BRATTLEBORO, Vt. – Construction on a new Amtrak station in Brattleboro is set to begin March, the Commons News reported. The station, which will be served by Amtrak’s Vermonter, will cost $10 million and take 18 months to complete. It will include the first high-level passenger platform in Vermont.
In November 2020, Amtrak announced it was in discussions with the Town of Brattleboro, New England Central Railroad, and the State of Vermont on a proposal for a new, ADA-compliant Brattleboro station. It would include a new station building, platform and track changes. Additional ADA-compliant amenities include parking, ramps and steps up to the platform level, lights, signage, a new waiting room with an attached restroom and covered outdoor seating.
To build the new station, Amtrak had to negotiate a lease with the New England Central Railroad. It also had to work with the Vermont Agency of Transportation, the State Historic Preservation Offices of the National Park Service and Green Mountain Power.
The project will include rebuilding New England Central’s track and switches and a new, 345-foot-long platform 48 inches above the rail. The new station includes a 36-seat waiting area, a restroom, and a covered outdoor area with bench seating. It will also have an electric snow-melting system. The full project construction cost has been estimated at $7.4 million. Amtrak has already spent $1.7 million on track work and $1 million on design.
The current Amtrak waiting room occupies the ground floor of the former Brattleboro Union Station. The two other levels are home to an art museum. Annual ridership for Brattleboro in fiscal year 2023 was 15,180.
This story was updated on Jan. 19, 2020 with a photo of the Vermonter in Brattleboro, Vt.
Mr. Carleton is correct about Rutland. And for the first two
years or so that the Ethan Allen ran, everyone boarded and
detrained from that little platform. Once you exited the train,
one walked down concrete steps next to the entrance of the
new Jeffords Depot building. As I recall, there was/is an
integrated lift which is part of Rutland’s platform for those
with physical challenges or for baggage/parcel handling.
Departing, one climbed up the concrete steps. I don’t know
who started this or why it ended, but it did work rather well, especially for boarding.
$1 Million just for design work? wow.
A 115 yard long platform sounds to me to be too long for an average of 21 passengers per train. That’s major station size for a much larger community.
Maybe they’re getting ready for a return of the Montrealer, which would probably include sleepers, a diner and/or cafe cars, and a baggage car in addition to the coaches. The Montrealer stopped there back in the day.
Amtrak’s Superliners are at a disadvantage with high level platforms. This is why the next generation of long distance passenger cars should be single level for the entire national network.
I could be mistaken, but is 48″ standard high level platform height? That seems too low.
Most single-level passenger cars (with some exceptions, like Talgo) have a floor at about 48-50″ above top of rail, so 48″ would be the right height. Presumably, some of this money is going toward rehabilitating the adjacent passing track so that freight trains can bypass the high-level platform. Or maybe the new platform will be on that side and freights will hold the main.
“[T]he first high-level passenger platform in Vermont…” unless you count Rutland, all 50’ of it.