VTKilarney
Well-known member
I have a romanticized idea that we could have an actual ski train someday.
The way I see it, the reason ski trains aren't viable are as follows:
1) Most skiers live in the suburbs. They would rather not downtown and pay a premium to park. You would need a good suburban station with cheap parking.
2) For more than one or two people, the train fare is usually not competitive.
3) Most ski areas require a car when you are there.
4) Existing train tracks are generally freight lines and are SLOW.
5) We are a car culture.
6) See #5.
I was trying to think if there was a mountain that is near train tracks that has good slopeside lodging, if not an actual village.
Train tracks come surprisingly close to Jay Peak, but they look like they are VERY slow and the international border presents problems. And you would still need a several mile transfer from a train station.
I'm not sure what the train tracks are like to North Conway, but Cranmore doesn't have a sufficient slopeside village to make a train viable.
Aren't there tracks that parallel I-93? That seems to be a pretty viable option - especially for Loon. On the other hand, it's REALLY easy to just shoot up I-93 in a car. I don't see a train being very appealing when there is a high speed interstate running right along side of it.
If a train doesn't make much sense, I wonder if bus service would make any sense. Buses are cheap and convenient. I could see being tempted to take a bus to the ski hill on Friday with a return on Sunday. But to avoid sitting idle all weekend, the bus has to come back on Friday empty. Has Vermont Transit (now Greyhound), Dartmouth Coach, Concord Trailways, or any other company tried a ski bus? I know that there are companies that make day runs, but I was thinking of something that you could just buy a ticket for without an actual package that would allow you to go to ski country for the weekend.
The way I see it, the reason ski trains aren't viable are as follows:
1) Most skiers live in the suburbs. They would rather not downtown and pay a premium to park. You would need a good suburban station with cheap parking.
2) For more than one or two people, the train fare is usually not competitive.
3) Most ski areas require a car when you are there.
4) Existing train tracks are generally freight lines and are SLOW.
5) We are a car culture.
6) See #5.
I was trying to think if there was a mountain that is near train tracks that has good slopeside lodging, if not an actual village.
Train tracks come surprisingly close to Jay Peak, but they look like they are VERY slow and the international border presents problems. And you would still need a several mile transfer from a train station.
I'm not sure what the train tracks are like to North Conway, but Cranmore doesn't have a sufficient slopeside village to make a train viable.
Aren't there tracks that parallel I-93? That seems to be a pretty viable option - especially for Loon. On the other hand, it's REALLY easy to just shoot up I-93 in a car. I don't see a train being very appealing when there is a high speed interstate running right along side of it.
If a train doesn't make much sense, I wonder if bus service would make any sense. Buses are cheap and convenient. I could see being tempted to take a bus to the ski hill on Friday with a return on Sunday. But to avoid sitting idle all weekend, the bus has to come back on Friday empty. Has Vermont Transit (now Greyhound), Dartmouth Coach, Concord Trailways, or any other company tried a ski bus? I know that there are companies that make day runs, but I was thinking of something that you could just buy a ticket for without an actual package that would allow you to go to ski country for the weekend.