Amtrak's New Arrival: Next Stop, Burlington!

Neighbors,

One week from today, on July 29, we will celebrate the first train from Burlington to New York City since  1953. Amtrak’s Ethan Allen Express will leave from downtown Burlington at 10:10 a.m. next Friday and start its first journey to New York City in the 21^st century.
 
One day soon, I look forward to buying train tickets and traveling with my family from our downtown to New York City in time for dinner.
 
This service fills a 70-year-old city void, will give a much-needed boost to our economic recovery, and give travelers a new, lower-carbon connection to New York and the rest of the Amtrak system.

In the map, below, you can see where our new route will be. The new service connects Burlington, Vergennes, and Middlebury to the existing Amtrak route from Rutland, to Albany, and south to Manhattan.

Local, state and federal officials have been working to reestablish this vital transportation link for decades. I am grateful to the state’s many rail advocates, our congressional delegation and multiple governors for prioritizing this transportation investment for years, and to Vermont Rail, Lake Champlain Transportation and Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn for working closely with the City to resolve residents’ concerns about Amtrak overnighting in Burlington which threatened to delay this day further.
 
Finally, I applaud Public Works Director Chapin Spencer, City Engineer Norm Baldwin and the rest of the City team that worked very hard, for years, to make today’s announcement possible.
 
Thanks to all that hard work, starting July 29, each day, we will have a southbound train, leaving Burlington in the morning. And we have a northbound train, which leaves New York’s Penn Station at 2:20 p.m., arriving back home in Burlington each evening at 9:55 p.m. Learn more about the new Amtrak service.
 
With this environmentally friendly travel option, which reduces dependency on personal cars and substantially reduces fossil fuel use, I hope Vermonters encourage friends and family to visit Burlington and travel throughout Vermont.

Warmly,

Miro Weinberger
Mayor