Finance

Paying for the Project

As with any visionary, long-term project, raising the appropriate finance is always the difficult bit. In the opinion of the NHRRA this project is no different from any major infrastructure project that benefits the community as a whole, such as the forthcoming widening of I93 estimated to cost well over $700m – up from $400m just a few years ago.

Nevertheless we believe that the funding can be achieved, with a little imagination and determination, without any effect on property taxes – the state's main funding mechanism.

Investment Cost to Rebuild the Rail Line

Our initial estimates put the total building costs of the project at around $130m. The general breakdown of this would be as follows:

§	$50m from Lowell to Nashua
§	$50m from Nashua to Manchester
§	$30m from Manchester to Concord

At this preliminary stage we believe that the funding could be provided 80% by the Federal Government, as long as the state provides matching funds for the remaining 20%. Therefore the funds – around $26m - that the state would have to raise under this scenario are as follows:

§	$10m from Lowell to Nashua
§	$10m from Nashua to Manchester
§	$6m from Manchester to Concord

We believe the state should look to form a series of public/private initiatives to encourage private businesses to help raise this money. Examples of this would be private investment in the project in return for development rights at the station sites of modern office, retail and residential facilities; leisure outlets such as restaurants and bars; privately owned concessions within the station localities and so on. By working with private industry, the state would:

§	Remove a significant portion of the funding burden from the state to private business
§	Receive a significant return on investment on the money it does put in, from the stimulation to the local economy that will result
§	Regenerate struggling areas of our towns and cities using partially private money, benefiting all of us and improving the centers of our local communities

Ongoing Costs of Running the Line

Operating costs for the service will likely require initial funding from taxpayer dollars. In general commuter railways are largely self-funding, with revenue from passenger fares typically covering between 50 and 90 percent of operating costs. If you add concessions and advertising revenues and it is not unreasonable to believe that a New Hampshire rail service could be self-supporting over the long-term.

Even if the service does not totally cover its costs year-to-year, the NHRRA believes that a small subsidy would be a reasonable investment. We currently subsidize our roads and highway system heavily, so it is not unreasonable to expect that we should also support a train service that greatly benefits the community also.

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