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A Weekend of Green Mountain Railroad Excursions
Part 3: Champlain Valley Flyer, Burlington-Shelburne, VT
With Bonus Cab Ride
August 15, 2004
By Matt Melzer of TrainWeb.com
http://www.trainweb.com/travelogues/mattmelzer/2004h15a.html

Click on a photo below for a larger image.

For my final day of Green Mountain Railroad's "Trains Around Vermont" excursions, it was an easy walk to the beautifully restored Burlington Union Station to catch the Champlain Valley Flyer. The Champlain Valley Flyer runs on Vermont Railway trackage roughly following Lake Champlain, which forms Vermont's western border with New York. The route serves the most populated section of Vermont, originating in the state's largest city, Burlington (population 40,000). The greater Burlington metropolitan area, in which the route is fully contained, has over 200,000 residents, or about one-third of Vermont's population. Not surprisingly, Green Mountain Railroad operates more excursions on this line throughout the year than anywhere else in the state.

The route was upgraded in 2000 to feature heaver, welded rail, automated block signalling, new intermediate stations, and other infrastructure improvements using various public funding to support the launch of the Champlain Flyer commuter service. Unfortunately, the service was discontinued last year, supposedly due to low ridership and revenue. Some critics have cited the lack of marketing support from the state (whose initiative it was to start the service to begin with), the lack of robust intermodal connections, the flat $1 fare, and the lack of density in local population all as contributing factors to the Champlain Flyer's non-viability. Fortunately, the route lives on in passenger service as excursions.

Long-term plans call for Amtrak's Ethan Allen Express (New York City-Rutland) to be extended from Rutland north to Burlington, which could serve the area's population better than the remote Vermonter station in Essex Junction. It would also restore long-lost service to Middlebury and other western Vermont towns. Tens of millions of dollars in additional capital improvements and new operating support would be required for this extension of about 65 miles.

Though the Champlain Valley Flyer normally runs between Burlington and Charlotte (13 miles), this day's operations were truncated to run between Burlington and Shelburne (about 7.5 miles). Enjoy these photos from two round-trips on the Champlain Valley Flyer, one in the locomotive cab.

Click on the below links to view each set of photos:
Set #01 - Champlain Valley Flyer
Set #02 - Champlain Valley Flyer Cab Ride

Click here for the previous segment of this travelogue:
Part 2: White River Flyer, White River Junction-Norwich, VT

Questions? Comments? E-mail matt@trainweb.com .

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