State panel, county delegation speak against Amtrak bus service
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By STEPHANIE M. PETERS Herald Staff - Published: January 10, 2009
Opposition to the state's proposal to cut Amtrak's Ethan Allen Express passenger rail in favor of bus service is percolating.
On Friday, both the Rutland County legislative delegation and the Vermont Rail Council, an advisory committee to the governor and the Agency of Transportation, voted overwhelmingly to voice to the full legislature their support for the continuation of the service.
While the delegation plans to draft, sign and seek support from other legislators for a resolution to protect the Ethan Allen, the rail council has asked its chairman and VTrans' rail program manager, Rob Ide, to make its opinion known when he testifies before the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday morning.
In attendance at both meetings Friday was Tom Donahue, executive director of the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce, who has been the most vocal supporter of the western corridor of the state's only passenger rail service since it was announced in December that it could be facing elimination as part of the state's efforts to trim about $60 million from the current year's budget. The proposed service swap would annually save VTrans about $1.5 million, according to John Zicconi, a spokesman for the agency.
While Donahue said he was encouraged by the latest show of support, he said, "I think we still have to make (our message) clear to the legislative body considering it next week. In other words, I don't think it's a given that this is off the table.
"I think we need to go in there to explain our points and the concerns we have with the agency's proposal and let them make an educated decision," he said. Donahue said that he will attend and speak at any legislative meeting that is set to address the issue.
On Friday, he pointed out to the delegation that there are still a number of points in VTrans' proposal that need clarifying, including where exactly the suggested $1.5 million in savings comes from and how the state plans to make up the capacity of a train, estimated to be about 250, with premier coach bus service that averages about 50 seats.
Rep. Robert Helm, the Republican from Fair Haven who this week assumed the chairmanship of the county's delegation, said his fellow Rutland County legislators were also troubled by these and other questions and spent nearly an hour Friday morning discussing what action the group wanted to take.
"I guess (the switch) is supposed to save $1.5 million, however we still have an unknown bus cost and in the end we don't know how much money, if anything, it will save," said Helm. In addition to Rutland City's well-known opposition to the plan, Helm said that members of Killington's and Castleton's communities are particularly concerned about the loss of passenger rail service.
The delegation also plans to work next week on a letter to the congressional delegation asking if they can find a way to provide some sort of federal assistance for the subsidy the state pays to Amtrak, he said. Meanwhile, Donahue said he will work on providing the delegation with some language for resolution by the time both the House and Senate Transportation Committees are set to meet next week.
In Williston, the Vermont Rail Council also met for a special meeting requested by David Allaire, a member of the council and president of Rutland City's Board of Aldermen.
Allaire requested the meeting because the rail council had yet to come out with a position on the plan. The last time the council met, in December, it was assured that the Ethan Allen was not in danger only to read in news reports later the same day that it could be a victim of budget cuts.
"We are an advisory council, but I think (the state and Legislature) take those recommendations seriously," he said.
The committee voted 9-1 not to support the plan, Allaire said. Abstaining from the vote was the chairman, Ide, who is set to explain VTrans' proposal before the Senate Transportation Committee next week. The council asked him to also explain its motion and the discussion held during the meeting, which Allaire said he is confident Ide will do.
"He is an agency employee, but he's also a former member of the Legislature and I think he understands the process and understands the importance of the advisory council and the weight that its recommendation would hold."
Also taking up the Ethan Allen's cause is the Vermont Rail Action Network, a fairly new, statewide grass-roots network of rail advocates that is working to promote the revitalization of Vermont's rail network. It organizes largely through its Web site, railvermont.org. Its executive director, Christopher Parker, was also in attendance at the Vermont Rail Council's meeting and said its membership, which numbers about 2,000 already, is working to contact legislators throughout the state and write letters to publications.
"A bus is not a train," Parker said Friday. "I ride buses, I support buses, but the fact is the public doesn't. It's been poisoned about what a bus is by Greyhound."
Parker, like Allaire and Donahue, said he believes if passenger rail service along the western corridor ceases, it's unlikely to be reinstated despite VTrans' contention that the switch to an Amtrak bus would only be temporary.
Contact Stephanie M. Peters at stephanie.peters@rutlandherald.com.