The Vermonter: My Complete Guide to Amtrak’s DC to Vermont Route

Long before the Ethan Allen Express extended to Burlington, there was the Vermonter Amtrak route: one of Amtrak’s workhorse routes connecting Washington D.C. through New York, Hartford, Springfield all the way to St. Albans, Vermont.

I’ve taken this train dozens of times. I even took it 9 hours from New York to Vermont before the Ethan Allen Express train extended to Burlington.

(If you’re looking for the best New York to Burlington train, take that one, and read my article about it.)

The Best NYC to Burlington Option: My Amtrak Ethan Allen Express Review

These days, I mostly take it from Hartford or Springfield to the Essex Junction station, since my girlfriend’s parents live in the Hartford area.

Unlike the Ethan Allen Express, which is perfect for New York to Burlington trips, the Vermonter shines for specific route combinations: New York to Brattleboro or Central Vermont, Hartford to Vermont, or Washington D.C. to Connecticut. It’s the train that connects the Northeast Corridor with the I-91 –> I-89 route.

BOOKING EXPERIENCE: KNOW YOUR STATION

Amtrak’s website isn’t great. When you book your ticket, make sure you select the right station.

The name of the station may not be the actual town you’re going to. For example, the Vermonter doesn’t stop in Burlington (BTN), it stops in Essex Junction (ESX). Essex is close by, but if you type in “Burlington” this stop won’t come up. Or maybe it will come up, but it’ll ask you to take a ridiculous transfer that makes no sense. Don’t accidentally select bus stations or airports with similar names.

Similarly, the “Waterbury-Stowe” stop is in Waterbury’s town center. You’ll have to drive to Stowe from there. You’ll want to type in “WAB” if you’re headed to Stowe.

If your station isn’t coming up, do a quick Google Search to find the three-letter code.

From there, booking is straightforward. It’s nice that the price they show is the full price, taxes and everything included.

I Recommend Booking Somewhere With a Real Station

Of course, this depends on where you’re leaving from. But many stations along this route are not stations. They are just platforms.

For example, I’ve made the mistake of booking the Windsor Locks station in the winter, only for the train to be delayed, and we were sitting in the cold for an hour.

Instead, we should have either gone to the Hartford or Springfield stations, which are both real stations. The Springfield station has recently been remodeled and is one of the nicest on this route. It has a Dunkin and other things too.

Of course, New York’s Moynihan Train Hall is great too, with ticketed waiting rooms, food, and all of that.

If you can get to one of the main city stops, especially if it’s winter, I highly recommend that.

Get The App

Once you’ve booked, get the app. It has a QR code for your ticket, and it’s where you’ll receive delay notifications, which are common for this route.

SEATS + COMFORT:

While Amtrak is slow as hell, it’s very comfortable. You’ll have tons of legroom, big tray tables, and a decent recline.

AMPLE LEG ROOM AND WIDE SEATS

Coach seats on Amtrak aren’t assigned, so you can sit wherever you want.

If you’re getting on North of New Haven, I can almost guarantee you’ll have your own seat, unless you’re traveling around a holiday. Anywhere before that, you may not, because from New Haven to D.C is a busy route.

If you board south of Connecticut and don’t get your own seat, check once you pass New Haven.

OUTLETS

There are two outlets on the window seat. However, sometimes they’re spaced out weird, so check your seat beforehand if you can.

The outlets are reliable, which is a huge plus to Amtrak over flying in general.

BAGGAGE POLICY

You can basically bring as much luggage as you have. I would say if you can carry it yourself, nobody is going to ask any questions.

Technically, you’re allowed two full-size luggage bags, and there is a ton of overhead space.

WIFI: A Weakness of the Vermonter

All Amtrak wifi is a tricky discussion. From New York to DC, it’s great. That’s because Amtrak’s wifi is dependent on Verizon service. Because this train goes through many rural areas, the service, and therefore the wifi, is bad.

North of Brattleboro, expect spotty-to-nonexistent wifi service. The train travels through some genuinely remote areas where even cell towers are sparse.

Your phone’s hotspot might work better than the train’s wifi, but even that’s unreliable in Vermont’s mountains and valleys. Plan accordingly.

