(The following story by Dan McLean appeared on the Burlington Free Press website on October 14, 2009.)
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Amtrak’s ridership nationally dropped by more than 1 million passengers from record levels set last year, a 5.4 percent decline, but its two Vermont lines saw ridership remain flat or increase slightly.
Aside from bucking the national trend, local rail advocates will have more reason to cheer this winter if Vermont is awarded millions in federal grant applications to expand the state’s rail system.
The Vermonter, which travels from St. Albans to Washington, D.C., saw a 1.9 percent increase to 74,016 riders in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, according to Amtrak data. Over two years, the route has seen 16.9 percent more passengers.
Vermont’s other passenger train line, the Ethan Allen Express, spared from budget cuts pondered by the Douglas administration this year, saw ridership remain relatively flat, falling 0.3 percent to 46,748, according to Amtrak’s data. Over two years, 6.4 percent more people rode the Ethan Allen line, which offers daily service from Rutland to New York City.
Although last year’s figures declined nationally, the number of Amtrak passengers increased steadily from 2002 to 2007 before a sharp spike last year, according to The Associated Press. Gas prices at more than $4 a gallon helped drive people to the train in 2008.
Christopher Parker, executive director of the Putney-based Vermont Rail Action Network, said the Vermonter has continued to attract riders because of improving on-time performance.
“Freight trains are not interfering because the trains have been on time,” he said. “I think people’s experience has been positive, so ridership increases.”
If applications for federal stimulus money are approved, Vermont’s rail network will continue to improve. Three applications, worth more than $120 million, would bolster the Vermonter route, allowing it to reach higher speeds; expand the Ethan Allen line to Burlington; and increase the frequency of rail travel from Albany, N.Y., to Rutland, Charlie Miller, rail planning coordinator at the Vermont Agency of Transportation, said Tuesday.
Burlington’s downtown station, which was first connected to the rail network in 1850, hasn’t been served by passenger trains since 1953 when the automobile began to outshine train travel, according to the Vermont Rail Action Network.
The federal government, Miller said, will decide whether Vermont is awarded the grant in December or January. If approved, construction could start in the spring and trains could be picking up passengers in Burlington in the fall of 2011, Miller said (although the final parts of the project wouldn’t be complete until 2012).
States are competing for $8 billion allocated by Congress for high-speed and inter-city rail projects that could create jobs in the short-term and economic development over the long-term.
Vermont is seeking:
• A $71.5 million grant that would return passenger rail service to Burlington from Rutland — with a stop in Middlebury. The proposal describes one northbound- and one southbound-train each day, according to an environmental assessment filed this month. The service — the Ethan Allen line — travels to New York City’s Penn Station.
• A $50.9 million grant would improve the rail line serving the Vermonter that runs from Swanton to Massachusetts through Essex and White River Junction so that trains could travel up to 79 mph on some sections.
• A $500,000 grant to increase service frequency to Rutland from Albany, N.Y.
The project to bring passenger train service to Burlington, a line known as the “western corridor,” was revised in September, Miller said, to take into account suggestions from the Federal Railroad Administration, which is allocating the money.
“We have taken the advice and modified our request,” he said, adding it will be “much more achievable and more likely to be approved.”
Miller is optimistic Vermont will be awarded the money. “My gut feeling is we have three of the best applications that have been submitted,” he said.
Vermont is one of two dozen states to apply for the money, Parker said.