Vermonter now running to Vermont?

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Joined
Apr 5, 2011
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I'm on a day trip to DC for an appointment with the dermatologist. At Baltimore, my train came in at about the same time as the Vermonter. I had thought this train was being truncated at New Haven due to Covod, but from the station announcement, it seems that it was going all the way through to St. Albans. When did they resume full service?
 
I suspect they never bothered to update the canned announcement.
This is it unfortunately, same with the Ethan Allen Express as well. Vermont Rail Action Network has been trying to get the state to restart it but I think they are worried about COVID from other states. Vermont has done well with its infection control but November 10th they implemented a mandatory quarantine. Anyone is more than welcome to write or call Congressional & state positions from VRAN's page here.
 
The NB Vermonter from DC is showing as running all the way through to St. Albans, and there's a dot on the map for the SB Vermonter in St. Albans with a scheduled departure of 9:15 A.M. So nice to see service returning everywhere! Here in Michigan, today is the first day of two round-trip runs for the Wolverine.

It looks like the tracks are repaired. Local media is reporting that the Vermonter returns today.

https://www.wcax.com/2021/07/19/amtrak-returns-vermont-monday/
 
The NB Vermonter from DC is showing as running all the way through to St. Albans, and there's a dot on the map for the SB Vermonter in St. Albans with a scheduled departure of 9:15 A.M. So nice to see service returning everywhere! Here in Michigan, today is the first day of two round-trip runs for the Wolverine.
It's on My Bucket List, along with the Ethan Allen since Vermont is the only State I haven't been in!
 
When the Ethan Allen runs to Burlington in a year or two, taking both trains will be very easy!
Yep just a short Uber ride from Burlington to Essex Jct to connect from one to the other. Well actually an overnight in a hotel in Burlington would be involved. But if I had y way I would spend a couple of days in that area. It is beautiful on Lake Champlain. Heck maybe even do a round trip on the ferry to Port Kent when it is running.
 
Yep just a short Uber ride from Burlington to Essex Jct to connect from one to the other. Well actually an overnight in a hotel in Burlington would be involved. But if I had y way I would spend a couple of days in that area. It is beautiful on Lake Champlain. Heck maybe even do a round trip on the ferry to Port Kent when it is running.
Yep, every time I rode the Adirondack , I would think about " someday" I would get off @ Port Kent, ride the Ferry across the beautiful Lake, spend a couple of days as you said, then take the Train back to NYC!
 
A friend of mine just had a big party for his 60th at the bar/restaurant (oldest in Plattsburgh) and it would have been perfect Adirondack up, Ferry Vermonter (or the other way around). Lake Champlain is beautiful. One summer I was on a project at JFK Airport and was going to be facilitator for a USA Hockey Coaching event for coaches of girls/womens teams to be held at the Olympic Training center in Lake Placid with the cooperation of the National Women's Team. Jet Blue to Burlington, rental car and ferry and over to Placid. Crystal clear afternoon, what a view flying up the lake.
 
It sounds like grass roots Vermont is excited about its return according to this news video.
If Amtrak is to succeed long term, this how it will be done. Not by those in Amtrak HQ.
Actually it was Vermont State DOT that was preventing this train from running, not Amtrak HQ. As soon as Vermont agreed to allow operation, the train was restored as soon as practically possible. So the beef really was between grass roots Vermont and Vermont DOT. Afterall, the train in question is a Vermont DOT operation operated under contract by Amtrak.
 
Afterall, the train in question is a Vermont DOT operation operated under contract by Amtrak.
Good point, I guess VT was just be being very cautious with the risk of Covid-19. But for a small state with low population they certainly are an Amtrak proponent and apparently putting their money into it with the expansion to Burlington of the Ethan Allan and other projects.
 
Vermont has a very high percentage of C-19 vaccinations. Wonder if it will require visitors to be vaccinated ?
Probably not constitutional--interfering with interstate commerce. Given a Supreme Court that ruled that religious freedom to meet in church live trumped public safety policies to prevent COVID, I can't see them allowing states to forbid the unvaccinated from traveling from state to state.
 
