The ''Ethan Allen Express'' is a daily passenger train operated by
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
in the United States between
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and
Burlington, Vermont, via
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...
. One daily round trip is operated on a north-south route with a 7 hour 35 minute scheduled running time. The train is subsidized by New York and Vermont for the portion north of Albany. It is named for Vermont cofounder and
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
hero
Ethan Allen.
''Ethan Allen Express'' service began on December 2, 1996, acting as an extended ''
Empire Service
The ''Empire Service'' is an Inter-city rail service operated by Amtrak within the state of New York in the United States. The brand name originated with the New York Central Railroad in 1967. Trains on the line provide frequent daily service ...
'' train. It was the first passenger service to Rutland since 1953 and the first to use the line between Rutland and Whitehall since 1934. The train's schedule has been adjusted a number of times, particularly in the early years of its operation, in an attempt to serve both tourists to Vermont and Vermonters traveling to New York City. From February 1998 to April 2002, a second northbound trip was operated – at some times only a shuttle service from Albany.
An
infill station
An infill station (sometimes in-fill station) is
a train station built on an existing passenger rail, rapid transit, or light rail line to address demand in a location between existing stations. Such stations take advantage of existing train serv ...
in
Fair Haven, Vermont
Fair Haven is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,736 at the 2020 census. Within the town is located the census-designated place of Fair Haven. The town is noted for its late 19th century residential and com ...
, was added in November 1997; it was replaced with a stop in nearby
Castleton in January 2010. Service north of Albany was suspended from March 2020 to July 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. An extension to
Burlington, Vermont, with new stations in
Middlebury and
Vergennes began service on July 29, 2022. Further proposed expansions include a second daily train running via
North Bennington, Vermont
North Bennington is an incorporated village in the town of Bennington in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,716 at the 2020 census.
The North Bennington Historic District was added to the National Register of Histori ...
; an extension to
Essex Junction, Vermont
Essex Junction is a city in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 10,590. It was incorporated as a village on November 15, 1892. Essex Junction became Vermont’s 10th city on July 1, 2022.
Am ...
, to connect with the ''
Vermonter''; and additional infill stations and higher speeds in Vermont.
Operation
Route
The ''Ethan Allen Express'' operates approximately north–south between
New York Penn Station
Pennsylvania Station, also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station, is the main intercity railroad station in New York City and the busiest transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere, serving more than 600,000 passengers ...
and Burlington, save for an approximately east-west section between
Whitehall, New York
Whitehall is a town in Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 4,035 at the 2000 census.
The Town of Whitehall contains a village also named Whitehall.
Hi ...
, and
Rutland, Vermont Rutland, Vermont may refer to:
*Rutland (city), Vermont
* Rutland (town), Vermont
*Rutland County, Vermont
*West Rutland, Vermont
West Rutland is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,214 at the 2020 census. The t ...
. All of the route south of Whitehall is also used by the ''
Adirondack''. The stretch between Schenectady and New York City is also used by ''
Empire Service
The ''Empire Service'' is an Inter-city rail service operated by Amtrak within the state of New York in the United States. The brand name originated with the New York Central Railroad in 1967. Trains on the line provide frequent daily service ...
'', ''
Lake Shore Limited
The ''Lake Shore Limited'' is an overnight Amtrak intercity passenger train that runs between Chicago and either New York City or Boston via two sections east of Albany. The train began service in 1975; its predecessor was Amtrak's Chicago– ...
'', and ''
Maple Leaf
The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada.
History of use in Canada
By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along th ...
'' trains; the ''Ethan Allen Express'' acts as an additional ''Empire Service'' trip on this portion.
The train is scheduled for 7 hours 35 minutes between New York City and Burlington. Northbound trips depart in the early afternoon; southbound trips depart in the late morning.
The train operates over the following trackage:
*
Vermont Railway
The Vermont Railway is a shortline railroad in Vermont and eastern New York, operating much of the former Rutland Railway. It is the main part of the Vermont Rail System, which also owns the Green Mountain Railroad, the Rutland's branch to Be ...
