Show Notes
In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Natalie Bogart, Deputy Director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA), which operates the Amtrak Downeaster.
Bogart describes the Downeaster's reach: 12 station communities across three states, five daily roundtrips, and over 550,000 riders last year, about 30,000 of whom traveled to or from Dover. She highlights the service's diverse ridership — commuters, day-trippers, college students, and seniors and kids who ride at 50% off — plus a discount program for medical travelers.
The conversation covers scheduling complexities (including why late-night Portland-area service, like return trips from Thompson's Point concerts, involves Amtrak, CSX, and NNEPRA), NNEPRA's ongoing 15-year service development plan, and priority infrastructure projects: relocating the Portland station onto the rail mainline and adding double-track sections to increase capacity and speed.
Parker and Bogart also discuss Dover's partnership with NNEPRA, including grant funding for station improvements, wayfinding signage developed years ago, and the volunteer ambassador program that welcomes arriving passengers. Bogart notes that fares are affordable — $16 to $26 between Dover and Boston, as low as $8 to Old Orchard Beach — and describes onboard amenities such as business-class seating and the Downeast Cafe. She closes by encouraging listeners to visit AmtrakDowneaster.com to learn more about the Downeaster's station communities and submit feedback on future service.
In This Week in Dover History, we look back at July 25, 1890, when the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that Dover's own Marilla Marks Ricker could be admitted to the state bar, the first woman in New Hampshire history to do so. A lifelong freethinker and suffragist, Ricker had already been the first woman to attempt to vote in Dover in 1870, and went on to practice law in Washington, D.C., where she was known as the "Prisoner's Friend." She ran for New Hampshire governor in 1910 and died in 1917, just before the 19th Amendment secured women's right to vote.
More from Dover Download
In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Dian Maruca, executive director of the Dover Housing Authority, as part of the podcast's continuing look at local nonprofits and social service agencies. Maruca, who has led the authority since March 2026 after joining as deputy director in 2023, shares how a teenage landscaping job at the Newmarket Housing Authority grew into a career in subsidized housing. She says that hands-on experience shapes her respect for her maintenance and administrative staff.
In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Director of Planning and Community Development Donna Benton about the FY28-33 Capital Improvements Program, presented to the City Council and Planning Board on Oct. 7.
In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Director of Media Services Mike Gillis about September's board, committee and commission meetings.
In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Margaret Joyce and Jed Allen of the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce about the 42nd annual Apple Harvest Day. What began as a small craft fair on Orchard Street with about a dozen crafters has grown into a signature event often described as Dover's homecoming, with roughly 250 vendors, two food courts, a road race, an apple pie contest and entertainment on two stages. The festival runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the 5K road race starting at 8:30 a.m.
In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Kathy Beebe, executive director of Haven, as part of the podcast's continuing look at local nonprofits. Haven is the Seacoast's domestic violence and sexual assault prevention and support agency. It was formed through the merger of A Safe Place and Sexual Assault Support Services. Beebe explains that the new name was chosen deliberately to make clear its services are for anyone affected, including men, teens, adult survivors of childhood abuse, and family members.