A report released earlier this summer named Burlington’s Union Station as the best place to overnight trains once Amtrak’s Ethan Allen Express begins service to the Queen City in 2021 or 2022. VTrans and the for-profit Vermont Rail System also intend to build a second rail line between King and College streets regardless of where the trains are stored, Burlington’s Public Works Department Director Chapin Spencer told the council.
The proposals have drawn ire from residents who say the study was flawed and that a second track will bring noise and pollution to Burlington’s waterfront.
“Once the second track is built … the railroad will do whatever it wants, and we’ll be powerless to stop it,” resident Ritchie Berger said, adding that Burlington’s waterfront could become a second rail yard.
Charlie Sudbay, who lives in Main Street Landing’s Wing building near Union Station, said the second rail line would be just eight feet from his bedroom window.
“Expanding the rail yard north to College Street literally makes my home uninhabitable,” Sudbay said, noting the trains will need to refuel and offload sewage. “Adding a second industrial rail spur next to the ECHO Center for Lake Champlain is a complete oxymoron.”
Union Station, at 1 Main Street, scored highest among five potential storage sites in the commission’s report. It beat out the Northern Urban Reserve, a parkland north of Waterfront Park along the bike path; the Southern Urban Reserve, an area immediately north of the Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center; Vermont Rail System’s rail yard near Perkins Pier; and Flynn Avenue, adjacent to the South End City Market, Onion River Co-op store.
VTrans wants to choose an overnight storage site for the trains before year’s end, he said; construction could begin in spring 2020.
Many city councilors were surprised that the train storage issue only came to their attention now when conversations about it began in 2016. After hearing a half dozen residents complain that the project would destroy their quality of life, Councilor Sharon Bushor (I-Ward 1) said developers typically engage affected residents early on. “I think this is a significant deviation from that,” she said.
Councilor Franklin Paulino (D-North District) agreed, comparing the discussion to being “handed a political football in the last quarter, after a decision’s been made.”
“I understand it’s their property,” Paulino said of the railroad, “but what are our remedies?”
Councilor Joan Shannon (D-South District) said activity on the tracks near her home causes it to shake. “It’s hard to imagine that happening right in the active area of the waterfront,” she said, adding that none of the train storage choices are ideal.
Mayor Miro Weinberger said the city wants Amtrak service to enhance the waterfront, not detract from it. He called the prospect of restoring passenger rail to Burlington “tremendously exciting.”
“Let’s not lose sight that bringing passenger rail to Burlington after decades of trying will be a great legacy for this council, the city, to have,” Weinberger said. “We’re going to make sure we don’t miss that opportunity.”
VTrans representatives are scheduled to present the agency’s plan at the council’s transportation committee meeting on November 19.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
Suddenly the liberal train huggers don’t want mass transit because … why?
Oh, the train is too noisy.
Got it.
Knock me over with a feather.
I’m sure the Chamber of Commerce types are all in on this.
I’m even more sure that flat earth Trumpsters are enthusiastic about this. After all, the only thing that gets them hornier than gun violence , separating immigrant children from their parents and throwing them in cages, or shaking down a foreign leader for political favors, or outright White Supremacy is polluting the environment. Yessiree!!! It makes them want to put on their MAGA hats and jump around in the living room all nekkid and stuff, whoopin’ and a-hollerin’ while they watch Hannity.
Guess who was for a train before she was against it…
https://www.mainstreetlanding.com/about/ne…
Ritch wine and cheese democrats don’t want the train because it will pollute the lake? What about all their Mcmansions and house with septic system s that literally corral the lake?
“The state’s largest city needs rail service.” – Melinda Moulton before she decided otherwise.
https://www.mainstreetlanding.com/about/ne…
We need the train, that area has been home to railroading for 150 years, so too bad for the NIMBYs who moved in. Get it done. And Melinda you didn’t “build” that station, I believe it has been there since 1916?.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Statio…
I thought we were supposed to to be like Europe? Trains and bikes everywhere!
Why not? It’s not like Amtrak has frequent accidents… And the fact that Miro wants it tells you it’s a bad idea. Did Leahy have a part in this? Maybe we can store some F-35s there, too?
Ted, it’s easy to make fun of people, isn’t it?
If you go to this place and consider what’s being suggested, you may see what’s being discussed. “Liberal train-huggers”? I am wondering where you live, and what would affect you there. Perhaps you just like to taunt.
Train service to and from Burlington would be good, but a second line, or working on the trains all night (including emptying sewer sludge) right outside someone’s window, would not. Ms. Moulton has not contradicted herself – the railroad has revealed new facts about their intent, and it’s up to us to see that the Waterfront is not taken over by the railroad again. The waterfront is our number one tourist destination.
The lake is beautiful. A second track, and working on trains in the middle of town at night, is a terrible idea for the City. The work should be done in the railyards to the south, or in the area below Lakeview Terrace to the north, or in St. Albans. Check it out – do the research.
Ralph, you’re right about the railroad dominating the waterfront 150 years ago – but the freight comes and goes by truck now.
Just wondering if any of the people who have posted read the story or know anything about this issue?
None of the people who spoke are against the Amtrak train just where it is parked at night.
The easiest way to solve this is to just drop plans to bring Amtrak’s Ethan Allen Express service to Burlington. If Burlington residents don’t want the train, fine and dandy, don’t force it on them. Take it someplace that actually wants the train. I never understood why companies bother with Burlington as the residents fight anything and everything. Why go to the time and expense fighting with the residents to build something they don’t want? If they dont want business or progress, I’m sure there are other places that would appreciate the investment in their economy.
BradD,
I know what you mean. If they heard the description of just what will happen at night with the parked trains, it might change some minds. They want to assemble, disassemble, steam-clean, bring in septic tank trucks to empty the restrooms, and such. As Chapin Spencer said, “Once we let Amtrak have this spot, they’ll do whatever they want.”
