(rshsdepot) Rutland, VT

["Jim Dent" <james.dent_@_itochu.com>]

=46rom the Rutland Herald...

It=92s lonely at the train station
June 28, 2001

(from the Front Page section)
By BRENT CURTIS Herald Staff

As an Amtrak ticket agent, Walter Clarke=92s work day is supposed to run =
by
the clock.

But Clarke, one of two ticket agents at the Rutland train station, said
Wednesday he spends a lot of time watching his watch.

=93It=92s hard to tell we=92re open sometimes, but you can=92t do a hell =
of a lot,=94
he said, standing in the vacant lobby of the 2,100-square-foot station
shortly before noon Wednesday.

Clarke said he expected to spend much of his remaining 10-hour shift alon=
e.

Opened two years ago thanks to $700,000 in federal funds, the brick stati=
on
offers rail travelers air-conditioned comfort, wall-to-wall brochures and=
 a
front-window view that looks out onto downtown Rutland.

The facility is open to travelers seven days a week, 10 hours a day.

But most of the time, there=92s no one around to appreciate it.

=93It=92s a really a nice station,=94 Clarke said, looking up at the cath=
edral
ceiling topped with a skylight that allows sunshine to filter inside. =93=
In
the winter, it gets pretty crowded. Right now, it=92s quiet though.=94

Shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday, the pace picked up as about a dozen peop=
le
arrived to board the 1:05 p.m. train heading west. Several travelers aske=
d
for tickets, which Clarke had to fill out by hand because he doesn=92t ha=
ve a
ticket machine.

The absence of a machine makes it impossible for customers to wire their
tickets to the terminal in advance. Providing refunds or making changes t=
o
pre-paid tickets also can=92t be done from the Rutland station.

=93If we had a ticket office, we would have a full-fledged station,=94 Cl=
arke
said. =93I=92ve been here a year and a half and they keep saying we=92ll =
be
getting one.=94

When remains unclear.

Despite the station=92s shortcomings, Amtrak officials said about 22,500
people boarded and disembarked there last year.

It=92s those numbers that local business and city officials said make the
facility a worthwhile investment.

The hope is that one day it will also be a moneymaking operation, or at
least a self-sustaining one.

City officials included $15,000 in their recent budget to pay station
maintenance for the coming year. That covers cleaning, heating, lighting =
and
plowing the parking lot in front of the station.

Those expenses exceed the $9,378 in revenue the city will collect in leas=
e
payments from Amtrak.

During hearings on the budget last week, Alderman Kevin Jones said he was
concerned about the deficit expense. Station maintenance costs were hande=
d
over to the city by the Rutland Redevelopment Authority this year, and Jo=
nes
said he feared the deficit would continue as long as the expense was hidd=
en
in the city=92s general budget.

He said Wednesday that he had hoped the RRA, which helped plan and build =
the
station, would keep the station in their budget until it paid for itself.

=93I think it=92s a great resource, but one with huge room for improvemen=
t,=94
Jones said. =93I just think (the RRA) is in a much better position than t=
he
city to find ways to make extra revenues there.=94

Matthew Sternberg, RRA executive director, said his group had thought abo=
ut
ways to make more money at the station, but he said most of the ideas nee=
ded
time and an expanded rail system to work.

=93We=92ve had our eyes open from the beginning for opportunities,=94 he =
said.
=93The building is specifically designed to handle kiosks that could hand=
le
car rental agencies, coffee shops and the like.=94

But those businesses need the guarantee of a customer base if they move i=
n,
and right now, the number of travelers passing through isn=92t enough, he
said.

Sternberg said he hoped plans to run a train from Rutland to Burlington
would increase the number of people using the station.

------------------------------