Valley Flyer

TheValley Flyer atSpringfield in 2020
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Operating
Locale	Connecticut andMassachusetts
First service	August 30, 2019
Current operators	Amtrak in partnership withCTDOT andMassDOT
Website	https://valleyflyer.com
Route
Termini	New Haven, Connecticut Greenfield, Massachusetts
Stops	12
Distance travelled	102 miles (164 km)
Average journey time	2 hours, 42-48 minutes[1]
Service frequency	2 daily round trips
Train number	400, 461, 471, 479, 486, 488, 494, 499
On-board services
Class	Coach
Technical
Rolling stock	GE Genesis locomotives,Amfleet coach cars andEx-Metroliner cab cars
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge
Operating speed	Up to 110 mph (180 km/h) (New Haven–Springfield)[2] Up to 79 mph (127 km/h) (Springfield–Greenfield)
Track owners	Amtrak &MassDOT
Route map Show interactive map Legend Vermonter toSt. Albans 102 mi 164 km Greenfield 83 mi 134 km Northampton 72 mi 116 km Holyoke Lake Shore Limited Chicago │Boston 62 mi 100 km Springfield MA CT 47 mi 76 km Windsor Locks 43 mi 69 km Windsor 37 mi 60 km Hartford 26 mi 42 km Berlin 19 mi 31 km Meriden 13 mi 21 km Wallingford Northeast Corridor toBoston 1 mi 2 km New Haven State Street 0mi New Haven Union Station Northeast Corridor toNew York This diagram: view talk edit Show route diagram map

TheValley Flyer is apassenger train operated byAmtrak betweenNew Haven, Connecticut andGreenfield, Massachusetts along Amtrak'sNew Haven–Springfield Line and theMassachusetts Department of Transportation's (MassDOT's)Connecticut River Line.

Valley Flyer trains meetAcela andNortheast Regional services atNew Haven Union Station where passengers can typically make across-platform transfer between trains. Departures on the Valley Flyer are timed to make day trips between theConnecticut River Valley andNew York City possible.^[3]

South of Springfield, theValley Flyer complements theHartford Line commuter rail service operated by theConnecticut Department of Transportation and theAmtrakHartford Line service. North of Springfield, it complements Amtrak'sVermonter, offering travelers in the Valley three daily round trips on the Connecticut River Line.

On June 12, 2018, Massachusetts GovernorCharlie Baker announced that two daily round tripHartford Line trains (then calledNew Haven–Springfield Shuttle) would be extended toGreenfield in 2019 as a pilot program.^[4] By February 2019, the two-year pilot was expected to begin in June 2019; however, by that May it was delayed to later in the year.^[5][6]

On August 30, 2019, theValley Flyer program began with a 5:45 am departure south fromGreenfield.^[7] As a basis for continuing theValley Flyer permanently,MassDOT set a goal of attracting at least 24,000 new riders per year during the pilot program. To this end, the 2020 Massachusetts state budget provided $250,000 to market the program. Thewatsons—a New York-based ad agency that has worked withGrand Central Terminal and CTrides—was contracted in fall 2019 to create the marketing campaign.^[8] From March 30, 2020, to July 26, 2021, one daily round trip was suspended due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[9]

In October 2022, MassDOT and Amtrak announced that theValley Flyer service had matched projected ridership and would be made permanent.^[10]

In the 2021 Vermont Rail Plan,VTrans modeled the potential extension of one dailyValley Flyer round-trip north from Greenfield toWhite River Junction, Vermont, and south from New Haven toWashington. This service would further supplement theVermonter by doubling its frequency at four stations inVermont and one inNew Hampshire. VTrans forecast that this extension would attract an additional 30,500 to 50,200 riders per year by 2040.^[11] VTrans also considered extending a second dailyValley Flyer round-trip north toBrattleboro, but dropped this idea since the station lacks aturning mechanism.^[11]

