Amtrak and the State of Vermont have worked out a proposal to keep rail service in Vermont for at least one more year.
If everything works out as planned, White River Junction, Vt. will continue to be the closest rail stop for Dartmouth students.
"It's not a done deal," said Stephanie Carter, the spokeswoman for Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's office. "But we hope to have a done deal."
Amtrak spokesman Rick Remington told the Associated Press that "there are some numbers that we still need to work out in terms of the revenue that would be generated."
According to the AP, Vermont will put up $581,000 and Amtrak will continue running a daily train to and from Washington D.C.
"The new rail service will start April 2," said Glenn Gershaneck, Vermont's deputy transportation secretary.
Because of revenue loss, the service will no longer extend up to Montreal and the name of the line will no longer be called the Montrealer, Gershaneck said. He said extending the route to Montreal is not under negotiation at this time.
People traveling to Canada through Vermont will have to ride to St. Albans, Vt., then take a bus farther north.
Gershaneck said the $581,000 will pay for a yearlong test, and the aim of the project is to see if the new Vermont line will make enough money to provide for its own maintenance and operation.
"We'll only do it for a year if it doesn't pay for itself," Gershaneck said. He said the train line could be extended to Montreal if this trial year is successful.
The average ticket price will increase by $5, Gershaneck said.
According to the AP, the $5 ticket hike and Vermont's contribution should cover the nearly $1 million gap between the cost of running the train and its expected earnings.
Carter said Amtrak calculated the expected earnings after considering the 77,000 passengers who currently ride Vermont's trains and hopes to earn $400,000.
Gershaneck said one of the factors that led to Vermont's cash contribution was that fact that the track line will become unusable after a year without maintenance by the locomotive industry.
Vermont's Department of Transportation plans to carry out a full-scale promotion to encourage people to take advantage of the rail system, Gershaneck said.
He said he hopes to work with travel and tourist industries in Vermont and Massachusetts.
Gershaneck said he regretted that night trains would no longer run.
He said people in Hanover would be well enough served by the day route, which would stop in White River Junction at approximately 2:20 p.m. daily.
