Amtrack to VT

[crank]

Has anyone taken the train to VT? I am waiting in the Stamford station and it's 45 minutes late. It's an 8 & 1/2hour ride to Burlington. Gonna be a long afternoon and evening....

 

[Smellytele]

About 3 1/2 -4 hours longer than driving yuck!

 

[Newpylong]

It's gonna be an even longer evening if you're hoping to get to Burlington on it. The Vermonter goes to St. Albans.

 

[steamboat1]

I've taken a bus out of the Port Authority in NY several times when meeting friends at our house in VT. I take my luggage out in Rutland & the driver drops me off right in front of the house on his way north. Walk up the driveway & I'm there. Very convenient & inexpensive.

 

[Smellytele]

I hope you got out of there. Sad to hear about the elementary school shooting in Newtown not too far from there.

 

[oakapple]

Has anyone taken the train to VT? I am waiting in the Stamford station and it's 45 minutes late. It's an 8 & 1/2hour ride to Burlington. Gonna be a long afternoon and evening....

I've taken the Ethan Allen to Rutland, but not the Vermonter. As I understand it, both of those trains are prone to delays, because they rely (on part of their routes) on single-track segments that they share with express trains. I've no idea if that's the reason for the delay in this case.

The Vermonter comes all the way from Washington, so there are lots of places it could have been delayed.

 

[abc]

45 minutes? That's nothing.

Years ago, I took Amtrak from Chicago to Denver. The outbound legs went fine since it started from Chicago. But coming back, the train came from California. It was several hours late!!!

 

[amf]

We used to regularly take trips to Jay out of Philly on the Vermonter. Yes, it was long - about 12 hrs to St Albans, then another hour over to Jay (they would pick us up) - but it was nice to be able to stretch out & walk around, open a bottle of wine. And I hate the bus. Some of the delays are caused by shared freight lines, which seem to have priority. Its AMTRAK to Springfield I think & then Vermont Railways. Other delays can be caused by poor quality track in sections. Interestingly, there were different rules on each. You could gamble (for money or matches) on the VT rail, but not for nuthin' on AMTRAK, and the conductors - who switched out in Springfield - would enforce it. But it was always an adventure. One time we had a delay right out of St Albans - a brake stuck & started to burn. We had to creep backwards to the station for about a half hour & wait while cars were switched around. Amazingly the engineer made up all but 15 minutes of a 3 hr delay! Another time the engine broke down 'cause we were running in a blizzard. Who designs a railroad engine that breaks down in the snow? We conked out in Essex Jct and had to have a bus sent. Truly a hair-raising ride to Jay thru the blizzard. We made it all the way & slid off the road just as we turned into the access road. Fun times!

 

[dmc]

I take AMTRAK all the time to NYC from Hudson NY...

LOVE IT!!! I can sleep - work - drink - not have to worry about parking..

 

[millerm277]

It's gonna be an even longer evening if you're hoping to get to Burlington on it. The Vermonter goes to St. Albans.

It stops in Burlington/Essex Junction.

 

[crank]

It stops in Burlington/Essex Junction.

That's my stop. 5:30 now not even to Brattleboro yet. have some spotty wifi though.

 

[dmc]

That's my stop. 5:30 now not even to Brattleboro yet. have some spotty wifi though.

your right...
Don't depend on the wifi...

 

[BenedictGomez]

Good God that's nightmarish. Could you drive to Hartford and take Megabus instead next time? Much faster, and much cheaper.

 

[crank]

Good God that's nightmarish. Could you drive to Hartford and take Megabus instead next time? Much faster, and much cheaper.

did not know there was such a thing. Amtrack is $53. How much is the bus?

 

[millerm277]

did not know there was such a thing. Amtrack is $53. How much is the bus?

$20 each way or so for a random Friday in January. Listed run time at 4hrs 50min.

 

[crank]

website says $35. I normally drive but we don't need 2 cars up there. am now 20 mins from Burlington!

 

[BenedictGomez]

did not know there was such a thing. Amtrack is $53. How much is the bus?

If you buy ahead of time, it's $1 each way. Seriously. That's their gimmick.

There's a limited number of $1 seats, then $5 seats, $8, $10, $15 yada, yada, yada. I went from NYC to Washington DC on them roundtrip for 50¢ a few years ago. A free seat special, but I still had to pay that darn 25¢ processing fee for each ticket!

My gf's family is from n.VT, so maybe I'll do that once or twice this ski season instead of driving.

 

[HowieT2]

Its really a shame that the train to vt is such a disaster. it would be a great way to attract young city dwellers to the slopes. What a waste.

 

[ScottySkis]

Its really a shame that the train to vt is such a disaster. it would be a great way to attract young city dwellers to the slopes. What a waste.

I would go on many more trips to North Vermont if they had much quicker train service, I would not have worry about a long drive.

 

[gmcunni]

i don't get to burlington often so please explain..

i get a bus /train to burlington, then what? stay in the city or go on from there? do the resorts have shuttles to mountains from downtown burlington?