Two New Haven-Greenfield round-trips are offered on weekdays, with southbound trains in the morning and northbound in the evening. On weekends, one similarly scheduled New Haven-Greenfield round-trip is offered, in addition to a reverse round trip between Springfield and Greenfield.^[12][13]Valley Flyer trains meetAcela Express andNortheast Regional services atNew Haven Union Station where passengers can typically make across-platform transfer between trains. Departures on the Valley Flyer are timed to make day trips between theConnecticut River Valley andNew York City possible.^[14]

Southbound Valley Flyer trains require an equipment move from the crew base and equipment layover yard at Springfield Union Station to the Olver Transit Center in Greenfield prior to the Greenfield departure as Amtrak does not have any crew or turnaround facilities in the area. Likewise, equipment and crews on northbound trips must dead head back to Springfield after unloading all Greenfield passengers. For the weekend Valley Flyer, tickets are available for these moves (trains 400 and 499.) On weekdays, these trips are dead head moves and are not open to passengers. Another unique operational aspect of the Valley Flyer is the need for the push pull trains to reverse directions twice at Springfield during the trip due to the station’s location just to the east of the intersection between the Amtrak Springfield Line, MassDOT Connecticut River Line, and CSX Berkshire Subdivision.^{[citation needed]}

State	Milepost (km)[15]	Location	Station[16]	Connections[17][16][18][19]
Massachusetts	102 mi (164 km)	Greenfield	John W. Olver Transit Center	Amtrak:Vermonter FRTA: 20, 21, 24, 31, 32, 41 Greyhound Lines
	83 mi (134 km)	Northampton	Northampton Union Station	Amtrak:Vermonter PVTA: B48, G73E, R41
	72 mi (116 km)	Holyoke	Holyoke	Amtrak:Vermonter PVTA: R24, R29, T24, X90
	62 mi (100 km)	Springfield	Springfield Union Station	Amtrak:Lake Shore Limited,Northeast Regional,Vermonter,Hartford Line CTrail:Hartford Line PVTA: B4, B6, B7, B7S, B12, B17, G1, G2, G2E, G3, P20, P20E, P21, P21E, R10, R14, X92, LOOP Greyhound Lines,Peter Pan Bus Lines
Connecticut	47.4 mi (76.3 km)	Windsor Locks	Windsor Locks	Amtrak:Northeast Regional, Vermonter, Hartford Line CTrail: Hartford Line
	42.9 mi (69.0 km)	Windsor	Windsor	Amtrak:Northeast Regional, Hartford Line CTrail: Hartford Line
	36.7 mi (59.1 km)	Hartford	Hartford Union Station	Amtrak:Northeast Regional, Vermonter, Hartford Line CTrail: Hartford Line CTfastrak
	26.1 mi (42.0 km)	Berlin	Berlin	Amtrak:Northeast Regional, Hartford Line CTrail: Hartford Line
	18.7 mi (30.1 km)	Meriden	Meriden Transit Center	Amtrak:Northeast Regional, Vermonter, Hartford Line CTrail: Hartford Line
	13.0 mi (20.9 km)	Wallingford	Wallingford	Amtrak:Northeast Regional, Hartford Line CTrail: Hartford Line
	0.6 mi (0.97 km)	New Haven	New Haven State Street	Amtrak:Northeast Regional, Hartford Line CTrail: Hartford Line,Shore Line East Metro-North Railroad:■ New Haven Line
	0 mi (0 km)		New Haven Union Station	Amtrak:Acela,Hartford Line,Northeast Regional,Vermonter CTrail:Hartford Line, Shore Line East Metro-North Railroad:■ New Haven Line Local bus:CTtransit New Haven Intercity bus:Greyhound,Peter Pan

Wikimedia Commons has media related toValley Flyer (Amtrak train).

• Official website
• Valley Flyer | Trains In The Valley

• New Haven–Springfield Line
• Amtrak routes
• Passenger rail transportation in Connecticut
• Passenger rail transportation in Massachusetts
• Railway services introduced in 2019
• 2019 establishments in Connecticut
• 2019 establishments in Massachusetts

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• Use mdy dates from December 2024
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