THE VIEWS: ONE OF AMTRAK’S MOST SCENIC ROUTES

If the wifi is a casualty of the rural route, the incredible views are a strength. Whether it’s the leaves in the fall or the snow in the winter, the Amtrak Vermonter provides some stunning views.

Head to the cafe car for a few minutes and soak it in.

THE ROUTE: SLOW AND OFTEN DELAYED

This is where the Vermonter shows its age and route challenges. The New York to Essex Junction journey takes 8 hours and 41 minutes, over an hour longer than the Ethan Allen Express to Burlington.

The speed varies dramatically by section:

• DC to New York: Fast Northeast Corridor speeds
• New York to Hartford: Decent pace through Connecticut
• Hartford to Vermont: Significantly slower on older track

Much like the Ethan Allen Express, the Vermont portion is the slowest, using freight rail infrastructure that’s been adapted for passenger service.

Why This Route is Often Delayed

In general, there are two reasons why Amtrak has frequent delays:

1. It shares track with freight rails. On most of its route, including much of this route, the freight train companies own the tracks, and Amtrak pays to use them. This means if a freight train is coming, it has the right-of-way over Amtrak in many instances
2. Amtrak’s infrastructure is crumbling. Congress refuses to invest in repairing Amtrak’s infrastructure, whether that’s repairing key bridges between New York and D.C. or purchasing new sets of train cars to replace the ones that are half a century old and often need repairs. That’s the short of it. Like all other countries with good passenger rail, we would have to invest more in it, just as we invest heavily in highways and airport infrastructure.

Amtrak Vermonter On-Time Performance: Bad

Sadly, this route is late a lot. For example, in May, as I write this article, it arrived late into Essex Junction almost every day, with a median delay of 16 minutes and an average delay of 27 minutes. Three times in the month of May it arrived more than an hour late.

FREQUENCY: ONLY 1 TRAIN PER DAY (EACH DIRECTION)

Like its sister route the Ethan Allen Express, the Vermonter runs just once daily in each direction. The train is slower on weekends, due to, I assume, scheduled maintenance.

• Northbound: Leaves Washington D.C. at 8:10am on weekdays and 7:30 am on weekends, arrives St. Albans at 8:50pm (in theory.)
• Southbound: Leaves St. Albans at 9:15am, arrives Washington D.C. at 10:12pm on weekdays and 10:31pm on weekends.

You can see Amtrak’s official timetable here for the Vermonter.

Don’t miss your train. Otherwise, you’re waiting until tomorrow.

AMTRAK VERMONTER VS OTHER OPTIONS: WHEN IT MAKES SENSE

The Vermonter excels for specific route combinations. The full New York to Burlington route is better served by the Ethan Allen Express.

PERFECT FOR:

• Connecticut to Vermont connections: Hartford to Vermont is slow on the train, but it’s beautiful and car-free.
• Washington D.C. to New England: Better than flying or driving through one of the most congested corridors in the world.
• New York to Brattleboro: Much more convenient than flying to Boston and the timing is competitive with driving.

TIMING COMPARISON

When comparing the train to driving or flying, I always say that you have to factor in the full time.

If you’re thinking about flying, remember that you’ve gotta get there early enough to get through security, and the airports are usually further from city centers.

That’s why the train from D.C. to New York makes way more sense than flying. This train route will often make more sense if it’s serving a town you live near. For example, towns like Brattleboro, White River Junction, and Stowe don’t have airports anywhere near them.

As for the train time versus driving, even with traffic, north of Connecticut, this train is going to be slower. For my typical Hartford to Essex Junction trip, the train takes about 4.5 hours. Driving is roughly 3 hours without traffic

But I still prefer the train because I get the time back. I don’t have to drive. I can read, I can write, I can hang out in the cafe car.

With that said, the train is still the slow route in most cases.

For my typical Hartford to Essex Junction trip, the train takes about 4.5 hours. Driving is roughly 3 hours without traffic, but Connecticut’s I-91 traffic can easily add 1-2 hours, especially around Hartford and New Haven.

