Ethan Allen Express: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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| status =

| first = December 2, 1996

| operator = [[Amtrak]], in partnership with [[New York State Department of Transportation]] and [[Vermont Agency of Transportation]]

~~| operator = [[Amtrak]]~~

| formeroperator=

| ridership2 = {{Amtrak route ridership|Ethan Allen}}

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==Service==

The ''Ethan Allen Express'' operates approximately north–south between [[Pennsylvania Station (New York City)|New York Penn Station]] and Burlington, save for an approximately east-west section between [[Whitehall (village), New York|Whitehall, New York]] and [[Rutland (city), Vermont|Rutland, Vermont]]. All of the route south of Whitehall is also used by the ''[[Adirondack (train)|Adirondack]]''. The ~~stretch~~far southern leg of the route, between Schenectady and New York City, is also used by ''[[Empire Service]]'', ''[[Lake Shore Limited]]'', and ''[[Maple Leaf (train)|Maple Leaf]]'' trains; the ''Ethan Allen Express'' acts as an additional ''Empire Service'' trip on this portion.<ref name=bistate />{{rp|19}} The train is scheduled for 7 hours 35 minutes between New York City and Burlington. Northbound trips depart New York City in the early afternoon; southbound trips depart Burlington in the late morning.<ref name=startdate />

[[File:Ethan Allen Express running into New York Penn station.webm|thumb|left|A typical ''Ethan Allen Express'' train in New York City|alt=Video of a passenger train with a locomotive and five passenger cars]]

The train operates over the following trackage:<ref name=bistate />{{rp|19}}

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*[[Amtrak]] [[West Side Line#Empire Connection|Empire Connection]]: Spuyten Duyvil–New York Penn Station

The ''Ethan Allen Express'' operates as [[higher-speed rail]] on the Hudson Subdivision, with speeds up to {{Convert|110|mph||abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mass.gov/doc/the-berkshire-flyer-pittsfield-to-new-york-city-feasibility-study-report/download |title=Berkshire Flyer: Pittsfield-New York City Feasibility Study |publisher=Massachusetts Department of Transportation |date=March 26, 2018 |page=11}}</ref><ref name=faq /> Maximum speeds are {{Convert|80-90|mph||abbr=on}} on the Hudson Line, {{Convert|60|mph||abbr=on}} on the Empire Connection, {{Convert|40-50|mph||abbr=on}} on the Freight Subdivision, {{Convert|60|mph||abbr=on}} on the Canadian Subdivision, and {{Convert|59|mph||abbr=on}} on the Vermont Railway.<ref name=faq>{{cite web |url=https://esparail.org/resources/frequently-asked-questions/ |title=Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=Empire State Passenger Association}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.highspeed-rail.org/Documents/305%20Exec/2015/110_vs_125_Standardization_and_Empire_DEIS_-_for_ExecutiveBoard-r1.pdf |title=Discussion Points for 110 MPH vs. 125 MPH Maximum Speed for PRIIA Dual Mode (DC 3rd Rail) Requirements Document |publisher=PRIIA Locomotive Working Group |date=November 20, 2014}}</ref><ref name=bistate />{{rp|19–27}} ''Ethan Allen Express'' trains typically have five [[Amfleet]] passenger cars: four coaches and a cafe car.<ref name="burl-ext-bfp">{{Cite web |last=Angelo |first=Lilly St |title=Amtrak expected to begin route from Burlington to New York in July |url=https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/2022/03/23/vermont-amtrak-service-burlington-nyc-start-july/7120486001/ |access-date=March 30, 2022 |website=The Burlington Free Press |date=March 23, 2022}}</ref> Trains operate with a single [[GE Genesis|GE P32AC-DM]] dual-mode locomotive, ~~which~~since ~~operates~~diesel onoperations ~~[[third~~are ~~rail]] electric power~~prohibited in Penn Station. ~~and~~The ~~the~~locomotive ~~Empire~~switches ~~Connection~~from ~~tunnel,~~diesel ~~and~~power onto ~~diesel~~[[third ~~power~~rail]] ~~for~~electric ~~the~~power ~~rest~~once ofit enters the ~~route~~[[Empire Connection]] tunnel.<ref name="vat">{{Cite web |url=http://www.leg.state.vt.us/reports/2010ExternalReports/253921.pdf |title=Passenger Rail Equipment Options for the Amtrak Vermonter and Ethan Allen Express |last=Vermont Agency of Transportation |author-link=Vermont Agency of Transportation |date=January 2010 |website=Vermont Legislature |access-date=December 29, 2014}}</ref> Amtrak plans to use new trainsets with six passenger cars and a diesel/battery [[Siemens Charger|ALC-42E locomotive]] on the ''Ethan Allen Express'' and other [[Empire Corridor]] trains by the late 2020s.<ref>{{cite web |pages=126, 133 |url=https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/public/documents/corporate/businessplanning/Amtrak-Service-Asset-Line-Plans-FY22-27.pdf |title=Amtrak's FY 2022-2027 Service and Asset Line Plans |date=2021 |publisher=Amtrak}}</ref>

