Vermont Rail Action Network

Some years ago a $30 million earmark designated for the western corridor was secured by Senator Jim Jeffords.  Much of that earmark remains.  After being essentially unspent by the Douglas administration, the money is now funding various bridge and rail projects.  A complete breakdown of the status of funds and projects is here, provided by the Agency of Transportation.  A significant chunk of funds had been designated for the Middlebury spur, but that project is now canceled.  At the moment about 1.8 million has been spent, 6.1 percent has been committed to projects (ie contracted or in the contracting phase - what is known as "obligated") and 21.4 million is preliminarily designated for a series of projects.  To date, funding has gone mostly to the North Avenue tunnel in Burlington, and a half million dollar highway study undertaken by reginonal planning organizations.  Projects obligated include 1.8 million dollars of welded rail and a range of bridge projects.  Proposed spending includes 8 million dollars worth of welded rail and a vareity of bridge projects. The earmark will not cover all the welded rail needed to upgrade the line, nor will it cover desirable highway crossing upgrades.

Below is a list of studies. Alas I find myself without time to put links in all of them, but instead direct you to the CCMPO page which has the major recent rail studies with links.

1. Vermont State Rail Plan 1986 Update, September 1987

2. Commuter Rail Feasibility Study, February 1991

3. Rail Service in New England: Final Report, January 1992

4. Research Conducted for the New England Transportation Consortium

5. Vermont Rail Feasibility Study, March 1993 Prepared by LS Transit Systems, Inc.

6. Transportation Alternative Scenarios "Analysis", October 1994 Prepared by Cambridge Systematics.

7. New England Transportation Initiative, February 1995 Prepared by Cambridge Systematics

8. *Shelburne Road Corridor MIS

9. Report of the Joint Legislative Study Committee on the Future of Passenger Rail Service in Vermont, December 1995

10. Vermont Tour Train Highlights Report, June 1996 Prepared by LS Transit Systems, Inc.

11. Middlebury Rail Spur Study, February 1996

12. Burlington Light Rail Transit Study, April 1996

13. Five Year State Railroad Capital Development Plan, March 1997

14. Phase II Vermont Rail Feasibility Study, 1996

15. Environmental Assessment for Shelburne Road Corridor Rail Improvement Solution, July 1996, Prepared by LS Transit Systems, Inc.

16. Railway Clearance Survey, August 1997

17. *Tri-Center Transit Study (aka, light rail)

18. Analysis of the Lamoille Valley Railroad and the Highest and Best Use of the Rail Corridor -Northeastern Vermont Development Association, September 1997

19. OMYA Alternate Routes for Transportation Marble Rock from Middlebury Quarry to Florence Plan, Construction Estimates, Supplement No.1, February 1998

20. Five Year State Railroad Capital Development Plan, Addendum #1, Track Assessment, NECR Burlington to Essex Junction, April 1998

21. Boston & Maine Railroad Property Assessment, 1998

22. Bennington Regional Rail Study-Bennington County Regional Commission, September 1998

23. Vermont Rail Policy Plan, November 1998

24. Albany/Bennington/Rutland/Burlington Rail Passenger Service Study, October 1998

25. Boston & Maine Railroad Property Assessment, December 1998

26. Load Ratings -Fatigue Analysis, 1999

27. New England Central Railroad Double Stack Clearance Study, January 1999

28. GMRC Freight Study-Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission, February 1999

29. OMYA Quarry Material Alternative Transport Legislative Study, January 1999

30. Burlington/Essex Passenger Rail Feasibility Study & Corridor Analysis, September 1999

31. Passenger Rail 2000 - Enhancing Vermont’s Passenger Rail Service, 2000

32. Evaluation of Potential Sites for the Relocation of the Burlington and Rutland Railyards, January 2000

33. Middlebury to Florence Calcium Carbonate Ore, Corps of Engineers. Least Environmentally Damaging Practical Alternative Transportation Alternative Analysis, DuBois & King, April 2000.

34. Briefing Document: Burlington Railroad Yard Relocation Funding Options & Feasibility, February 2001

35. Funding Options & Feasibility Report: Burlington Railroad Yard Relocation Funding Options & Feasibility, Feb. 2001

36. Vermont Rail Capital Investment Policy Plan, October 2001

37. Vermont Rail Capital Investment Policy Plan, Bellows Falls Tunnel Study, October 2001

38. Joint Fiscal Office Review of Vermont Rail Link Proposal, November 21, 2001

39. Vermont Western Corridor Study, Final Report, December 1, 2001

40. Rutland Rail Switching Yard Relocation Update, January 2002

*Studies that we are aware of but do not have in the Railroad Association of Vermont library.

-- courtesy Anthony Otis, Railroad Association of Vermont