VTrans outlines rail-plan update, models Vermonter and Valley Flyer extensions and clarifies bike policies

Vermont Agency of Transportation officials told the House Transportation Committee on Feb. 20 they are updating the state's rail plan, modeling several service-extension scenarios for the Vermonter corridor and Valley Flyer, and pursuing Federal Railroad Administration corridor-identification funding to study service-development options.

"There's about 580 active miles of rail line in the state," said Dave Pelletier, policy and planning section staff at VTrans, noting that "just under 300 miles is owned by the state" and in many cases leased to private operators. He framed the rail-plan update as a 20‑year planning document required for grant eligibility and longer‑range coordination with regional partners.

VTrans staff summarized work that includes a set of modeled scenarios for the Vermonter corridor: a Vermonter extension to Montreal, a twice‑daily Vermonter, a night train option, and lower‑cost Valley Flyer extensions north from Massachusetts to Brattleboro or White River Junction. VTrans described this modeling as an initial, high‑level exercise intended to generate demand estimates; more detailed service development planning will follow.

The agency said Amtrak ridership boards and alightings that are relevant to Vermont used a FY23 base of roughly 70,000 for the Vermonter corridor modeling. Officials cautioned the modeling is preliminary: "This is not in‑depth detailed modeling," project manager Zoe Neilin told the committee, and further operational scheduling and infrastructure studies will follow.

Committee members asked about finances, connections and equipment. Pelletier and other VTrans staff said passenger rail does not fully cover operating costs: ticket revenue offsets some expenses but Vermont's two state‑served Amtrak lines, the Vermonter and the Ethan Allen Express, were subsidized to the tune of about $8 million last year. VTrans also clarified intermodal options: the agency has ongoing work to improve cross‑ticketing and bus connections to get riders to major stations more efficiently than adding complex new rail services in the short term.

VTrans also updated the committee on bicycle policies and capacity on Amtrak trains serving Vermont. Dan Delabrio, rail program bureau director at VTrans, said the state reconciled differing introductory pricing and now charges the standard national fee of $20 to bring a bicycle on board Amtrak services serving Vermont. He explained capacity is limited because bike racks occupy luggage space: most trains serving Vermont can accommodate about four bikes in coach luggage area without removing seats. Foldable bikes carried as luggage typically do not require the separate bike fee.

The agency described two planning tracks: the statewide rail plan due for renewal in July (a 20‑year outlook that lists initiatives and priorities) and a separate FRA corridor identification (Corridor ID) program that funds service development planning and can make corridors eligible for future FRA funds. Pelletier said Corridor ID work is already under way for multiple corridors, including western Vermont and the Rutland‑to‑Bennington‑New York concept, and that Corridor ID status improves grant eligibility even while more detailed studies proceed.

VTrans invited public participation and said the next round of public meetings is scheduled; staff noted a second public meeting on March 10 at 3:00 p.m., offered in person and remotely. Officials said they will post updated modeling and materials to the rail‑plan update webpage as they become available.

No committee vote was taken during the presentation.