: Burlington, Vermont–Whitehall
*
Canadian Pacific Railway: Canadian Subdivision (Whitehall–
Glenville, New York) and Freight Subdivision (Glenville–
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...
)
*
CSX Transportation/Amtrak
Hudson Subdivision
The Amtrak Hudson Line, also known as the CSX Hudson Subdivision, is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation and leased by Amtrak in the U.S. state of New York. The line runs from Poughkeepsie north along the east shore of the Hudson River ...
: Schenectady–
Poughkeepsie, New York
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
*
Metro-North Railroad Hudson Line: Poughkeepsie–
Spuyten Duyvil, Bronx, New York City
*
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
Empire Connection
The West Side Line, also called the West Side Freight Line, is a railroad line on the west side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Penn Station, from 34th Street, the line is used by Amtrak passenger service heading north via ...
: Spuyten Duyvil–New York Penn Station
The ''Ethan Allen Express'' operates as
higher-speed rail
Higher-speed rail (HrSR), also known as high-performance rail, higher-performance rail, semi-high-speed rail or almost-high-speed rail, is the jargon used to describe inter-city passenger rail services that have top speeds of more than convent ...
on the Hudson Subdivision, with speeds up to .
Maximum speeds are on the Hudson Line, on the Empire Connection, on the Freight Subdivision, on the Canadian Subdivision, and on the Vermont Railway.
Equipment
''Ethan Allen Express'' trains typically have five
Amfleet
Amfleet is a fleet of single-level intercity railroad passenger cars built by the Budd Company for American company Amtrak in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Budd based the Amfleet design on its earlier Metroliner electric multiple unit. An in ...
passenger cars: four coaches plus a
club car
Club Car is an American company that manufactures electric and gas-powered golf carts and small utility vehicles for personal and commercial use. It is currently owned by Platinum Equity after being acquired in 2021. Before that, the company wa ...
with 2x1 business class seating and a cafe area.
Trains operate with two
GE P32AC-DM
General Electric Genesis (officially trademarked GENESIS) is a series of passenger diesel locomotives produced by GE Transportation, then a subsidiary of General Electric. Between 1992 and 2001, a total of 321 units were built for Amtrak, Metro- ...
dual-mode locomotives, one at each end, which operate on
third rail
A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway ...
electric power in Penn Station and the Empire Connection tunnel and on diesel power for the rest of the route.
In the late 2020s and early 2030s, all equipment will be replaced with Amtrak Airo trainsets, the railroad's branding of its combination of
Siemens Venture
Siemens Venture (also branded as Amtrak Airo) is a type of locomotive-hauled passenger railroad car built by Siemens Mobility for the North American market. The cars are derived from the Siemens Viaggio Comfort cars used in Europe, with adapta ...
passenger cars and a
Siemens Charger
The Siemens Charger is a family of diesel-electric passenger locomotives designed and manufactured by Siemens Mobility for the North American market.
There are five variants of the Charger, tailored for different operators and types of service ...
diesel-electric locomotive. The trainsets for the ''Ethan Allen Express'' will have six passenger cars, which will include a cab
control car
A control car, cab car (North America), control trailer, or driving trailer (UK and Ireland) is a non-powered rail vehicle from which a train can be operated. As dedicated vehicles or regular passenger cars, they have one or two driver compartm ...
food service area and a mix of 2x2 coach and 2x1 business class seating. The car closest to the locomotive will have batteries to supply electricity to traction motors in the locomotive when operating in Penn Station and the Empire Connection tunnel, eliminating the need for third rail propulsion.
Ridership and funding
Ridership in Fiscal Year 2021 (which included only 3 months of service north of Albany) was 12,456. Ridership in Fiscal Year 2019 – the last full pre-pandemic fiscal year of operations – was 50,515.
The train is subsidized by New York and Vermont for the portion north of Albany, in proportion to mileage on that section in each state. In FY 2019, the Vermont portion of the subsidy (44%) was $1.57 million, while the New York portion was about $2 million.
