(The Associated Press circulated the following on October 5.)
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont’s plan to use small rail cars on its portion of the Amtrak Vermonter route may have hit a snag.
Vermont has been in talks with a Colorado company about buying a few of the cars. But the state wants a promise that the company will take them back after three years if they don’t work out, and the company is balking at that.
State officials have been pursuing the trial of the smaller cars in hopes they will be make the rail service more affordable and attract more riders.
Amtrak has been urging the state to try the smaller, self-propelled train cars, providing $2 million in grant money to support the project.