CNN Not Impressed with Vermont’s “High-Speed Rail”

Vermont officials are proud that a federal high-speed rail grant allowed them to take 29 minutes of the Vermonter schedule between New York City and Burlington. This is quite a bit less impressive than it sounds, as the speeded-up train still takes 9.5 hours for an average speed of 38 mph. By comparison, Megabus does the same trip in as little as 6.5 hours. Megabus slao has the advantage of reaching inner Burlington, while Amtrak stops in the suburb of Essex Junction, about 7.5 road miles away.

CNN rode the train and was less than impressed. After all, the top speed of the train in most of Vermont is a mere 59 mph, though there is a short stretch of 79-mph track. CNN’s Drew Griffin wonders why high-speed rail money was used for such a low-speed project. (A scruffy looking Antiplnnner briefly appears in the CNN video.)
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To be fair, the Obama administration always knew that its high-speed rail plans would be incremental in those states that weren’t building brand-new rail lines, which means (since Florida dropped out) any state but California. Still, it is worth questioning wny the government has to subsidize trains when companies such as Megabus and Bolt Bus can provide faster, more frequent service with relatively few subsidies.

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About The Antiplanner

The Antiplanner is a forester and economist with more than fifty years of experience critiquing government land-use and transportation plans.

3 Responses to CNN Not Impressed with Vermont’s “High-Speed Rail”

  1. C. P. Zilliacus says:

    Amtrak once ran a train from Washington (D.C.) Union Station to Montreal via Vermont, but it was cut-back in the 1990’s to service that terminated at St. Albans, Vermont instead.

    The Wikipedia article about the Amtrak Vermonter has details (including details describing some of the”high-speed” rail spending) here, and why the service to Montreal was turned-back (a contributing factor was Amtrak not able to use its own train crews on the short segment from the Vermont/Quebec border to Montreal).

    Like some other Amtrak trains, electric locomotives are used when possible, in particular on the Northeast Corridor from Washington to New Haven, Connecticut. But north of New Haven, the railroad is not electrified, so at New Haven northbound trains have to swap from electric locomotives to Diesel power, and vice versa for trains coming south. That takes time.

  2. TMI says:

    Perhaps a new stylist?

    Seriously, interestingly transparent reportage.
    .

  3. the highwayman says:

    That CNN report was really distorted on so many things, though here are major 2 points.

    #1, Roads don’t have make money.

    #2, Going to NYC from Burlington by way of Springfield MA will take more time then going through Albany.

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