The
Vermont Agency of Transportation
The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) is a government agency of the state of Vermont that is responsible for planning, constructing, and maintaining a variety of transportation infrastructure in the state. This includes roads, bridges, sta ...
subsidizes discounted fares for most intra-Vermont travel on the route. The route is supplemented by two daily bus round trips operated by
Vermont Translines between Albany and Burlington which act as
Amtrak Thruway
Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transi ...
connections to Empire Corridor trains at Albany–Rensselaer. These bus routes also provide Amtrak connections for several Vermont towns presently without direct Amtrak service, such as
Bennington and
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
.
History
Planning and service start
![Rutland, Vt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Rutland%2C_Vt.%2C_Railroad_Station.jpg)
Prior passenger service between Rutland and points south was operated by the
Delaware and Hudson Railroad
The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) is a railroad that operates in the Northeastern United States. In 1991, after more than 150 years as an independent railroad, the D&H was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). CP operates D&H ...
over the
Whitehall Branch
The Whitehall Branch was a rail line owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The line ran from Monongahela Branch near the 30th Street yard to a connection with the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad and t ...
(Rutland–
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...
) and
Washington Branch
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
(–
Eagle Bridge) and by the
Rutland Railroad
The Rutland Railroad was a railroad in the northeastern United States, located primarily in the state of Vermont but extending into the state of New York at both its northernmost and southernmost ends. After its closure in 1961, parts of the ...
over its mainline (–Rutland–) and Chatham Branch (Rutland–
Chatham
Chatham may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Canada
* Chatham Islands (British Columbia)
* Chatham Sound, British Columbia
* Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi
* Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...
). Washington Branch and Whitehall Branch passenger service ended on June 24, 1934. The Rutland Railroad continued to operate passenger service to Rutland, including the New York City–Montreal ''
Green Mountain Flyer
The ''Green Mountain Flyer'' was an international day train between Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the Northeast United States, with sections to New York City and Boston. It was operated in cooperation between the Rutland Railroad, the Canadian ...
'' and ''Mount Royal'', until 1953.
After the Rutland filed to abandoned its entire system in 1963, the state-owned
Vermont Railway
The Vermont Railway is a shortline railroad in Vermont and eastern New York, operating much of the former Rutland Railway. It is the main part of the Vermont Rail System, which also owns the Green Mountain Railroad, the Rutland's branch to Be ...
took over freight service on most of the lines in 1964. The
Central Vermont Railway
The Central Vermont Railway was a railroad that operated in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec.
It connected Montreal, Quebec, with New London, Connect ...
continued to operate the ''
Montrealer'', providing passenger service to the eastern and northern parts of the state, until 1966.
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
took over intercity passenger service in the United States in 1971 and resumed the overnight ''Montrealer'' in 1972.
Politicians including
Curtis McCormack unsuccessfully attempted to obtain funding for Amtrak service to Rutland in the 1980s. Then-governor
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 2009 ...
created the Vermont Rail Council headed by McCormack in 1991, with instruction to study Rutland service, but most attention was focused on the ''Montrealer''.
In late 1994, Amtrak announced that the ''Montrealer'' would be discontinued due to budget cuts. While state officials worked to retain that service, adding a route to Rutland (and possibly Burlington) was also supported by Dean.
In April 1995, the ''Montrealer'' was cut back to
St. Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman r ...
as the state-subsidized ''
Vermonter'' on a daytime schedule. Later than month, $3.5 million was included in a federal funding bill. Along with $1 million from the Vermont Railway and $743,000 from the state, this funded $5.24 million in trackwork, which upgraded of the Whitehall Branch from to maximum speed.
The state originally planned to call the new service the ''Green Mountain Flyer'' after the former Rutland Railroad train. However, the
Green Mountain Railroad
The Green Mountain Railroad is a class III railroad operating in Vermont. GMRC operates on tracks that had been owned by the Rutland Railroad and Boston and Maine Railroad. The railroad operates on a rail line between North Walpole, New Hampsh ...
objected, as they already used that name for a tourist train. On August 15, 1996, the state announced it would be called the ''Ethan Allen Express'' after Vermont cofounder and American Revolutionary War patriot
Ethan Allen. The state agreed to a $200,000 annual subsidy, which reflected the cost of extending one ''Empire Service'' round trip from Albany to Rutland.