It will not be a pretty sight or smell, and it’ll be noisy too. We’re talking about all this happening 8 feet from some residents. It would make homes uninhabitable. They are better off doing it somewhere else than in the Center of Town. We all welcome passenger service in and out of Burlington. But we want the bikepath too, and access to the waterfront, as we have now. They need to use another location.
The NIMBYism at work here is simply beyond belief.
OMG! They are planning to empty septic tanks with sealed drain hoses withing 300 ft of luxury lakefront condominiums?? What a poopy problem! Whats next? Tariffs on 7-layer tortes? Charges on Champagne? Penalties for sipping Prosecco? Is nothing sacred??? Do they know who I AM???
Stacy, your note is funny,
but 8 feet is a whole lot closer than 300 feet – and it’s a little apartment, not a luxury condo. Do you really want that in the middle of town instead of on the edge of town? Where do You live?
I don’t know if anything is sacred, but probably some things.
And with a pseudonym, how can we know who you are? (kidding)
Councilor Franklin Paulino (D-North District) agreed, comparing the discussion to being “handed a political football in the last quarter, after a decision’s been made.”
Um, you *have* been working with Miro … you should be used to this.
The invocation of NIMBYism to characterize the opponents to the Burlington waterfront rail project is both unfair and misinformed. Melinda Moulton risked millions of dollars to redevelop Union Station as the vibrant Main Street Landing project, bringing people, life and activity back to the waterfront. She has never opposed Amtrak coming to Burlington and repeated that point to open her comments Monday night. This plan doubles the tracks King to College Street and does bring it to within 8 feet of the building. Overnight sewage will be pumped from Amtrak, engines fueled and cars cleaned. By day the railroad plans to assemble freight trains on the new tracks directly adjacent to Echo. Streets will be blocked to the ferries and lakefront. All this could be done at the existing Amtrak facility in St. Albans until we get the trains to Montrealor short term in Burlingtons existing yards. This plan moves the yards 3 blocks north and is totally unneeded to get Amtrak here!
The design for the new Amtrak/freight train service facility at Union Station does indeed bring track to within 8 feet of the buildingessential in trying to squeeze an added track and a platform, plus ultimately a relocated bike-path, into the narrow footprint between Echo, the Pecor boat storage building, the railway and Union Station with 2 active tracks. Each night the Amtrak train will create diesel fumes, noise and obvious disruption. The access for the fuel and sewage trucks will be very narrow. In winter a truck could easily fall into the roadbed. Spills will occur. By day VRS plans to use the tracks to switch and build freight trains. If the added tracks are built they will be used. Union Station will be the Amtrak stop, but not like this!
From the start the planning process for locating the Amtrak service facility has cynically tried to play one neighborhood against another. The ETHAN ALLEN train should continue to St Albans and use the already existing Amtrak service center in the yards there. If this can not be done the Burlington yards are free of the problems at Union Station, but VRS claims capacity issues there. They store tank cars there, largely creating the issue, but getting to St Albans also allows the train soon to go to Montreal. The train will not be here until 2021/22. Time exists to fix the track BTV/ESX and avoid harming anyone.
The study that provoked this heart-breaking controversy asked the wrong question–where to service the train only in Burlington. If you ask the wrong question you get the wrong answer! The correct issue was how to get to the already existing Amtrak facility only 36 miles away and how to unite Vermont’s two passenger routes, currently separated by only 7.97 miles of Class One, 10mph passenger track, into a true unified network. Ironically fixing the Burlington-Essex Jct. branch line is already a priority in Five Year State Rail Plan–but not funded. The USDOT just today announced $24M in grants for new or upgraded passenger routes. This is on top of over $1B in other rail money potentially available over the next 18 months–not to mention the legislature’s ability to address such a modest $4-7M funding need. This is where Vermont needs to go!
There is a veiled suggestion in Mayor Weinberger’s closing quote that somehow not building a servicing facility in front of Union Station and extending the freight yards three blocks north could stop Amtrak from coming to Burlington. This is simply untrue. The ETHAN ALLEN is coming as a “State Supported Train”–meaning it is running because Vermont has promised to pay its costs, provide safe track, stations and somewhere at the terminus a servicing center with sufficient time off for the crew to meet “Hours in Service Law” standards. All of this can be done without degrading the waterfront.
Vermont took over $70M is Federal grants for the track and station work to run this train. All would need to be repaid if we defaulted. Amtrak is coming, because we made it happen. On its own Amtrak would run neither Vermont Amtrak service. Both the VERMONTER and the ETHAN ALLEN are state-supported services. The question is where to service the extended train service–not whether it will come!
Thank you Carl, for the details! I do hope people read your comments. You are right – I agree 100%. Only thing not mentioned is the greenery on the west side of the tracks – it would all be gone.
If you want to take the time to understand the history on this here is an excellent article;
https://vermontbiz.com/news/2019/september/25/amtrak-train-storage-issue-heats
My favorite quote is this;
The needs of the use of our track have changed, Wulfson told the Barre meeting. Vermont Railway has decided that, no matter what happens with Amtrak, we need to put a second track between King and College streets.
VRS through preemption can do whatever it wants – just ask the folks in Shelburne how fighting VRS worked out
There is a critical difference in Burlington as opposed to what took place in Shelburne. At Union Station the actual owner of the right of way is the state of Vermont. The salt shed project was built on land actually owned by VRS. There were also easements granted in the course of the Union Station redevelopment. In general railroads do prevail in these sorts of cases, if/when they own the land, but things arent quite so clear here if the state were to say no.
Moulton, Moulton? Why does this name sound familiar?