Burlington, Vermont's Union Station is a 1915 Landmark and still exists at the foot of Main Street, a marker at the station says long-distance trains stopped coming to Burlington in the mid-1950s. The station is a two story bluff-brick, Beaux Arts Style Building and is now part of Main Street Landing, a small office complex. A single overgrown by weeds train track still exists below the station, right along Lake Champlain where the tracks historically were (with an overpass for boarding down to them from the station). There is even a low-level platform to the side of the Bike Path that follows the track with a simple green canopy and tactile warning strip along the track. This platform was built for the Champlain Flyer, a short-lived commuter rail service from 2000 to 2003 south to Shelburne and Charlotte, Vermont (mainly to alleviate traffic congestion due to construction on US-7). Summer tourism service has operated since then by the Champlain Valley Flyer along the same route and last ran a full schedule during the 2010 season. Only fireworks service was operated in 2012. It is the proposed terminus of an extended Amtrak Ethan Allen Express up to Burlington.
Intercity Amtrak service is available about ten miles away both each direction from the station: By road (with public bus connections Monday to Friday and Saturday mornings) the Vermonter stops in Essex Junction east of Burlington. By a ten mile, hour ferry boat ride the Adirondack stops in Port Kent, New York from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The ferry dock is just beyond the station's former platform.
The headquarters of the Vermont Rail System are located just two blocks down the bike path from Historic Union Station. Their headquarters in a simple modern wooden building along with their yard, roundhouse with a turnable along with various locomotives and other freight cars are clearly visible from the bike path.
All Photos taken on 15 August, 2012