Service began with the northbound trip on December 2, 1996, with the first southbound trip the following day.
The ''Ethan Allen Express'' began with stops in , , , , , , , , , and New York City.
Because the ''Adirondack'' already served the section between New York City and Whitehall, the ''Ethan Allen Express'' only added and one station (Rutland) to the Amtrak system.
A trailer was used as a temporary station at Rutland; the station building, funded by $700,000 from the federal government, did not open until 1999.
Early service changes
![Ethan Allen Express at Rutland station, May 2001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Ethan_Allen_Express_at_Rutland_station%2C_May_2001.jpg)
The ''Ethan Allen Express'' was intended to support tourism in the Rutland areas, particularly winter travel to
Killington Ski Resort
Killington Mountain Resort & Ski Area is a ski resort in Rutland County, Vermont, United States, near the town of Killington. It is the largest ski area in the eastern U.S., and has the largest vertical drop in New England at . Since the 2013– ...
and
Pico Mountain
Pico Mountain Ski Area is a ski area located in Killington, Vermont, United States. Established in 1937, it was one of the first commercial ski resorts in the state. The base of the resort is located on the northwest side of Pico Peak on U.S ...
.
The train's schedule has been adjusted a number of times, particularly in the early years of its operation, in an attempt to serve both tourists to Vermont and Vermonters traveling to New York City.
The initial schedule had a running time slightly over five hours, with afternoon departures from both terminals on weekdays. Saturday southbound trains departed Rutland at 7:05am to allow for weekend trips to New York City, while Sunday trains in both directions departed in the later afternoon to accommodate weekend trips.
In October 1997, the southbound Saturday departure moved to the same afternoon time as weekdays, while the Friday and Sunday northbound departures moved to the late-afternoon time.
An
infill station
An infill station (sometimes in-fill station) is
a train station built on an existing passenger rail, rapid transit, or light rail line to address demand in a location between existing stations. Such stations take advantage of existing train serv ...
at
Fair Haven was added on November 12, 1997.
On February 15, 1998, Amtrak added a morning northbound train from Albany to Rutland, providing a connection from the northbound ''Maple Leaf''; this gave a second northbound trip to Rutland, though still only one southbound trip. The change reduced the state subsidy by eliminating the need for overnight crew accommodations: the morning northbound trip turned around to become the afternoon southbound trip, while the afternoon northbound trip
deadheaded from Rutland to Albany in the late evening for servicing.
In October 1998, the Sunday southbound departure was shifted two hours later to allow more time for skiers, while the Saturday southbound departure was moved up to match weekdays. From August 16 to October 31, 1999, the Vermont Railway operated the ''Ethan Allen Connection'' between Rutland and Burlington with an intermediate stop at
Middlebury. It was discontinued due to low ridership; most passengers only rode between Rutland and Burlington, with just 20–25% connecting to the ''Ethan Allen Express''. On October 31, northbound service was reconfigured. A daily train departed New York at 6:15 am – an hour earlier than the ''Maple Leaf''. The afternoon northbound train continued to run Monday–Thursday; the Saturday northbound shifted to that time, while the Sunday afternoon northbound was canceled. The Friday northbound trip became an express operating nonstop between New York and Schenectady, with a hour schedule – the fastest time ever scheduled for the ''Ethan Allen Express''.
A baggage car was added to the train for bikes and ski equipment in late 1998, but it could not be used for luggage until February 2000 when an attendant was hired for Rutland station. The baggage car was removed in 2002 due to low usage, elimination of station agents due to state budget cuts, and the older baggage cars not being certified for as high speeds as the rest of the train. The schedule was simplified on April 29, 2001: daily afternoon trips in both direction, plus a morning Albany–Rutland northbound trip with no New York connection.
The morning trip became a New York–Rutland trip on July 9, while the Sunday trip was again moved to later in the afternoon.
The morning trip was cut back to an Albany–Rutland shuttle in January 2002 and discontinued entirely that April.