COST COMPARISON: BOOK YOUR TRAIN EARLY

Amtrak has adopted the “dynamic pricing” model of the airlines. This means, depending on demand, prices can get expensive. This makes it important to book well in advance. Usually, my ticket from Connecticut to Vermont is less than $50, which is a good deal, a better deal than driving if you’re going alone.

But if you look last-minute, that train price can escalate to $100. This is especially true if you’re south of Springfield. I mention the Vermonter as an option to get from New York to Hartford car-free, but only if you book early.

With flying, you have to factor in the costs of getting to and from airports, which are usually farther.

Why I Take Amtrak Instead of Flying (Most of The Time)

ENVIRONMENTAL COMPARISON: AMTRAK WINS

Short flights are terrible for the environment, since take-off and landing use the most amount of jet fuel.

Of course, we know cars are a problem too, and the simple math of how many people a train moves compared to a car make it clearly the best environmental choice.

Yes, the route runs on diesel north of New Haven. So it’s not electric the whole way. However, the math of how many people on it makes it a win. Plus, by supporting Amtrak, we’re helping them invest in things like electrification and better service, which ultimately we need to do if we want the transportation sector to play its role in averting the worst of climate devastation.

THE CAFE CAR: Grab a Coffee or a Snack

The cafe car is one of my favorite parts of any Amtrak ride. I love going to get a coffee and maybe some of Amtrak’s mediocre but sometimes crave-worthy food, and sitting in the cafe car.

The food on the Amtrak reminds me of the food available at a minor league baseball game: pre-cooked burgers and sandwiches that may hit the spot, or may disappoint you.

In Coach Class, you can only sit in the cafe car while you eat.

If you’re in Business, you can hang out there.

(And if you want to know how to get Business Class for a discount, check out my article with tips for Amtrak’s BidUp system.)

THE MONTREAL CONNECTION: A DREAM DEFERRED

That’s my review. Now it’s time for the lore.

This train used to continue all the way to Montreal, connecting the U.S. Northeast with Canada’s second-largest city.

From 1995 to 2014, you could board in Washington D.C. and ride straight through to Montreal.

But the service ended due to a variety of factors:

• Track issues north of St. Albans. Especially on the Canadian side, where the U.S. government obviously had no jurisdiction to invest in
• The inconvenience of the border crossing. Unlike Europe’s Eurostar train, which has facilities in London and Paris that can handle passport and border control like an airport would, the U.S. and Canada have no such facilities to do these checks. That means passengers all had to get off and go through a passport check at the border. I’ve done this on a Greyhound bus, and it’s a big unnecessary delay.
• Political support: Lack of consistent funding commitment from both U.S. and Canadian governments. Like all U.S. passenger rail travel, it comes down to political will.

The route makes so much sense. Vermont’s largest county (containing Burlington) and Montreal have lots of interconnected business, touristic, and cultural relationships that lead us all to frequently cross the border. The demand is there.

RECENT IMPROVEMENTS: STEADY BUT SLOW PROGRESS

This trip, if you can believe it or not, used to be slower.

That’s mostly thanks to the state of Connecticut, which has invested in track improvements between New Haven and Springfield. Connecticut has expanded its Springfield to New Haven commuter rail. The Vermonter runs on the same tracks.

Tell Your State to Support Rail

The next four years, the federal regime will keep trying to kill passenger rail. They’ve already attempted to withdraw funding from both Texas and California’s high-speed rail projects.

Amtrak succeeds when states invest in it. Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts all contribute funding because they recognize the economic benefits, the public service it provides, and the environmental necessity. (New Hampshire does not, which is why you’re unlikely to see a Boston to Burlington train in your lifetime.)

When Amtrak routes exist, people visit those places more. That brings money to these states’ economies. It also means that those who can’t drive or fly have another option.

For example, it means those with little kids or pets have an easier option, or those who can’t drive due to a disability or age (both young and old.)

This is exactly the type of medium-distance route where passenger rail excels: too long to drive comfortably, too short for flying to make sense, but perfect for a relaxing train ride.

QUESTIONS? LET ME KNOW

Drop your questions in the comments below. Whether you’re planning your first Vermonter trip or wondering about specific stations and connections, I’m happy to help based on my extensive experience with this route.