(The following article by Mike Kalil was posted on the Brattleboro Reformer website on April 15.)
BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — Area residents can soon travel to Canada via Amtrak.
Starting May 1, weekday train travelers can take the Amtrak train to St. Albans and be bused to Montreal, thanks to a deal with Vermont Transit Co. and a schedule change.
A stop at the Newark (N.J.) International Airport will also be added, starting April 25.
“Anything that provides that link is a great improvement,” Brattleboro Town Manager Jerry Remillard said of the Montreal connection.
Amtrak has stations in Brattleboro and Bellows Falls, both of which are seeking to improve service. Brattleboro officials hope to upgrade Union Station by adding pick-up and drop-off areas for town and tour buses.
As of now, the Vermonter only travels as north as St. Albans. Amtrak discontinued the overnight Montrealer in 1995 and the Vermonter took its place.
Remillard said he was concerned when train service was no longer available from Brattleboro to Montreal. He said the train provides a much-needed connection to other regions.
“We don’t have an airport, but we have a railroad,” he said.
Bus service from St. Albans to Canada was available until September 2003. Scheduling changes made the commute inconvenient, so the service was stopped, according to Ian Grossman, a VTrans spokesman.
On the start date, the Vermonter will leave Washington, D.C., at 8:05 a.m. and arrive in St. Albans at 9:25 p.m. The buses would then take about 90 minutes to make it to Montreal, Grossman said.
The southbound train will leave Montreal at 5:45 a.m. and arrive in St. Albans at 7:45 a.m. The train will then leave St. Albans at 8:30 a.m. and continue to New York City’s Penn Station with an added stop at the Newark airport. It will arrive in Washington at 10 p.m.
The northbound train will arrive in Brattleboro at 5:10 p.m. and be in Bellows Falls at 5:45 p.m. The southbound train will arrive in Bellows Falls at 11:56 a.m. and Brattleboro at 12:30 p.m., according to Amtrak schedules.
“This schedule change provides Vermonters choice and accessibility,” Gov. James Douglas said in a statement. “Travel options that connect us with our northern neighbors are vital to support Vermont’s growing economy.”
Also on Thursday, the Bush administration sent Congress its plan to turn Amtrak into a private operator, with federal-state partnership supporting a railroad that would focus on running trains and would not maintain tracks or stations.