Probably not constitutional--interfering with interstate commerce. Given a Supreme Court that ruled that religious freedom to meet in church live trumped public safety policies to prevent COVID, I can't see them allowing states to forbid the unvaccinated from traveling from state to state.
However, they could require some sort of quarantine absent COVID negative test for the unvaccinated, though enforcing that would be a challenge.

This is not even a politically polarized thing since it is Florida that used this concept in the early days of the pandemic when they set up checkposts on the Interstates and at airports and ports, and refused a cruise ship to berth in Florida for over a week. :)
 
Some states have required incoming visitors to quarantine and test, but I think most of those orders have expired...None of those were overturned, vaccination only would probably fall, but the option of test or vax might stand...particularly if the tests were no charge...
 
No one challenged any of the rules early on in the pandemic, at least not to the point of a court decision. That was before all this became highly politicized; I can't imagine Florida today enacting any kind of COVID checkpoints and testing requirements . In the meantime, the Supreme Court has clearly established that public health protocols, even those to protect against deadly infectious disease, are not permitted if they infringe, directly or indirectly, on free exercise of religion. Whether that suggests that other constitutional rights would prevail against public health police powers is unclear. But it is very clear that the old precedents allowing strict public health measures in the face of serious infectious disease may well not be persuasive to a court that has not been shy about overturning settled law when they disagree with it.
 
No one challenged any of the rules early on in the pandemic, at least not to the point of a court decision. That was before all this became highly politicized; I can't imagine Florida today enacting any kind of COVID checkpoints and testing requirements . In the meantime, the Supreme Court has clearly established that public health protocols, even those to protect against deadly infectious disease, are not permitted if they infringe, directly or indirectly, on free exercise of religion. Whether that suggests that other constitutional rights would prevail against public health police powers is unclear. But it is very clear that the old precedents allowing strict public health measures in the face of serious infectious disease may well not be persuasive to a court that has not been shy about overturning settled law when they disagree with it.
That could all change again if a couple of SCOTUS justices happen to make a horizontal exit though. Nothing is permanent when it comes to legal precedents. It all depends on the convenience of those in power, always,through the ages 🤷🏻
 
I'm a couple weeks late to the thread, but the Vermonter and Ethan Allen had quite the welcome back to the state of Vermont back on July 19 after a 480 day suspension. Every station in Vermont had a sizeable celebration thanks to funding from the VT Department of Transportation, with dignitaries speaking, local food (including VT's famous maple creemees at Montpelier station), and more. I visited the Waterbury celebration and the atmosphere was electric despite a torrential downpour. The platform was packed!

I wound up chasing the Vermonter in both directions from Waterbury, VT to Vernon, VT (on the Mass. border) and back and got 12 different shots, made possible only due to the delays incurred at each station due to passenger loading, and to a lesser extent a few slow orders due to recent track washouts. The Vermonter was sold out at times in both directions within the state, mainly between White River Jct. and Brattleboro thanks to $1 fares.
 
I'm a couple weeks late to the thread, but the Vermonter and Ethan Allen had quite the welcome back to the state of Vermont back on July 19 after a 480 day suspension. Every station in Vermont had a sizeable celebration thanks to funding from the VT Department of Transportation, with dignitaries speaking, local food (including VT's famous maple creemees at Montpelier station), and more. I visited the Waterbury celebration and the atmosphere was electric despite a torrential downpour. The platform was packed!

I wound up chasing the Vermonter in both directions from Waterbury, VT to Vernon, VT (on the Mass. border) and back and got 12 different shots, made possible only due to the delays incurred at each station due to passenger loading, and to a lesser extent a few slow orders due to recent track washouts. The Vermonter was sold out at times in both directions within the state, mainly between White River Jct. and Brattleboro thanks to $1 fares.


Thank you! This is terrific video. The Vermonter is now on my bucket list. What a beautiful ride.
 
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