April McCullum

Free Press Staff Writer

MONTPELIER - Amtrak's Vermonter train could resume passenger service to Montreal within three years, lawmakers were told Tuesday morning.

“The stars are aligned, and I think we are going to go as fast as we possibly can,” said Brian Searles, Vermont's former transportation secretary who now works as a consultant on the cross-border train project.

The Vermonter brought passengers to Montreal from 1972 to 1995, when the service was suspended due to long labor- and security-related delays at the border. The train currently runs from Washington, D.C. to St. Albans.

Officials on both sides of the border are hoping to create a security clearance facility at Central Station in Montreal to make the route viable again. The security facility would also expedite border crossings for the Adirondack train that runs between New York City and Montreal.

The project depends on the success of pending legislation in Congress and the Canadian Parliament, Searles said.

"We think everybody is poised and ready for passage of this legislation," Searles said, noting that Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has led the bill in Congress.

With legislative approval in hand, a "highly speculative" timeline would require 12 months of planning and permitting and 24 months of construction, for a total of three years, Searles said.

Members of the House Transportation Committee chuckled at the optimistic estimate, but Searles listed reasons for hope.

He said Amtrak would schedule four trains through Montreal daily, or one round trip each for the Vermonter and the Adirondack.

This article was first published online Tuesday, March 29, 2016. Contact April Burbank at 802-660-1863 or aburbank@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AprilBurbank