At Tuesday's meeting of the Vermont Rail Advisory Council (VRAC), VTrans revealed that the Douglas administration had put up a new hurdle in the state's race to purchase new Amtrak cars. The state-of-the art train sets -- lighter cars with smaller engines -- will save fuel and double the departures each day on the Vermonter route, which runs from St. Albans to Brattleboro and on to New York and Washington.

Last year, the legislature authorized the purchase of the new trains, which have not been used in the US yet. Amtrak was so eager to see these new trains in service that it was prepared to contribute money toward their purchase and postpone future increased charges to Vermont for running the train.

Unfortunately, the Attorney General and Treasurer nixed the deal. The legislation contained a "highly unusual" clause, directing that the Treasurer and the Attorney General must be satisfied that the manufacturer could sufficiently guarantee that it could buy back the cars at 90 percent of cost after three years. The AG and Treasurer weren't sure that the young company, Colorado Railcar, would be financially capable of the repurchase in three years, so the deal fell through.

The legislature took a crack at it again this year, with only the Treasurer in the review loop and less strict language about his assignment. Sam Lewis, Director of Operations at the Agency of Transportation, reported to the Vermont Rail Advisory Council on Tuesday that the project's fate is once again uncertain. Because the legislature also passed other bills requiring bonding, the state's Debt Affordability Committee is now scheduled to review the Amtrak purchase before the state moves ahead with it. The committee doesn't meet until the fall.

Members of VRAC were outraged that this long-delayed project would be delayed yet again.

State Rep. Albert "Sonny" Audette (D-South Burlington) is a VRAC member and on the House Transportation Committee, and he said that the legislature was never told the review was going to happen. They were led to believe that the new Amtrak cars were "a done thing, and now all of a sudden we're hearing they're not."

One of the VRAC members asked Lewis whether this further delay jeopardized Amtrak's offer of funding assistance. Lewis replied carefully, "The folks at Amtrak are concerned that this purchase be done as soon as possible."

Other VRAC members pointed out that we're already entering the summer travel season, and new trains are needed. At the rate the Douglas administration is moving, they will not even decide whether to buy the trains until leaf peepers are driving into Vermont.

The decision to subject the Amtrak purchase to Debt Affordability Committee review was made by Secretary of Administration Mike Smith and Secretary of Transportation Neale Lunderville, according to Lewis. Lewis explained that the Debt Affordability Committee is charged with ensuring that the state's borrowing does not put it over the limit that would endanger its AAA bond rating.

VRAC passed a resolution 9-1 to ask the Debt Affordability Committee to meet as soon as possible and expressing their concern that the new trains be purchased expeditiously.

Oil and gas prices keep climbing, Vermonters are choosing already between gas and food, and the state can't even move in a timely manner to buy a couple of train sets whose financial and environmental benefits everyone agrees on. The Douglas administration also prematurely killed the Champlain Flyer, before the Route 7 roadwork started that was calculated to send droves of erstwhile drivers to the rails. What does the Douglas Administration have against trains?

UPDATE: It's worth mentioning that VRAC members were already upset with the legislature and governor when they found out earlier that the special $10 million transportation bond, part of an economic stimulus package, includes no money for rails or rail bridges. And it now sounds like the new Amtrak trains will be competing with the $10 million bond for approval when the Debt Affordability Committee deliberates.

UPDATE 2: A new twist on the story.