Amtrak bills the route as one of its most scenic, with views of the [[Hudson Valley]] and [[Green Mountains]]. From New York City to Albany, the train runs roughly parallel to the [[Hudson River]] (viewable on the left side northbound and the right side southbound).

Ridership in Fiscal Year 2021{{efn|name=FY Note}} (which included only 3 months of service north of Albany) was 12,456. Ridership in Fiscal Year 2019 – the last full pre-pandemic fiscal year of operations – was 50,515.<ref name="AmtrakRouteRidership" /> The train is subsidized by New York and Vermont for the portion north of Albany, in proportion to mileage on that section in each state. In FY 2019, the Vermont portion of the subsidy (44%) was $1.57 million, while the New York portion was about $2 million.<ref name=memo>{{cite web |url=https://vtrans.vermont.gov/sites/aot/files/planning/documents/Tech%20Memo%205_PrioritizationRecommendations_20210517.pdf |work=Vermont Freight and Rail Plan |title=Prioritization and Investment Program Memo |page=29 |publisher=Vermont Agency of Transportation}}</ref><ref name=bistate />{{rp|164}}

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Prior service between Rutland and points south was operated by the [[Delaware and Hudson Railroad]] over the [[Rutland and Whitehall Railroad|Whitehall Branch]] (Rutland–[[Whitehall, New York|Whitehall]]) and [[Delaware and Hudson Rail Trail|Washington Branch]] ({{amtk|Castleton}}–[[Eagle Bridge, New York|Eagle Bridge]]), and by the [[Rutland Railroad]] over its mainline ({{amtk|Bellows Falls}}–Rutland–{{amtk|Burlington||Ethan Allen Express}}) and Chatham Branch (Rutland–[[Union Station (Chatham, New York)|Chatham]]). Washington Branch and Whitehall Branch passenger service ended on June 24, 1934.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107375149/rutland-daily-herald/ |title=D. & H. To Suspend Passenger Trains To And From City |newspaper=Rutland Daily Herald |date=May 26, 1934 |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107375100/the-enterprise-and-vermonter/ |title=Plan New Bus Lines |newspaper=The Enterprise and Vermonter |date=June 15, 1934 |page=7 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The Rutland Railroad continued to operate service to Rutland, including the New York City–Montreal ''[[Green Mountain Flyer]]'' and ''Mount Royal'', until 1953.<ref name=nne /> After the Rutland filed to abandoned its entire system in 1963, the state-owned [[Vermont Railway]] took over most of the lines in 1964. The [[Central Vermont Railway]] continued to operate the ''[[Montrealer (train)|Montrealer]]'', providing passenger service to the eastern and northern parts of the state, until 1966. [[Amtrak]] took over intercity passenger service in the United States in 1971, and resumed the overnight ''Montrealer'' in 1972.<ref name=nne>{{cite book |title=The Rail Lines of Northern New England |last=Lindsell |first=Robert M. |publisher=Branch Line Press |year=2000 |isbn=0942147065 |pages=35–46, 175}}</ref>

