Amtrak, in conjunction with the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTRANS), New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), and the Vermont Railway (VRS), has made operational improvements in its Ethan Allen Express service. This includes reducing trip times, providing more reliable service, and introducing new schedules.
“Vermont and New York represent two of the most popular states for train travel demand throughout the country, and we appreciate the support of all of our partners, as residents and visitors from these two states will benefit from our collaboration,” said Amtrak Vice President, State Supported Services Ray Lang. “The new, faster trip times, combined with the earlier southbound departure out of Vermont’s largest city, makes train travel even more appealing to our customers and allows us to build upon our recent, successful expansion to Burlington.”
“Amtrak’s improvements to the Ethan Allen Express will bring quicker, more reliable service to Vermonters looking to ride America’s rails to reach their destinations. This improvement to the Ethan Allen Express comes on the heels of Amtrak’s announcement that it broke ground on a new train station in Brattleboro earlier this year in an effort to expand rail service in Vermont,” said Senator Peter Welch (D-VT).
Ethan Allen Express southbound Train 290 will now depart Burlington 20 minutes earlier at 9:50 a.m., arriving in Rutland at 11:35 a.m. (35 minutes earlier) and leaving at 11:45 a.m. It will reach New York City at 5:17 p.m., which is 30 minutes earlier. The trip to New York City is 5 hours 32 minutes from Rutland.
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, 86,638 Amtrak customers traveled on the Ethan Allen Express a significant increase from 50,515 customers in FY19, highlighting a strong demand for train travel between New York and Vermont. This growth stems from the July 2022 expansion of service from Rutland to Middlebury, Vergennes, and Burlington. These new schedules align with Amtrak’s ambitious goal of doubling annual ridership to 66 million by FY 2040.
