Passenger rail: Looking ahead | Vermont Business Magazine
vermontbiz.com
A full draft of Vermont’s State Rail Plan update was posted online within the last month. Recommended Initiatives are listed beginning on p.56.
Restoring passenger rail service to Montreal is described as “the top priority of the state,” but the article linked above notes the lack of progress on building the customs preclearance facility in Montreal’s Gare Centrale. One of the state’s more prominent rail advocates is quoted in the article suggesting that if the state doesn’t see a breakthrough on Gare Centrale in another year or so, they should think about building the facility near the border in Lacolle (Cantic), Quebec.
That idea doesn’t really make sense to me. Would it even be preclearance anymore if it’s not happening at the beginning/end of the route? The border check already happens in Lacolle, so what kind of time savings would be realized by maintaining the border check in its current location?
As for extending the Valley Flyer northwards (as @themisssinglink was asking about a few posts up), the article points to lack of available cars as the first reason an extension to White River Junction probably has to wait, but they seem more optimistic that Brattleboro is within reach in the near term even with Amtrak’s currently reduced fleet.