Correspondent Roger Wood and a large crowd awaited the arrival of the "Downeaster" in Exeter.
(SOT Horns, train arriving)
(VO) I'm Roger Wood, at the nearly completed Exeter train station, at the moment the Downeaster arrived, on time, from Boston. As the train pulled in, marking the first time passenger rail has been available since 1965, the Exeter High School Band played, and hundreds of people gathered to listen to those who were most instrumental in the historic event.
(SOT) Bob Hall :12 OC: We're ready for choice in transportation (Applause)
Bob Hall, a long time advocate of passenger rail and member of the Exeter Station committee, pointed out that twelve hundred tickets have already been sold for the first day of regular service, ON SATURDAY. One of those riders will be a local man, Norman Petite, who plans to ride North, to Portland. He worked on the tracks FOR 45 years when it was operated by the Boston and Maine Railroad.
(SOT Petite) :17 OC: Always had good rain riders on this line
Petite predicts that there will once again be good ridership from Exeter to Boston. So does Bill Tolend, whose uncle worked in the ticket office in what used to be the train station, which is now a variety store nearby.
(SOT Tollend) :10 OC: Fantastic for the whole community
This inaugural trip of the Downeaster was for VIP's and the media only, and included Michael Dukakis, acting chairman of Amtrak, who disembarked from the train to speak to the large gathering, which included many Exeter school children.
(SOT Dukakis) :22 OC: When we abandoned rail service from Boston to Portland, Maine.
Keeping that newly inaugurated service going, along with the other federally subsidized rail in the nation, is up to Congress, which has mandated that Amtrak become self-sufficient, a significant challenge, one that Governor Jeanne Shaheen thinks may not be necessary.
(SOT Shaheen) :15 OC: Trains in this country, as well
But Shaheen concedes that Amtrak has to take measurable steps toward financial viability, including increasing ridership. If the beginning of the Downeaster is any indication, it could prove that passenger rail is welcome and needed, AT LEAST in New Hampshire. For NHPR News, I'm Roger Wood in Exeter.
(SFX out band playing)
