Celebration Monday will greet Amtrak’s return to Vermont
July 15, 2021 | By Waterbury Roundabout 
The Waterbury Train Station recently got a fresh coat of paint ahead of Amtrak's return to service in Vermont. Photo by Gordon Miller.
If all goes as planned, Waterbury will welcome Amtrak’s passenger service to Vermont with a celebration at the Waterbury Train Station on Monday, July 19, starting at 9:30 a.m. But some unexpected damage along the rail line caused by heavy rains in southern Vermont has crews scrambling to ensure that trains will be running on Monday.
VTDigger reported Thursday evening that rain washed out the railroad bed along a stretch of track in Dummerston, forcing the line to close so that repairs could be made. The rail line is maintained by the New England Central Railroad. A spokesman for the railroad told VTDigger that work would continue over the weekend to replace a concrete culvert, stone railbed, and surrounding banks in order to reopen the line both for the usual two to four daily freight trains and the anticipated passenger train on Monday.
So far, nothing has changed with the schedule for Monday morning’s reception to welcome Amtrak. Rotarian Place in front of the station is scheduled to be closed for the event hosted by Revitalizing Waterbury. Passenger train service to Vermont was halted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has been absent since.
Amtrak Monday restarts service on both of its lines that serve Vermont, the Vermonter line which serves Waterbury and runs between Washington, D.C., and St. Albans, and the Ethan Allen Express on the western side of the state that travels between New York City and Rutland with service planned to extend to Burlington in 2022.
Celebrations are planned at multiple Amtrak stops in Vermont on Monday in addition to Waterbury including Montpelier, Rutland, St. Albans and Bellows Falls.
At the Waterbury stop there will be refreshments and guest speakers who will highlight the importance of train service, according to event organizers. At 10:10 a.m., the Vermonter is scheduled to pull into the station where the public can greet it from the platform.
The Community Room inside the 1875 Waterbury Train Station will be open daily for train arrivals and departures. The cafe space will remain closed until a new tenant is found to occupy the space that previously housed the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Cafe and Visitors Center.
Starting Monday, passenger trains are scheduled to come through Waterbury twice daily – southbound in the morning at 10:10 and northbound in the evening arriving at 7:50 p.m.
A local caretaker has been hired to ensure that the station’s Community Room on the far end of the building will be open for two hours around each arrival. Amtrak’s website lists hours as 8:30-10:30 a.m. and 7:15-9:15 p.m. daily once service resumes.
Amtrak is offering the public $1 fares to ride the initial trains on Monday with free shuttle bus service back to the starting points. In the case of the Vermonter, it would mean riding from St. Albans to Montpelier or Brattleboro and then taking a bus shuttle back to St. Albans.
More information is online at vtrans.vermont.gov/rail/providers. This story will be updated should plans for Monday change.