Green Mountain Railroad Will Require Extensive Repairs After Vermont Flooding

Vermont Rail System

LUDLOW, Vt. – The Green Mountain Railroad and the New England Central Railroad experienced moderate to severe damage after Vermont experienced historic flooding.

Excessive rainfall has caused dangerous flooding in Vermont earlier this month. Fox Weather reported the damage the flooding has left, notably where 100 yards of track were left suspended in mid-air. 

According to Boston.com, “Vermont Rail System confirmed that video from the scene shows a washout on the Green Mountain Railroad, a freight line connecting Rutland and Bellows Falls in Vermont.” Service is suspended as repairs are obviously needed on this section.

And in terms of railroad operations, it appears freight operations will not resume for at least a few more weeks, according to Seven Days. Passenger operations, namely Amtrak’s passenger trains, resumed operations only last weekend between Burlington and New York City.

New England Central Railroad experienced some damage with “about 200 to 250 feet of tracks . . . damaged, washed out, or underwater.” However, Vermont Rail System’s Green Mountain Railroad saw “pretty major damage”, David Wulfson, CEO and co-owner of Vermont Rail System, told Seven Days. Hoping to resume operations in two or three weeks in that area, Green Mountain Railroad tracks in East Wallingford saw a “large slope failure” that is apparently worsening every day.

For East Wallingford, Wulfson commented that “the hillside will have to be rebuilt from the bottom up, with rock that is trucked in rather than delivered by rail, since the tracks to the east and west are still impassable.” 

The line between Montpelier and Barre is “toast” with “some huge damage up there” as two locomotives were found “submerged in five feet of floodwater, up to their motors.” 

With all of the damage throughout Ludlow, news of repairs and other maintenance work is still ongoing.