Union Station (Burlington, Vermont)

Union Depot, circa 1910

The former Burlington Union Depot opened in 1867 near what is now the northwest corner of the College Street and Lake streets. The depot served as the passenger station for the Vermont Central and Vermont and Canada railroads'.[2]

The structure was built of brick on a granite foundation. It was 204 feet long from south to north and 88 feet wide which allowed it to straddle three north-south tracks. The train shed was open at the north and south ends, with walls 27 feet high, an arched roof, and tall, narrow, arched windows. Each of the four corners featured a 2-story, 11-foot square tower, for storage and ornamentation.[2]

The former site of Union Depot is now taken up by part of the lawn at waterfront park, the Island Line Trail for biking and walking, the current train track, the red-roofed information building for tourists, and part of a parking lot for Main Street Landing.[2]

Union Station, circa 1920

Burlington Union Station opened on January 23, 1916.[2] The building was built by the Central Vermont Railway and the Rutland Railroad at the cost of between $150,000 – $200,000, including $15,000 from the City Of Burlington, and was designed by New York architect Alfred Fellheimer with Charles Schultz as supervising architect. The W. Shelton Swallow Company of New York was the general contractor.[3]

Union Station is built of tan-colored brick, and limestone trim. The underlying structure is steel and reinforced concrete. Vermont marble was used extensively inside. Contrasting with the romantic, heavier-looking, darker brick depot, its style is fairly simple, very symmetrical Beaux Arts. The three-bay, central entry is topped by a low-pitched pediment, with five-bay wings on either side. Pilasters define each bay.[2]

The interior of the station circa 1920

From the street, passengers entered through the eastern doors directly into the 30-foot-by-75-foot main waiting room. The tracks were on the west, at the first floor level. An enclosed bridge projected west from the building. From there, staircases led down to the tracks, so that passengers would not have to walk across them. Two long shelters ran between the train tracks, over the platforms.[2]

Union Station served rail travelers for less than 40 years, mainly on the Rutland Railroad's Green Mountain Flyer and the night train counterpart Mount Royal. The station was closed in 1953 when, due to a strike, the Rutland Railroad closed its passenger operations.[2][4]

In 1955, Green Mountain Power Corporation transformed the building into office space.[2]

Between 2000 and 2003 the remaining platform behind the former station was the terminus of the Champlain Flyer commuter rail route that was operated between Charlotte and Burlington.[5] The train however, never attracted the ridership that was hoped for and, in 2002, it was threatened to be cut from the state budget.[6] Governor Jim Douglas decided that the train was not viable, and the last train ran on February 28, 2003.[7]

The platform behind Union Station currently serves as a terminus for the Champlain Valley Flyer, a scheduled excursion train that is operated by the Green Mountain Railroad.

Efforts are underway to extend Amtrak's Ethan Allen Express service from Rutland to Burlington by 2020.[5]