Montrealer The
Vermonter was preceded by an overnight train between Montreal and Washington that was known as the
Montrealer, which was inaugurated in 1924 as a joint service of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, the
New Haven Railroad, the
Boston & Maine Railroad, the
Central Vermont Railway and the
Canadian National Railway. Another train, the
Ambassador, ran the same route during the
daytime, but terminated in New York City. Both services used the Boston and Maine's
Connecticut River Line south of
Vernon, Vermont, rather than the route prior to 2014 over the
New England Central. Amtrak took over the train in 1971, and continued operating it until 1995 (excepting a brief suspension from 1987 to 1989). Starting around 1940, the
Central Vermont Railway operated a train between St. Albans and White River Junction also called the
Vermonter. It departed St. Albans in the evening, arriving around midnight or later in White River Junction. Sleeper cars were transferred to Boston or New York City-bound trains. It left White River Junction in the middle of the night, arriving in St. Albans in the early morning. The train was discontinued on November 5, 1965. This service lends its name to the modern incarnation of the
Vermonter.
Vermonter , in 1996 The
Vermonter replaced the
Montrealer on April 1, 1995, bringing daytime Amtrak service to Vermont. Business Class was added to replace the
sleeping cars that were taken out of service upon the change to the
Vermonter. The route was changed to allow travelers from Vermont to again stop in
Springfield and
Hartford. This was made possible by the use of
cab cars, or engineer positions on both ends, so that the train could travel east from Springfield to
Palmer, Massachusetts, and reverse direction to continue north on the
Central Vermont. This detour added an hour of running time, but at the time was judged more practical than seeking to use the direct route over the then-decayed former Boston and Maine Railroad trackage owned by the
Guilford Rail System. The train travels from Washington to
New Haven on the
Northeast Corridor, where
electric locomotives are substituted for the
diesel locomotives used north of that location. Vermont declined to pay for continuing the
Vermonter to Montreal due to high labor and terminal costs in Montreal. For a time, Amtrak offered passengers a connecting
Amtrak Thruway bus service, operated by
Vermont Transit, which met the train at St. Albans for connections to and from Montreal. Ridership plunged when the train schedule was moved two hours earlier, requiring a southbound departure before 5:00 a.m. The schedule was returned to its previous position, but the service was dropped by Vermont Transit (which had been running it without a subsidy as part of its regular schedule) on October 30, 2005. On October 30, 2006, the
Vermonter began stopping at the towns of
Wallingford and
Windsor Locks (near
Bradley International Airport) in Connecticut for the first time. In the late 2000s, Amtrak and the State of Vermont considered the purchase of
diesel multiple unit (DMU)
trainsets for use on the
New Haven–
St. Albans stretch of the line, with Amtrak offering a $2 million grant to help make the switch and market the new service. The new cars would purportedly have saved $4.25 million over three years, being four times more fuel efficient than a locomotive-hauled train. In 2008, the Vermont state legislature approved the purchase of five cars from
Colorado Railcar at a cost of $18.2 million, but the company closed while the decision was awaiting approval of Governor
Jim Douglas. With no other DMU designs available that were capable of operating in mixed traffic with other trains, the plan was dropped. On November 9, 2010, the State of Vermont, Amtrak, and New England Central began a $70 million project to increase train speeds along the route in Vermont to between St. Albans and
White River Junction, Vermont, and to between White River Junction and
Vernon, Vermont. On October 5, 2012, the
Federal Railroad Administration announced the completion of track work within the states of Vermont and
New Hampshire for the above-mentioned stimulus plan. Within the states of Vermont and New Hampshire of track were refurbished. The track work included installation of
continuous welded rail, road-crossing improvements, ballast replacement, tie replacement, bridge repair and renovation, and embankment improvements. The top speed of the line within Vermont was increased to . The Massachusetts portion of the track work was completed in 2015. On October 5, 2015, the southbound
Vermonter derailed in
Northfield, Vermont, after striking a rock slide. Five cars and the engine derailed; the engine and an empty car slid down an embankment. Five passengers and two crew members were injured, one seriously. Starting June 9, 2018, the
Vermonter no longer serves the and stations in Connecticut. These locations are served by other Amtrak trains and by the new
Hartford Line commuter rail service. The move was forced after the pandemic prompted Vermont Governor
Phil Scott to declare a state of emergency. The
Vermonter resumed its full route on July 19, 2021, with $1 promotional fares on that date for travel within Vermont. During rehabilitation of the Connecticut River Line,
Vermonter service was restored to it on December 29, 2014. With the re-route, the train ceased stopping at , but a stop was restored to and, for the first time for Amtrak, a stop at was added. The re-route and consequent elimination of the backup move saved about 25 minutes of travel time between Springfield and
Brattleboro when the line rehabilitation was completed, in early 2015. Although the backup move at Palmer is eliminated by the re-route, a short backup move at Springfield is still required due to the layout of the tracks. The tracks at
Springfield Union Station run east-west, so the northbound
Vermonter needs to curve into the station, back out, and switch back onto the tracks continuing north; the opposite move occurs for southbound trains. In January 2015, the number of
Vermonter riders using the two new stations (in Northampton and Greenfield) was up 84 percent compared to the equivalent station in Amherst the previous year. An
infill stop in was added on August 27, 2015. On March 26, 2020, service north of New Haven was temporarily suspended. On November 30, 2020, service was cut back further from
New Haven to
New York. This was done in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Service to St. Albans resumed on July 19, 2021.
Planned extension of the Vermonter to Montreal Efforts have been underway for many years to extend the
Vermonter to Montreal. In 2012, the
Federal Railroad Administration awarded $7.9 million to allow for the upgrade of the existing freight rail line between St. Albans and the Canada–US border. Work on this project was completed in late 2014. On March 16, 2015, Canada and the United States signed the "Agreement on Land, Rail, Marine, and Air Transport Preclearance Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Canada". The agreement would allow for the establishment of a preclearance customs and immigration facility within
Central Station in Montreal that could be used by both an extended
Vermonter and Amtrak's existing
Adirondack train. Before the
Vermonter can be extended to Montreal, the
United States Congress must pass enabling legislation for the preclearance agreement and the
Parliament of Canada must
ratify the agreement. Construction of a preclearance facility in Central Station is expected to take about three years: one year for planning and permitting and two years for construction. Construction of the preclearance facility is not expected to start until after the preclearance agreement has been approved by both governments. Enabling legislation was enacted by the United States on December 16, 2016, as the Promoting Travel, Commerce, and National Security Act of 2016. As of late 2018, logistics have delayed the extended route's introduction until at least 2023. As of late 2021, according to
Vermont transportation officials, while the United States remains active on the project, interest and engagement from regional and federal authorities on the Canadian side has frozen. In 2021, VTrans looked into potential infrastructure upgrades that would allow the
Vermonter to reach on sections in Vermont, up from . Saving around 1 hour 30 minutes between New Haven and Montreal, this scenario is forecast to incentivize an additional 31,100 to 40,900 riders per year by 2040. A key component to increasing the speed limit would be the installation of
centralized traffic control from Greenfield to Brattleboro and from White River Junction to the
border. == Operation ==