Its now official: the NEC sale to Genesee & Wyoming was approved by the STB this week.
They say they plan on continuing cooperation with Amtrak (The Vermonter from Saint Albans to Washington), increasing carloads, increasing use of their maintenance facility at Saint Albans, and continued use of their Dispatch Center in Saint Albans.
Time will tell. The NEC has been operating with a retired interim director of operations for quite a while now.
Jon 
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No big deal as the Vermonter is moving off this line(In Mass anyway) in a few years to the old B&M Ct river line once the upgrades to the right away are done by 2014.
Maybe under new ownership they will become more friendly to the communities they serve. They used to run a Santa Special out of Palmer that was very popular, but they stopped about five years ago. They should bring it back.
No big deal as the Vermonter is moving off this line in a few years to the old B&M Ct river line once the upgrades to the right away are done by 2014.
No big deal as the Vermonter is moving off this line in a few years to the old B&M Ct river line once the upgrades to the right away are done by 2014.
Yeah that part I don't care about so I forgot about it.
What they really need to do:
Run a double-headed train from Montreal to Essex junction, VT. Split it at Essex Junction, with one half going south along the Winooski sub to Burlington's Union Station, then through Vergennes, Middlebury, Rutland, and on to Rensselaer(Albany) and New York.
The other half would proceed south-east along the NEC to Palmer, MA and then east to Boston. This would connect three major cities with the expense of only one border crossing.
Jon
I would love to see the old Rutland line rebuilt between Bellow Falls and Rutland. Many a train ride when steamtown was there and many trips to Grandma's house in Rutland following Route 103 which parallels the line. Some of the most picturest sights in VT.
As for Palmer, it's out of the way. Better to go direct to Springfield then east, south, and West. When the switch does happen even with added stops in Northampton, and, Holyoke. The trip will be a half hour shorter.
If I understand the plan unveiled by the VT - NY Study group on December 11 and 12,
the plan is to reroute the Ethan Allen. Vermont would like the route to go from Rutland thru Manchester and North Bennington before crossing into Mechanicville, NY rather than going thru Saratoga Springs, NY.
The latest consultant report is on the web at: www.ny-vt-passengerrail.org
Tony
Up on "The D & H Bridge Line"
I would love to see the old Rutland line rebuilt between Bellow Falls and Rutland. Many a train ride when steamtown was there and many trips to Grandma's house in Rutland following Route 103 which parallels the line. Some of the most picturest sights in VT.
When you say "rebuilt", do you mean brought up to higher speeds? Don't they still run freight on the Green Mountain between Bellows Falls and Rutland? Or did that go away due to Irene?
Jon
There's still freight but not up to passenger standards.
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