(The following story by Matt Ryan appeared on The Burlington Free Press website on December 21, 2009.)
ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. — Champlain College sophomore Rodney Van Deusen usually flies home to Connecticut, but Sunday morning he decided to ride the rails.
Van Deusen, 19, and about a dozen other commuters huddled in the Essex Junction Amtrak station, waiting for the Vermonter to take them to points south. Van Deusen said he anticipated stormy weather en route, and thus chose the train over the plane to avoid possible delays.
“It’s relaxing, smoother than an airplane,” Van Deusen said. “The seats are bigger, and it’s got plug outlets for your computer.”
Danny Jackson, 18, of Philadelphia also took the train home for his holiday break from school. The University of Vermont freshman said he prefers trains to buses, in part because they generally avoid layover stops.
“For my family, it’s probably the best option, because it’s cheaper,” Jackson said. “Plus, on the train you’re able to talk to people a lot. I’ve had great experiences just meeting people.”
The trains frequently fill-up just before Thanksgiving and Christmas, said John Gaworecki, one of the Essex Junction station’s three caretakers. The Vermonter, which starts in St. Albans, picked up 41 passengers in Essex Junction on Sunday, and was likely full when it reached Hartford, Conn., Gaworecki said. The line ends in Washington, D.C.
A much larger crowd boarded the Vermonter in Essex Junction on Saturday, about an hour before the train struck a car crossing the tracks on School Street Randolph. The collision killed the elderly couple in the car.
The 144 passengers on board the train were uninjured, Randolph police said. Buses transported those passengers to the Springfield, Mass., train station, Gaworecki said.
Amtrak carried 685,876 passengers between Nov. 24-30 this year, which broke its Thanksgiving week record of 666,716 passengers set in 2007. The Vermonter carried 2,612 passengers during this year’s week of Thanksgiving, an 11 percent increase over last year.
Gaworecki advised commuters to expect crowded trains during the holidays.
“The important thing is for people to make a reservation in advance,” he said.
Annual Amtrak ridership peaked at about 28.7 million passengers in FY 2008. More than 27.2 million passengers rode Amtrak in FY 2009, which ended Sept. 30, the second largest annual total.
Annual ridership on the Vermonter has increased steadily over the past three years, from 63,299 to 72,655 to 74,016.
Adam Fifield, 37, of New Jersey bought a ticket for the Vermonter when his flight home was canceled. Fifield was visiting his parents in Middlebury. They gave him a ride to the Essex Junction station Sunday.
“This was the only game in town,” Fifield said.
Gaworecki attributed the increases in ridership to gas prices and airport delays. The average price for a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline in Vermont was $2.71 Friday, compared with $1.75 a year earlier.