Locale Vermont Service frequency Daily Service type Inter-city rail | Distance travelled 241 miles (388 km) Train number(s) 290-293, 296 Start Pennsylvania Station First service December 1996 | |
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Ridership 145 average daily52,755 total (2014) Class(es) Business classReserved coach | ||
Amtrak across vermont spring summer 2016 vermonter ethan allen express in every vt town
The Ethan Allen Express is a 241-mile (388 km) passenger train service operated by Amtrak between New York City and Rutland, Vermont, via Albany, New York. The scheduled total trip time is 5.5 hours. Operations are subsidized by the state of Vermont, and the train is popular among vacationers travelling to the ski resort area of Killington, Vermont. The Ethan Allen Express is named for the American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen. Between Penn Station and Rensselaer, it operates along the Empire Corridor.
Contents
- Amtrak across vermont spring summer 2016 vermonter ethan allen express in every vt town
- Amtrak ethan allen express train no 293 to rutland vermont led by p32ac dm no 706
- History
- Proposed extension to Burlington
- Route details
- Equipment
- References
Amtrak ethan allen express train no 293 to rutland vermont led by p32ac dm no 706
History
In April 1995, the Montrealer was shifted to daytime operation and cut back to St. Albans as the Vermonter, providing daytime service to eastern and central Vermont for the first time since 1966. The western part of the state then advocated for rail service to Rutland as well. $4.7 million in federal funds was secured to upgrade the former Delaware and Hudson Railway line between Whitehall and Rutland for passenger speeds. Service was initiated in December 2, 1996. This was the first passenger service between Fort Edward and Whitehall since 1953, and the first between Whitehall and Rutland since 1936.
The Ethan Allen Express began with stops in Rutland, Fort Edward-Glens Falls, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, Albany-Rensselaer, Hudson, Rhinecliff-Kingston, Poughkeepsie, Croton-Harmon, Yonkers and New York City (Penn Station). A stop at Fair Haven was added in November 1997.
Until May 2002, the train included a baggage car for skis and unboxed bicycles as well as checked baggage.
In October 2008, the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) proposed eliminating the Ethan Allen Express and replacing it with a bus citing budgetary restrictions. The proposal was rejected by the appropriate legislative committee. VTrans again proposed ending service in January 2009. Two hundred people rallied at Rutland station against the proposed cut. Rail advocates, led by the Vermont Rail Action Network and local political leaders organized to fight the cut and plans to drop the service were abandoned.
On January 2, 2010, the Ethan Allen Express began stopping at Castleton station (Vermont). Service to Fair Haven ended on January 9.
On February 23, 2011, VTrans began an investigation into the Vermont Rail System's (VRS) handling of the Ethan Allen Express between Whitehall, New York and Rutland after Amtrak notified the state that track conditions meant the train was frequently delayed. Amtrak evaluated the line as the worst in the nation. During the summer of 2011, VRS conducted work to improve the track in question, planned to result in an eighteen-minute reduction in travel time by the end of the year, with additional work planned for the summer of 2012. The project was funded by both the railroad and the state of New York at a cost of $3.25 million, and involved rebuilding about 8 miles (13 km) of track and eight grade crossings. By February 2012, the trackwork had resulted in a 15-minute southbound and 25-minute northbound reduction in travel time between Rutland and Whitehall, while the total time the Ethan Allen Express operated behind schedule fell to 135 minutes in December 2011, from 11,068 minutes a year earlier.
Proposed extension to Burlington
Plans have existed to extend the Ethan Allen to Burlington from at least 2000. A $30 million earmark was obtained by Senator Jim Jeffords in 2005, partially to fund the work, of which $19 million remained by 2011, the remainder having been used for other projects such as a new spur for freight traffic.
Advocates, led by Chambers of Commerce and the Vermont Rail Action Network renewed the push for an extension to Burlington. They believed that service to Burlington would secure the long-term sustainability of the service by generating much more ridership than Rutland is capable of.
The Vermont Agency of Transportation applied for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds to rebuild the tracks to passenger standards (59 mph) which would enable the extension. While the initial application was not approved, the state subsequently entered a second US$70 million application for similar grants, and later a third, all of which were rejected.
In 2013, the extension received additional funding via a $9 million TIGER V (fifth round of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant. The money will pay for the replacement of jointed rail with continuously welded rail.
In October 2015, the Vermont Agency of Transportation was awarded a $10 million TIGER 2015 grant to rehabilitate 11 miles of track, add a wye in Rutland, add crossovers and passing sidings, and install passenger platforms in Middlebury, Vergennes, and Burlington. These improvements will result in increased speeds of up to 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) for freight and 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) for passenger trains between Rutland and Burlington. Service to Burlington is to begin in 2018 or 2019 – the first passenger service between the cities since 1953.
Route details
The Ethan Allen Express operates over trackage owned by the following railroads:
Equipment
In the 2010s a typical Ethan Allen Express had three-four Amfleet passenger cars, an Amfleet business class car, and an Amfleet cafe car, with the train being pulled by a GE P32AC-DM dual-mode locomotive.