Vermonter

The Vermonter is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between St. Albans, Vermont, New York City, and Washington, D.C. It replaced the overnight Montrealer, which terminated in Montreal, Quebec until 1995.

History

Montrealer

The Vermonter was preceded by an overnight train between Montreal and Washington that was known as the Montrealer. In the days before Amtrak the Montrealer was a service of the Boston and Maine Railroad. Another train, the Ambassador ran the same route during the daytime, but terminated in New York City. Both services used the Boston and Maine's Connecticut River Line south of Vernon, Vermont, rather than the current route over the New England Central.

Vermonter

The Vermonter replaced the Montrealer on April 1, 1995, bringing daytime Amtrak service to Vermont.

Business Class was added to replace the sleeping cars that were taken out of service upon the change to the Vermonter. The route was changed to allow travelers from Vermont to once again stop in Springfield and Hartford. This was made possible by the use of cab cars or locomotives on both ends so that the train could travel east from Springfield to Palmer, Massachusetts, and reverse direction to continue north on the Central Vermont. This detour added an hour of running time, but at the time was judged more practical than seeking to use the direct route over the former Boston and Maine Railroad owned by the Guilford Rail System. The train travels from Washington to New Haven on the Northeast Corridor, where electric locomotives are substituted for the diesel locomotives used north of that location.