In April 2003, the Friday northbound trip was moved later in the evening, while weekday southbound trips were moved to a 7:15 am departure.
Monday and Saturday southbound departures were moved to 10:45 am in November 2004.
The Monday southbound trip was moved back to match the other weekdays in October 2007.
Further changes
![Castleton station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Castleton_station.jpg)
In October 2008, the
Vermont Agency of Transportation
The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) is a government agency of the state of Vermont that is responsible for planning, constructing, and maintaining a variety of transportation infrastructure in the state. This includes roads, bridges, sta ...
(VTrans) proposed eliminating the ''Ethan Allen Express'' and replacing it with a bus, citing budgetary restrictions. The proposal was rejected by a legislative committee. VTrans again proposed ending service in January 2009. Opposition from the Vermont Rail Action Network and local political leaders resulted in the service being kept. On January 2, 2010, the ''Ethan Allen Express'' began stopping at Castleton. Service to Fair Haven ended on January 9.
Beginning in the mid-2000s, poor track conditions between Whitehall and Rutland also affected the train's performance. In February 2011, VTrans began an investigation into the Vermont Rail System's handling of the ''Ethan Allen Express'' after Amtrak ranked VRS as the worst host railroad in the country.
On-time performance of the train was below 70% by that time, with track conditions responsible for 91% of delays.
Vermont Rail Systems began track work in April 2011, which reduced travel times by 10 minutes by that October. The project, funded by both the railroad and the state of New York at a cost of $3.25 million, involved rebuilding about of track and eight grade crossings.
By February 2012, additional trackwork had resulted in a 15-minute southbound and 25-minute northbound reduction in travel time between Rutland and Whitehall.
The Friday northbound trip operated on the same mid-afternoon schedule from July 10 to September 5, 2017, during
track work at New York Penn Station.
From May 26 to September 3, 2018, the ''Ethan Allen Express'' and other Empire Corridor trains were diverted to
Grand Central Terminal during further Penn Station track work.
On March 26, 2020, the ''Ethan Allen Express'' was suspended north of Albany–Rensselaer at the request of Vermont Governor
Phil Scott
Philip Brian Scott (born August 4, 1958) is an American politician, businessman and stock car racer who has served as the 82nd governor of Vermont since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected governor in the 2016 general electi ...
due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. Service to Rutland resumed on July 19, 2021, with $1 promotional fares on that date for travel within Vermont.
Extension to Burlington
![Street side at Burlington Union Station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Street_side_at_Burlington_Union_Station.jpg)
Even before service began, state planners intended to later extend the ''Ethan Allen Express'' from Rutland to
Burlington
Burlington may refer to:
Places Canada Geography
* Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Burlington, Nova Scotia
* Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington"
* Burlington, Prince Edward Island
* Burlington Bay, no ...
.
In 2005, Senator
Jim Jeffords obtained a $30 million earmark for upgrades to the Rutland–Burlington rail corridor in preparation for a possible ''Ethan Allen Express'' extension. Jeffords had long championed passenger rail in western Vermont, which does not have an
interstate highway. His original goal was New York–Burlington service via
Bennington.
The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) applied three times for
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed in response to the Gr ...
funds to rebuild the tracks between Rutland and Burlington; none of the applications were successful.
The state received $9 million in
Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery
Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE), previously called
Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD), and Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER), is a supplementary ...
funds for the project in 2013, and an additional $10 million in 2015. This completed funding for the $26 million project, which included rebuilding of track to allow speeds of for freight and for passenger trains between Rutland and Burlington. Other work included the construction of stations at and , a new platform at
Burlington Union Station, adding crossovers and passing sidings, improving grade crossings, and rebuilding a wye at Rutland.
The former
New Haven Junction station building was relocated, as it was too close to the tracks. A
separately-funded project constructed a rail tunnel in downtown Middlebury to replace aging bridges and increase clearances for freight use.
VTrans originally planned for trains to lay over overnight at Union Station, but nearby residents objected to having the locomotive idle there. In March 2020, VTrans indicated that the Vermont Railway yard to the south would instead be modified to accommodate the train. The two new stations and the new Burlington platform were built in 2020–2022.