Politicians including state representative [[Curtis McCormack]] unsuccessfully attempted to obtain funding for Amtrak service to Rutland and western Vermont in the 1980s. Then-governor [[Howard Dean]] created the Vermont Rail Council headed by McCormack in 1991, with instruction to study Rutland service, but most attention was focused on the ''Montrealer''.<ref name=backers>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104597572/rutland-daily-herald/ |title=Rail Backers Had to Try, Try Again |date=December 2, 1996 |newspaper=Rutland Daily Herald |pages=11, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104597593/rutland-daily-herald/ 13] |first=Frederick |last=Bever |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In late 1994, Amtrak announced that the ''Montrealer'' would be discontinued due to budget cuts. While state officials worked to retain that service, adding a route to Rutland (and possibly Burlington) was also supported by Dean.<ref name=backers /> In April 1995, the ''Montrealer'' was cut back to [[St. Albans station (Vermont)|St. Albans]] and reconfigured as the ~~state-subsidized~~ ''[[Vermonter (train)|Vermonter]],'' a state-subsidized train on a daytime schedule.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104602721/rutland-daily-herald/ |title=State Seals Train Deal |date=March 18, 1995 |newspaper=Rutland Daily Herald |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104602696/rutland-daily-herald/ 12] |first=Frederick |last=Bever |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Later than month, $3.5 million was included in a federal funding bill. Along with $1 million from the Vermont Railway and $743,000 from the state, this funded $5.24 million in trackwork, which upgraded {{convert|21|miles}} of the Whitehall Branch from {{convert|25|mph}} to {{convert|59|mph}} maximum speed.<ref name=areset>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104608168/rutland-daily-herald/ |title=Rutland Train Funds are Set |newspaper=Rutland Daily Herald |date=April 26, 1996 |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104608187/rutland-daily-herald/ 3] |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=newtrain>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104608550/the-post-star/ |title=New train will link local area with NYC |first=Fred |last=Daley |newspaper=The Post-Star |date=April 28, 1996 |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104608587/the-post-star/ 7] |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

The state originally planned to call the new service the ''Green Mountain Flyer'' after the former Rutland Railroad train. However, the [[Green Mountain Railroad]] objected, as ~~they~~it already used that name for a tourist train. On August 15, 1996, the state announced it would be called the ''Ethan Allen Express'' after Vermont cofounder and American Revolutionary War patriot [[Ethan Allen]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104609649/rutland-daily-herald/ |first=Anne |last=Wallace Allen |title=NYC-to-Rutland Train is Ethan Allen Express |newspaper=Rutland Daily Herald |date=August 16, 1996 |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104609666/rutland-daily-herald/ 4] |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The state agreed to a $200,000 annual subsidy, which reflected the cost of extending one ''Empire Service'' round trip from Albany to Rutland.<ref name=areset /> Service began with the northbound trip on December 2, 1996, with the first southbound trip the following day.<ref name="ink201312">{{Cite journal |date=December 2013 |title=In Amtrak History |url=http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/591/660/Amtrak-Ink-Dec-2013,0.pdf |journal=Amtrak Ink |volume=18 |issue=11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719213609/https://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/591/660/Amtrak-Ink-Dec-2013,0.pdf |archive-date=July 19, 2014}}</ref><ref name=rollsin>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104610072/rutland-daily-herald/ |title=Ethan Allen Express Rolls In Tonight |first=Bruce |last=Edwards |newspaper=Rutland Daily Herald |date=December 2, 1996 |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104610082/rutland-daily-herald/ 4] |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The ''Ethan Allen Express'' began with stops in {{amtk|Rutland}}, {{amtk|Fort Edward}}, {{amtk|Saratoga Springs}}, {{amtk|Schenectady}}, {{amtk|Albany}}, {{amtk|Hudson}}, {{amtk|Rhinecliff}}, {{amtk|Poughkeepsie}}, {{amtk|Croton}}, {{amtk|Yonkers}} and New York City.<ref name=nov1996timetable>{{Cite web |url=http://www.timetables.org/browse/?group=19961110ne&item=0024 |title=Amtrak Northeast Timetable |date=November 10, 1996 |publisher=Amtrak |page=24 |via=Museum of Railway Timetables}}</ref> Because the ''Adirondack'' already served the section between New York City and Whitehall, the ''Ethan Allen Express'' only added {{convert|44|miles||adj=pre|route}} and one station (Rutland) to the Amtrak system.<ref name=50years>{{cite book |title=Fifty Years of Amtrak Trains |first1=David C. |last1=Warner |first2=Bruce |last2=Goldberg |year=2021 |publisher=White River Productions |pages=56–57}}</ref> A trailer was used as a temporary station at Rutland; the station building, funded by $700,000 from the federal government, did not open until 1999.<ref name=backers /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greatamericanstations.com/stations/rutland-vt-rud/ |title=Rutland, VT (RUD) |publisher=Amtrak |work=Great American Stations}}</ref>

