Vermont is receiving $60.3 million in federal money to rebuild roughly 60 miles of freight rail between Rutland and North Bennington, swapping aging bolted track for heavier, continuously welded rail. The project targets the Western Corridor railway running through Rutland and Bennington counties. Backers say it could help move more goods, more cheaply, through a part of the state that never got a fully connected interstate.
As reported by VTDigger, the Vermont Agency of Transportation is acquiring the funds, which come from the federal Department of Transportation. The same account describes the existing track as “old stick rail,” a traditional jointed design that uses bolts to connect steel rail and leaves small gaps. Its replacement is heavier and has no joints to slow down travel.
Beyond the rail itself, the work will replace rail, realign track, and upgrade ties, ballast, turnouts and 22 at-grade crossings, according to the AASHTO Journal. The state transportation agency will chip in a 20 percent non-federal cost share. The Federal Railroad Administration has said investments like this are meant to “reduce congestion and improve operations.”
Faster Freight, Lower Costs, Local Hopes
Dan Delabruere, the agency's rail director, said the revamped line will improve the safety and efficiency of moving freight, per VTDigger's reporting. That means businesses can ship more goods faster, which Delabruere said should reduce costs for companies and customers.
Local economic development leaders are paying attention. Sarah Furman, executive director of the Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region, said shipping large volumes is challenging for businesses, so more efficient rail transport will hopefully be a boon for the local economy. She also called the investment a step in the right direction that can make a big difference.
The Bennington Banner reports that members of Vermont's congressional delegation, Becca Balint, Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch, supported the funding. The delegation said it will improve the safety and reliability of Vermont's railways and support rural towns along the Western Corridor.
A Region Still Missing Its Interstate
The upgrade lands in a corner of Vermont with a long memory of what losing trains cost it. Historian Paul Searls says Rutland Railroad passenger service ended in 1953, which he describes as a major blow to the region's economy. Vermont's interstate highways were built between 1958 and 1982, and Searls says they never reached Rutland and Bennington counties.
Herbert Ogden, a former Windsor County senator and founder of the Vermont chapter of the Sierra Club, formed the Vermont Association of Railroad Passengers in 1972. Per Searls, he lobbied to restore passenger service to cut car travel and transportation's environmental impact. Passenger rail returned in 1996 with Amtrak's Ethan Allen Express, which has Rutland as its last stop.
The state launched an initiative in 2015 to extend the Western rail corridor to Burlington, and that extension was completed in 2022. Christopher Parker, former executive director of the Vermont Rail Action Network, said the existing connection in southwestern Vermont makes improving the rail network “minimally disruptive, economical and environmentally efficient.” He also said train service matters to Rutland residents and workers and can open up economic opportunities.
What Passenger Service Would Take
This project is built around freight, but Delabruere said establishing passenger rail from Rutland through Bennington County and over to New York is part of the agency's future rail plans. He said the Western Corridor upgrade is necessary if the state decides to pursue passenger rail in the region. Whether that service gets funded or approved is not settled, and no construction schedule has been released.
Vermont isn't alone in chasing this kind of money. FreightWaves reports that Ontario Midland Railroad secured an $11.2 million federal grant to rehabilitate about 10 miles of track in Wayne County, New York. Over in Massachusetts, NHPR reports a $130 million federal grant for rail around Springfield Union Station, part of a West-East project aiming to connect Springfield to Boston by 2030.
