# Valley Flyer

The Valley Flyer is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between New Haven, Connecticut and Greenfield, Massachusetts along Amtrak's New Haven–Springfield Line and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's (MassDOT's) Connecticut River Line.
Valley Flyer trains meet Acela and Northeast Regional services at New Haven Union Station where passengers can typically make a cross-platform transfer between trains. Departures on the Valley Flyer are timed to make day trips between the Connecticut River Valley and New York City possible.
South of Springfield, the Valley Flyer complements the Hartford Line commuter rail service operated by the Connecticut Department of Transportation and the Amtrak Hartford Line service. North of Springfield, it complements Amtrak's Vermonter, offering travelers in the Valley three daily round trips on the Connecticut River Line.

## History

On June 12, 2018, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced that two daily round trip Amtrak Hartford Line trains (then called New Haven–Springfield Shuttle) would be extended to Greenfield in 2019 as a pilot program. 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.
On August 30, 2019, the Valley Flyer program began with a 5:45 am departure south from Greenfield. As a basis for continuing the Valley 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 with Grand Central Terminal and CTrides—was contracted in fall 2019 to create the marketing campaign. From March 30, 2020, to July 26, 2021, one daily round trip was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In October 2022, MassDOT and Amtrak announced that the Valley Flyer service had matched projected ridership and would be made permanent.

### Proposed extension

In the 2021 Vermont Rail Plan, VTrans modeled the potential extension of one daily Valley Flyer round-trip north from Greenfield to White River Junction, Vermont, and south from New Haven to Washington. This service would further supplement the Vermonter by doubling its frequency at four stations in Vermont and one in New Hampshire. VTrans forecast that this extension would attract an additional 30,500 to 50,200 riders per year by 2040. VTrans also considered extending a second daily Valley Flyer round-trip north to Brattleboro, but dropped this idea since the station lacks a turning mechanism.

## Service

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. Valley Flyer trains meet Acela Express and Northeast Regional services at New Haven Union Station where passengers can typically make a cross-platform transfer between trains. Departures on the Valley Flyer are timed to make day trips between the Connecticut River Valley and New York City possible.

## Stations

| State | Milepost (km) | Location | Station | Connections |
| Massachusetts | 102 mi (164 km) | Greenfield | John W. Olver Transit Center | Amtrak: Vermonter FRTA: 20, 21, 24, 31, 32, 41 Greyhound Lines |
| Massachusetts | 83 mi (134 km) | Northampton | Northampton Union Station | Amtrak: Vermonter PVTA: B48, G73E, R41 |
| Massachusetts | 72 mi (116 km) | Holyoke | Holyoke | Amtrak: Vermonter PVTA: R24, R29, T24, X90 |
| Massachusetts | 62 mi (100 km) | Springfield | Springfield Union Station | Amtrak: Lake Shore Limited, Northeast Regional, Vermonter, Amtrak 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 |
| Connecticut | 42.9 mi (69.0 km) | Windsor | Windsor | Amtrak: Northeast Regional, Hartford Line CTrail: Hartford Line |
| Connecticut | 36.7 mi (59.1 km) | Hartford | Hartford Union Station | Amtrak: Northeast Regional, Vermonter, Hartford Line CTrail: Hartford Line CTfastrak |
| Connecticut | 26.1 mi (42.0 km) | Berlin | Berlin | Amtrak: Northeast Regional, Hartford Line CTrail: Hartford Line |
| Connecticut | 18.7 mi (30.1 km) | Meriden | Meriden Transit Center | Amtrak: Northeast Regional, Vermonter, Hartford Line CTrail: Hartford Line |
| Connecticut | 13.0 mi (20.9 km) | Wallingford | Wallingford | Amtrak: Northeast Regional, Hartford Line CTrail: Hartford Line |
| Connecticut | 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 |
| Connecticut | 0 mi (0 km) | New Haven | 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 |