Rail in Vermont
Ah, train travel. You arrive at the station 5 minutes before departure; there is no security screening and you end up right in the center of town. You can sleep, read and even text safely while traveling. Once the form of travel that inspired songs, Vermont went the way of many states, preferring the speed of air and the flexibility of the personal automobile. Over time, we have let our tracks deteriorate or even disappear, decreasing the viability of passenger rail to an even greater extent.
As air and road travel have become increasingly more unpleasant, we have seen resurging interest in train travel. First year legislators in the House Transportation Committee could not contain their excitement when the subject of reinvesting in Vermont’s rail system began to seem like a real possibility.
Act 50, passed last year, directed the Agency of Transportation to estimate the cost of upgrading the track and creating passenger rail service along the western corridor from Burlington to Rutland to Bennington to Albany. They also directed the Agency to look at connecting Rutland to Whitehall, New York.
As part of the ARRA stimulus funding, Vermont applied for over $100 million in three separate stimulus rail grants through the Federal Rail Administration. These awards were announced by President Obama the day after his State of the Union address. Vermont won two out of three of the awards. Sadly for Shelburne, the Western Corridor was not one of them.
The “Track-One” grant was awarded to the privately owned New England Central Rail (NECR) line which serves the “Vermonter.” The Vermonter originates in St Albans with service to Essex Junction, Waterbury, Montpelier, White River, Ascutney, Bellows Falls, and Brattleboro. From there, it heads south through Massachusetts and Connecticut then on to New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Improvements to the track, roadbed and bridges were expected to increase speeds, thus decreasing travel time in Vermont by 27 minutes and 80 minutes overall to NYC.
The “Track-Two” grant for the Western Rail Corridor did not go through. The $73 million request would have brought upgrades to the rail line connecting Burlington to Rutland and beyond for both passengers and freight. The Western Corridor is state-owned and run by Vermont Railway systems. For the past decade, $28 million in Jeffords earmarks have gone unspent for this line. This may well have jeopardized this project.
The Track-Three grant award does offer some hope for the future of the Western Corridor. The $500,000 bi-state grant to New York and Vermont will fund a study of the future of passenger rail service between New York City, Albany, Bennington and Rutland. The plan looks at options for equipment, frequency and schedules to assure the most practical and cost effective service for both states. Results of this study may help secure additional funding should federal rail grants become available again.