Rutland Herald
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Bellows Falls buses to stop at train station

BELLOWS FALLS — For more than 70 years, Vermont Transit buses have
stopped five times a day in the center village square of Bellows Falls.

That tradition ends today, but town and state officials are hopeful a
new tradition will replace it.

Pickup and drop-off for the interstate bus service will move over to
the Bellows Falls train station on Depot Street, joining the Connecticut
River Transit bus system, Amtrak passenger trains and the Green
Mountain Railroad.

"The buses have been going there since 1932 or maybe 1933," said Chris
Andreasson, the general manager of Vermont Transit. "For years, we've
been selling tickets out of the Fletcher's store there. They were our
first ticket agent in the state."

Since then, Fletcher's has closed down. The store's replacement,
Mandy's Market, shut down in December. Local and state officials began
looking for a replacement agent that would keep the bus service in Bellows
Falls and in the downtown.

Deb Murphy, the manager of passenger service for the Vermont Rail
System, said Green Mountain Railroad and Vermont Transit make a nice fit at
the train station. Placing all the transportation entities in one
location just makes sense, she said.

"We're all a good match," Murphy said.

Rockingham Development Director Richard Ewald hopes the consolidation
of the train and bus services in one location is the first step toward
Rockingham's long-awaited multimodal project.

Federal grants are available to help the project, he said, which would
renovate the existing historical train station.

"We just need to find the required match," he said.

Rockingham Select Board Chairman Thomas MacPhee said Wednesday that the
town has already put $100,000 toward matching federal funds for the
project. But there is no room in the 2007 budget, which the board is
working on now, for the additional $100,000 necessary for the match.

"We can't put it into the budget this year," MacPhee said. "We're
taking a hard hit to our bottom line and are now going through the new
budget department by department."

Ewald said he hopes the project can begin soon. Creating a
transportation hub at the train station, which has a wealth of available parking
and is located near the town's Waypoint tourist and information center,
will spur economic development.

"This would be a great economic and community development for the
town," he said.

The renovations that would come with the federal project would be very
welcome, although there are already a number of changes coming soon to
the train station, Murphy said. The gift shop space and waiting areas
may be adjusted and wireless Internet access added for customers, she
explained.

But Andreasson said he's very pleased with the feel of the interior of
the historic building, including the stained-glass windows on the
ceiling.

"I had driven by the place tons of times, but never stopped in," he
said. "I was really blown away by what I saw inside."