A long-awaited reroute of Amtrak's Vermonter will commence on Dec. 29, 2014, as the nation's intercity passenger carrier begins serving Greenfield and Northampton, Mass. on a more direct route along the so-called "Knowledge Corridor" stretching from New Haven, Conn., to St. Albans, Vt.
Amtrak said Friday, Dec. 12, it also will begin service Hoyoke, Mass., sometime in 2015 when station work there is completed.
The reroute follows efforts to upgrade right-of-way owned by Pan Am Southern Railway, funded in large measure by the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Since 1989 Amtrak's Vermonter has traveled in a northbound detour east from Springfield, Mass., adding to trip times to and from Vermont points (as well as Claremont, N.H.). South of New Haven, Amtrak's Vermonter serves points on the railroad's Northeast Corridor, to and from its southern terminus in Washington, D.C.
Last March the Vermont Agency of Transportation authorized increased top speeds from 59 mph to 79 mph on portions of the Vermonter route traversing New England Central trackage.