Ethan Allen Express

The Ethan Allen Express at Rutland in 2001

In April 1995, the Montrealer was shifted to daytime operation, cut back to St. Albans, and renamed Vermonter, providing daytime service to eastern and central Vermont for the first time since 1966.[6] Residents in western Vermont advocated for service Rutland as well. $4.7 million in federal funds was secured to upgrade the former Delaware and Hudson Railway Whitehall Branch between Whitehall and Rutland for passenger speeds.[7] Service was initiated on December 2, 1996.[8] This was the first passenger service to Rutland since the Rutland Railroad ended its Burlington–New York City service in 1953, and the first passenger service on the Whitehall Branch since 1936.[7]

The Ethan Allen Express began with stops in Rutland, Fort Edward, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, Albany–Rensselaer, Hudson, Rhinecliff, Poughkeepsie, Croton, Yonkers and New York City.[9] A stop at Fair Haven was added in November 1997.[10]

In October 2008, the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) proposed eliminating the Ethan Allen Express and replacing it with a bus citing budgetary restrictions. The proposal was rejected by a legislative committee.[11] VTrans again proposed ending service in January 2009; two hundred people rallied at Rutland station against the proposed cut.[12] Rail advocates, led by the Vermont Rail Action Network[13] and local political leaders[14] organized to fight the cut and plans to drop the service were abandoned.[15]

On January 2, 2010, the Ethan Allen Express began stopping at Castleton. Service to Fair Haven ended on January 9.[16]

On February 23, 2011, VTrans began an investigation into the Vermont Railway's (VTR) handling of the Ethan Allen Express between Whitehall, New York and Rutland after Amtrak notified the state that track conditions (which it said was the worst in the nation) meant the train was frequently delayed.[17] During the summer of 2011, VTR conducted work to improve the track, planned to result in an eighteen-minute reduction in travel time by the end of the year, with additional work planned for the summer of 2012.[18] The project was funded by both the railroad and the state of New York at a cost of $3.25 million, and involved rebuilding about 8 miles (13 km) of track and eight grade crossings.[18] By February 2012, the trackwork had resulted in a 15-minute southbound and 25-minute northbound reduction in travel time between Rutland and Whitehall, while the total time the Ethan Allen Express operated behind schedule fell to 135 minutes in December 2011, from 11,068 minutes a year earlier.[19]

In April 2020, the Ethan Allen Express was truncated to Albany–Rensselaer as part of a round of service reduction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[20] The move was forced after the pandemic prompted Vermont Governor Phil Scott to declare a state of emergency and close all of the state's Amtrak stations. On April 8, 2021, Amtrak and VTrans announced that the Ethan Allen Express would resume its full schedule in mid-July.[21][22] Service to Rutland resumed on July 19, 2021, with $1 promotional fares on that date for travel within Vermont.[23][24]

Extension to Burlington

Union Station in Burlington, Vermont will be the northern terminus of the Ethan Allen Express beginning July 2022

There have been plans to extend the Ethan Allen Express from Rutland to Burlington since at least 2000.[25] The last passenger service between the cities was in 1953 on the Rutland Railroad's Green Mountain Flyer and Mount Royal.[6]

In 2005, a $30 million earmark was obtained by Senator Jim Jeffords to, in part, fund the extension. Of this, $19 million remained by 2011, the balance having been used for other projects such as a new spur for freight traffic.[25][26]

Advocates, led by chambers of commerce and the Vermont Rail Action Network, renewed the push for an extension to Burlington.[27] They believed that service to Burlington would secure the long-term sustainability of the service by generating much more ridership than Rutland is capable of.[28]

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) applied for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds to rebuild the tracks between Rutland and Burlington to passenger speeds (59 mph (95 km/h)).[29] While the initial application was not approved, the state subsequently entered a second $70 million application for similar grants,[30] and later a third, all of which were rejected.[26]

In 2013, the extension received additional funding via a $9 million grant from the fifth round of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER V) program to pay for the replacement of jointed rail with continuously welded rail.[31] In October 2015, the Vermont Agency of Transportation was awarded a $10 million TIGER 2015 grant to rehabilitate 11 miles of track, add a wye in Rutland, add crossovers and passing sidings, and install passenger platforms in Middlebury, Vergennes, and Burlington. These improvements will result in increased speeds of up to 40 mph (64 km/h) for freight and 60 mph (97 km/h) for passenger trains between Rutland and Burlington.[32] At the time, VTrans said that service to Burlington would begin in three to four years.[33]

In October 2021, Amtrak and Vermont Rail System began running "qualification trips" between Rutland and Burlington to familiarize train crews with the new route.[34] In March 2022, VTrans announced that the extension would open in July 2022. New York City–Burlington trip time will be about 8 hours; northbound trains will arrive in Burlington at about 10 p.m. and will be stored overnight in a Vermont Railway yard south of the station before returning to New York City the next morning at about 10 a.m.[35][3][4]

The Ethan Allen Express operates over trackage owned by the following railroads:

• Vermont Railway (former Clarendon & Pittsford Railroad): Rutland, Vermont–Whitehall, New York
• Canadian Pacific Railway (Canadian Subdivision): Whitehall–Schenectady, New York
• CSX Transportation (Hudson Subdivision): Schenectady–Poughkeepsie, New York
• Metro-North Railroad (Hudson Line): Poughkeepsie–Spuyten Duyvil, Bronx, New York City
• Amtrak (Empire Connection): Spuyten Duyvil–New York Penn Station

The Ethan Allen Express is considered higher-speed rail, using the Empire Corridor (a federally designated high-speed rail corridor) along the east bank of the Hudson River between New York City and Schenectady that has speed limits as high as 110 mph (180 km/h) on the Hudson Subdivision and 80 mph (130 km/h) on the Hudson Line.

Ethan Allen Express trains typically have five Amfleet passenger cars: four coaches and a cafe car.[5]

They are pulled by a GE P32AC-DM dual-mode locomotive, which is powered by its diesel engine for the majority of the route, but is capable of operating on electricity provided by a third rail. The locomotive switches "on-the-fly" when it enters or exits the Empire Connection tunnel, so that it does not emit diesel exhaust in Penn Station and the Empire Connection tunnel.[36]

VTrans is considering the possibility of adding infill flag stops in Brandon and Shelburne following the opening of the Burlington extension, noting the tradeoff between access and travel time.[37] VTrans is also looking into positive train control and other infrastructure upgrades that would allow the Ethan Allen Express to reach speeds of 79 mph (127 km/h), up from 59 mph (95 km/h), on sections between Whitehall and Burlington. This would save about 15 minutes per trip—barring any gains in operational efficiency—and in turn incentivize an additional 1,400 to 2,600 estimated riders per year by 2040.[38]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ethan Allen Express.

• Ethan Allen Express – Amtrak
• Vermont Rail Action Network