In October 2021, Amtrak and Vermont Rail System began running qualification trips between Rutland and Burlington to familiarize train crews with the new route. Revenue service to Burlington began on July 29, 2022, with trains departing early afternoon northbound and late morning southbound all days.
It was the first direct passenger rail service to Burlington in 69 years.
The first day of service was marred by a temporary suspension of all Amtrak service west of Albany caused by a deteriorating trackside structure, the
Central Warehouse, in North Albany. Passengers were bussed between Saratoga Springs and
Albany–Rensselaer. The extension caused an immediate increase in ridership, with August 2022 ridership about 50% higher than August 2019.
Future
In 2014, VTrans and the
New York State Department of Transportation studied the potential serving southwestern Vermont either with a second daily train or rerouting the ''Ethan Allen Express''. The proposed alternative was to extend an ''Empire Service'' train to Rutland, operating on a more southern route than the ''Ethan Allen Express'' between
Glenville, New York, and Rutland. It would use existing Canadian Pacific Railway,
Pan Am Railways
Pan Am Railways, Inc. (PAR) is a subsidiary of CSX Corporation that operates Class II regional railroads covering northern New England from Mattawamkeag, Maine, to Rotterdam Junction, New York. Pan Am Railways is primarily made up of former Cla ...
(now CSX Transportation) and Vermont Railway freight lines, with new intermediate stops at
Mechanicville, New York
Mechanicville is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,196 at the time of the 2010 census. It is the smallest city by area in the state. The name is derived from the occupations of early residents.
The city is lo ...
,
North Bennington, Vermont
North Bennington is an incorporated village in the town of Bennington in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,716 at the 2020 census.
The North Bennington Historic District was added to the National Register of Histori ...
, and
Manchester, Vermont
Manchester is a town in, and one of two shire towns (county seats) of, Bennington County, Vermont. The population was 4,484 at the 2020 census.
Manchester Village, an incorporated village, and Manchester Center are settlement centers within t ...
.
The 2021 Vermont Rail Plan indicated that should it be implemented, this second service would also extend to Burlington.
VTrans listed several other possible improvements to the ''Ethan Allen Express'' in the 2021 Vermont Rail Plan. These included potential
infill
In urban planning, infill, or in-fill, is the rededication of land in an urban environment, usually open-space, to new construction. Infill also applies, within an urban polity, to construction on any undeveloped land that is not on the urban ma ...
flag stops in
Brandon
Brandon may refer to:
Names and people
*Brandon (given name), a male given name
*Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins
Places
Australia
*Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales
*Brandon, Q ...
and
Shelburne.
Positive train control
Positive train control (PTC) is a family of automatic train protection systems deployed in the United States. Most of the United States' national rail network mileage has a form of PTC. These systems are generally designed to check that trains a ...
and track upgrades would allow the ''Ethan Allen Express'' to reach speeds of , up from , on sections between Whitehall and Burlington. This would save about 15 minutes per trip, with an estimated increase of 1,400 to 2,600 annual riders by 2040.
VTrans also analyzed a possible extension of the ''Ethan Allen Express'' from Burlington to
Essex Junction
Essex Junction is a city in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population was 10,590. It was municipal incorporation, incorporated as a List_of_municipalities_in_Vermont#Villages, ...
via the
New England Central Railroad
The New England Central Railroad is a regional railroad in the New England region of the United States. It began operations in 1995, as the successor of the Central Vermont Railway (CV). The company was originally a subsidiary of holding comp ...
Winooski Branch, where transfer could be made with the
''Vermonter''. The branch would first have to be upgraded to increase its current passenger train speed limit of .
This would attract between 4,900 and 7,800 additional riders per year by 2040 (assuming the ''Vermonter'' is extended to
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
).
Station stops
Notes
References
External links
*
Amtrak to Burlington project – VTrans
{{VermontTransSystems
Amtrak routes
Passenger rail transportation in New York (state)
Passenger rail transportation in Vermont
Railway services introduced in 1996
Train
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...