track.

"It's been a long time coming, I mean you've been to enough of these press conferences and seen a lot of talk, but today we saw people actually working, sparks flying, spikes being driven, and that's good," says David Fink, president of Pan Am Railways, which owns most of the track between Brunswick and Portland.

Fink says the project means Pan Am Railways is able to at keep at least 50 of its Maine-based employees at work for much of the next two years, employees who would otherwise, he says, have been laid off.

Gov. John Baldacci hopes this project will act as a catalyst, leading the way to an expansion of rail services to other parts of the state. "With this milestone here in Brunswick and Freeport, we're going to go on to Rockland, we're going to go on to Augusta. We need to go further, we're going to go into western Maine, and Lewiston, Auburn and out through western Maine."

Amtrak's Downeaster service between Portland and Boston last week announced a strong end to the fiscal year, with passenger numbers increasing to 474,000 and ticket revenue reaching an all-time high of $6.7 million. The expansion to Brunswick is expected to boost ridership by another 36,000, according to the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority.