With one week left before Amtrak officially terminates the Montrealer train line, negotiators still have not worked out a way to save the train.
But Vermont officials are continuing their efforts to save the Montrealer, which is the only train that stops in White River Junction, Vt. Amtrak wants to eliminate the route completely on April 1 as part of its nation-wide cutbacks.
Amtrak set a Feb. 23 deadline for any alternate proposal to completely eliminating the Montrealer, which travels from Washington D.C. to Montreal.
"We are waiting for Vermont to come back to us with their needs and support," Amtrak spokesman Rick Remington said.
The state of Vermont is willing to pay a one-time subsidy of $500,000 to keep the Montrealer operating for one more year, Vermont Transportation Secretary Patrick Garahan told the Valley News.
Garahan said the state would use that year to look into other ways to preserve the route.
The subsidy would preserve most of the existing eastern route with the line ending in either St. Albans, Vt., or in White River Junction, Remington said.
Amtrak originally called for a $1.9 million subsidy, but it recently dropped its demand to $1.3 million, according to Stephanie Carter, press secretary for Vermont Gov. Howard Dean. Vermont's proposal still remains at $500,000, she said.
"Governor Dean is very interested in keeping passenger rail service in Vermont, and is negotiating very hard while trying to keep the options open," Carter said. "He would like to see passenger service on both sides of Vermont."
Carl Fowler, a tour organizer in St. Albans, told the Valley News that he thinks Amtrak's subsidy requirements are $1 million too high, and would like to see the line replaced by a daytime service between Springfield Mass. and St Albans, Vt.
Dean's office has proposed a new western route for the train line, passing through New York and ending in either Rutland, Vt., or Burlington, Vt., which Amtrak is also considering, Remington said.
The route would not include a stop in White River Junction, and no direct buses out of White River Junction leading to any of its stops have been included in the proposal, Remington said.
The governor's office is still waiting for construction costs for this proposal. Amtrak's quotes are twice those of other private rail organizations being consulted in the process, Carter said.
Dartmouth also is working on saving the train. Senior Associate Dean of the College Dan Nelson said the College's director of external affairs is in Washington, D.C. to inform local congressional representatives of the College's concerns.
"The cancellation of the train would be a real inconvenience for the Dartmouth community," Nelson said.
According to the Valley News, Vermont and Connecticut Rail, a private railway company, has even proposed a replacement for the Montrealer that would stop in White River Junction.
But labor agreements might not allow a private group to run the train, Vermont Deputy Secretary of Transportation Glenn Gershaneck told The Dartmouth last week.
If the Montrealer is canceled on April 1, Amtrak's bus from Burlington, Vt. to White River Junction and then to Springfield, Mass. -- where there is a train station -- will still be operating, Remington said.
