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Vermont governor boosts Amtrak service to Burlington
Memo to Governor Shumlin: don’t stop the Ethan Allan at Burlington. Keep going a few more miles to Essex Junction, where it can connect with the Vermonter. If and when that train is extended sixty miles or so from St. Albans (pop. 6,971) to Montreal (pop. 3,824,221), it will mean more travel options and many more potential passengers, not just from Vermont but from Quebec and New York State as well.
Sounds like a minor expenditure compared to new Interstate grade highway construction costs of $5.4 million dollars per MILE.
Next would project would be to reintroduce passenger service on the former Rutland to Troy via Manchester and North Bennington route. This would be an great boost to tourism in south west Vermont.
People will use this service? You bet they will.
William, you hope what we all hope. I’m not sure about this but there may be a push in that direction now. With those new Viewliner sleepers on oder, that should help.
If our tiny state is in a position to consider any expansion of intercity passenger rail services, the first priority should be a second daily frequency on the Vermonter route even if a 2nd train doesn’t operate north of White River Junction. Then talk about Rutland-Burlington second. Simultaneously the state is saying it might re-route the Ethan Allen if NY State doesn’t pony up, so the public messaging about rail service on the west side of the state is already mixed and muddy.
For Mr. Trudo in PA: there are no more tracks into Troy and there is no RR station either. The junction at Johnsville, NY (JV Tower) is long gone, the tower is still there but a shell of itself, road overpasses have been removed and the old road bed in Lansingburgh, north of Troy is now a bike path. There have been attempts at initiatives for RR pax service into southwestern VT for years - especially for tourism and skiers. Some trackage between Hoosick Junction and North Bennington, VT has been upgraded. But the link runs over to Mechanicville, NY, and then down the west bank of the Hudson and then back over the river to Rensselaer, the main station in the region. What used to be a viable and extensive rail network in the region up until the late 1950’s is a shadow of its former self.
Rail service to Burlington - good idea. Reinstate the Montrealer - great idea!
Why not just reroute the Vermonter into Burlington instead of St. Albans? I don’t know the track configuration but at most a connection would have to be built between the two for a lot less money than rehabilatating 60 miles. No need to go on to Montreal as the Adirondack already goes there. With Amtrak, more trains = more money lost as not one of them breaks even.
What you said in your post is very true, Mr. Trudo. Too bad trolls like Jeffery Guse can’t see passenger rail funding in that light. People don’t believe passenger rail is, in reality, a bargain.
Please don’t stop there. Connect with Amtrak at Essex Junction. It’s only ten-more miles. One day, the “Vermonter” will go through to Montreal again, I hope.
Its only a few miles from Essex Junction (3 miles) Why didn’t they think of this before tearing up their tracks to the downtown Burlington station?
One of the two former Central Vermont Ry tracks is still in (and used) between Essex Jct. and downtown Burlington, passing the old Burlington Union Station to a freight yard just south of downtown. The CV (former Burlington & Lamoille RR) line is indeed abandoned but the New England Central RR (ex CV) line is still alive and well. I hope passenger service is indeed restored - and from St. Albans north to Montreal as well.
The train station in downtown Burlington will also be within walking distance of the ferry service across Lake Champlain, which serves Port Kent, NY on the Adirondack route. There is also a city bus line that goes from downtown Burlington to the Amtrak station at Essex Junction: it is served by lines 1E, 2, and 4 by the Chittenden County Transportation Authority.