===Early service changes===

[[File:Ethan Allen Express at Rutland station, May 2001.jpg|thumb|left|The ''Ethan Allen Express'' at Rutland in 2001|alt=A passenger train approaching a small brick station]]

The ''Ethan Allen Express'' was intended to support tourism in ~~the~~and ~~Rutland~~around ~~areas~~Rutland, particularly winter travel to [[Killington Ski Resort]] and [[Pico Mountain]].<ref name=rollsin /> and [[leaf peeping]] during the fall.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/travel/capture-splendor-fall-foliage-train-excursion-article-1.246920|title=Capture the splendor of fall foliage with a train excursion|author1=Harriet Edelson|publisher=[[Daily News (New York City)|Daily News]]|date=September 23, 2007}}</ref> The train's schedule has been adjusted a number of times, particularly in the early years of its operation, in an attempt to serve both tourists to Vermont and Vermonters traveling to New York City.<ref name=50years /> The initial schedule had a running time slightly over five hours, with afternoon departures from both terminals on weekdays. Saturday southbound trains departed Rutland at 7:05am to allow for weekend trips to New York City, while Sunday trains in both directions departed in the later afternoon to accommodate weekend trips.<ref name=50years /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.timetables.org/browse/?group=19970710ne&item=0026 |title=Amtrak Northeast Timetable |date=July 10, 1997 |publisher=Amtrak |page=26 |via=Museum of Railway Timetables}}</ref>

In October 1997, the southbound Saturday departure moved to the same afternoon time as weekdays, while the Friday and Sunday northbound departures moved to the late-afternoon time.<ref name=50years /><ref name=oct1997timetable /> An [[infill station]] at [[Fair Haven station|Fair Haven]] was added on November 12, 1997.<ref name=oct1997timetable>{{Cite web |url=http://www.timetables.org/browse/?group=19971026ne&item=0026 |title=Amtrak Northeast Timetable: Fall/Winter 1997-98 |date=October 26, 1997 |publisher=Amtrak |via=Museum of Railway Timetables}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104353707/rutland-daily-herald/ |title=Ethan Allen Express Soon Starting to Stop in Fair Haven |first=Bruce |last=Edwards |newspaper=Rutland Daily Herald |date=November 8, 1997 |page=8 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> On February 15, 1998, Amtrak added a morning northbound train from Albany to Rutland, providing a connection from the northbound ''Maple Leaf''; this gave a second northbound trip to Rutland, though still only one southbound trip. The change reduced the state subsidy by eliminating the need for overnight crew accommodations: the morning northbound trip turned around to become the afternoon southbound trip, while the afternoon northbound trip [[Dead mileage|deadhead]]ed from Rutland to Albany in the late evening for servicing.<ref name=50years /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104670799/rutland-daily-herald/ |title=Rutland Gets Second Train |first=Frederick |last=Bever |date=January 17, 1998 |newspaper=Rutland Daily Herald |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.timetables.org/browse/?group=19980405ne&item=0022|title=Amtrak Northeast Timetable |date=April 5, 1998 |publisher=Amtrak |page=22 |via=Museum of Railway Timetables}}</ref>