Rutland station is a train station in

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 ...

served by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

, the national railroad passenger system. It is served by the single daily round trip of the

Ethan Allen Express The ''Ethan Allen Express'' is a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak in the United States between New York City and Burlington, Vermont, via Albany, New York. One daily round trip is operated on a north-south route with a 7 hour 35 min ...

''. The station has a single low-level

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

, with a short high-level section for accessible level boarding.

History

Rutland's first railway station was built near Merchants' Row in 1853–54 by the Rutland Railroad. In 1905-06 wings were added to the north and south of the depot. Passenger service west of Whitehall and Eagle Bridge ended on June 24, 1934. The building served the city of Rutland until New York City to Montreal passenger service ended in 1953 (the Rutland RR's ''

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''), and two years later it was demolished. Amtrak service to Rutland commenced on December 2, 1996, with service provided to a temporary station platform. The station, which is located near the former Rutland Railroad yard on the western edge of downtown, opened in 1999. Designed by local firm NBF Architects, the station has walls of red brick that rise from a base of textured gray concrete block. To celebrate Rutland native

Jim Jeffords James Merrill Jeffords (May 11, 1934 – August 18, 2014) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. senator from Vermont. Sworn into the Senate in 1989, he served as a Republican until 2001, when he left the party to become ...

, who represented Vermont in Congress, city leaders renamed the station the “James M. Jeffords Rail Passenger Welcome Center.” From March 2020 to July 19, 2021, all Amtrak service in Vermont was suspended in response 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 identif ...

, with the ''Ethan Allen Express'' truncated to

Albany–Rensselaer station Rensselaer Rail Station, signed as Albany–Rensselaer on its platforms, is a train station in Rensselaer, New York, located from downtown Albany across the Hudson River. Operated by the Capital District Transportation Authority, it serves as ...

. The ''Ethan Allen Express'' was extended from Rutland to on July 29, 2022.

References

External links

Amtrak stations in Vermont Buildings and structures in Rutland, Vermont Transportation buildings and structures in Rutland County, Vermont Railway stations in the United States opened in 1999 Former Rutland Railroad stations {{Vermont-railstation-stub