Amtrak suspends Vermont lines

RutlandHerald.com

I thought these were already suspended?

Amtrak announced this week that it was cutting back service on lines in its Northeast region due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Amtrak website, that means no service north of Albany on the Ethan Allen Express, which runs between New York City and Rutland, and no service north of New Haven, Connecticut, on the Vermonter, which runs between Washington, D.C., and St. Albans.

A call to Amtrak’s regional communication office was not returned Wednesday. An inquiry with the state yielded an email from Vermont Agency of Transportation representative Amy Tatko, who said AOT was in weekly communication with Amtrak.

“At this time, AOT does not know when service will resume but expects that it will be no earlier than Aug. 1, 2020,” Tatko wrote. “We are continuing to maintain all railroad infrastructure to Amtrak standards so that we will be ready to resume service. Dispatchers continue to maintain their Amtrak qualifications so we can resume service.
...

Vermonter Topic: topic12081.html

Ethan Allen: topic109503.html

They have been suspended for a couple of months already.

In planning for their September 28-30 convention at Burlington VT, AAPRCO decided to charter an Amtrak special train from Albany-Rensselaer to Rutland and return. This eliminates several operational problems:

(1) Ethan Allan Express may not be operating between ALB and Rutland at convention time.

(2) If it is operating at convention time, Amtrak does not allow switching cars on/off the Ethan Allan Express at ALB, due to insufficient scheduled time at the station.

(3). Making provisions for participating dome cars that can not pass thru NYP as well as those participating cars that do not wish to pass thru NYP and spend a night at Sunnyside Yard.

Hopefully we won't get any second wave of this COVID-19 to cause a cancellation of this event. No, dome cars are not allowed to travel into NYP bc of tunnel clearances. That's why, in fact, the Ocean View Great Dome car could only be attached to the Adirondack at ALB to run to Montreal and back. It would definately make sense for this special train of private cars to run between ALB and Rutland. The amount of time that the Ethan Allen waits at ALB isn't enough time to attach private cars to the back of the train as well as take them off.

Second? We're still in the first.

That said, hopefully things will turn for the Winter convention season. If Vermont still has the restriction on travelers, you can bet they'll be more cancellations.

These are state supported trains. Does anyone know if it is indeed Amtrak, or the state of Vermont, that made the decision to suspend service?

charlesriverbranch wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 10:09 am These are state supported trains. Does anyone know if it is indeed Amtrak, or the state of Vermont, that made the decision to suspend service?

It was the state of Vermont's decision initially, specifically by governor Phil Scott.

https://www.mynbc5.com/article/vermont- ... 9/31935541#

ESSEX, Vt. —
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott suspended Amtrak services starting on Thursday, because of COVID-19.
This week the Governor issued a 'stay home, stay safe' order, urging people to only leave their homes if necessary.

The changes mean The Ethan Allen Express, which travels from New York to Rutland, is not providing service north of Albany, and the Vermonter, which travels from Washington D.C. to Saint Albans will only go as far as Connecticut.
Gov. Scott says the decision was made in conjunction with Amtrak, since Vermont taxpayers subsidize the routes.
"We all care about the health of our employees, families and friends. These steps we're taking today, are all about protecting our loved ones, so we can come out of this as strong as possible," Scott said.

I don't see the Vermonter returning any time in the near future. Vermont has done much better than its southern neighbors in regard to Covid-19. This is in large part due to travel restrictions.

exvalley wrote: ↑Fri Jun 26, 2020 1:16 pm I don't see the Vermonter returning any time in the near future. Vermont has done much better than its southern neighbors in regard to Covid-19. This is in large part due to travel restrictions.

Yesterday I had to do some work at a radio station in Claremont, NH. A sign on the John Stark Highway proudly proclaims Claremont "An Amtrak Served Community." I've never been able to use Amtrak to get there because I live in the Boston area.

The studios of that radio station are in neighboring Newport, NH, right near the former B&M depot on a ROW that hasn't had rails on it in decades.

I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but you'll also have the VRS Middlebury tunnel detours starting in roughly two weeks, adding two more trains running up and down the CV between BF and SAB.

Unconfirmed reports say that Amtrak ran a test train up to Rutland on the Ethan Allen Express route the other day. Does anyone know anything else about this?

Train60 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 11:09 am Unconfirmed reports say that Amtrak ran a test train up to on the Ethan Allen Express route up to Rutland the other day. Does anyone know anything else about this?

Not specifically, but it may have had something to do with re-qualifying Amtrak T&E crews in advance of the Amtrak special train (AAPRCO American Autumn Explorer) from ALB to Rutland on September 27th.

The last official call between Amtrak and the state of VT was last week in regards to the Ethan Allen coming back, the answer was not yet. Soon maybe sorta kinda. Possibly November. There were and still will be trains running between ALB and RUD for re familiarization trips. T&E crews need a trip a year to stay qualified, even those who will be furloughed are getting trips. The AAPRCO was just a coincidence.

According to the caption in the photo below (credit Greg Grice), the Vermonter has been further truncated to Penn Station.
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/755756/
With the recent announcement of plans to rebuild a new station at Brattleboro, hopefully this new schedule proves to be short lived.

Is Amtrak the kind of organization where the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing? Suspending service past NYP and a new station at Brattleboro....