NY: Amtrak to reduce Rensselaer service, impacting Hudson Valley riders

Starting next month, Amtrak will be losing three daily round trips between the Capital Region and New York City, and travelers heading north to Montreal will face airport-style layovers of 90 minutes or more, according to a leading passenger advocacy group.

The schedule is being reduced due to rehabilitation work planned for the East River Tunnels in New York City. Because of that work, there will be limits on the number of Amtrak passenger trains that can travel back and forth from the maintenance/overnight yards in Queens to the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station Manhattan, said Steve Strauss, executive director of the Empire State Passengers Association.

Strauss said the new schedule is set to begin Nov. 11. And it appears it will have a heavier impact on the Hudson Valley than train services that run to places like Long Island or New Jersey on the Long Island Railroad or NJ Path system.

"Too much of the burden is being placed on the Hudson Valley riders," Strauss said.

Amtrak didn't explicitly post the scheduled changes but announced the project earlier in the year. The passenger association compared posted schedules for this month and November, noticing the changed schedule starts on Nov. 11.

"Amtrak plans to maintain the vast majority of service, with slight schedule changes for Northeast Regional and Acela trains, as well as modifications to some Long Distance and State Supported services," Amtrak spokesman Jason Abrams said.

"Amtrak and the railroad partners are coordinating closely to mitigate service impacts and will provide detailed service information via numerous channels in the coming months," he added.

According to future schedules and reservation systems on the Amtrak website, trains that currently run from Albany to New York City in the early morning, mid-day and evening are being eliminated. The 5:10 a.m. train to New York, a popular train for business travelers heading south for the day, is set to be cut, although there will still be a train set to leave at 5:55 a.m. Strauss' group is calling for Amtrak to rethink the schedule or add more cars to the remaining trains to handle the passenger load from the ones being canceled.

"The new schedule will reduce Amtrak service in the Hudson Valley by three daily round trips, a 23 percent reduction in frequencies, and combine two international trains into one between Albany and New York City forcing passengers on one of the trains to wait in the Senator Joseph Bruno train station in Rensselaer for nearly two hours before continuing their journey," Strauss explained.

Strauss' group noted that the Hudson Valley is one of Amtrak's busiest routes.

"New York's Hudson Valley Amtrak service already sells out every Friday and Sunday and frequently on Thursdays and Saturdays," noted ESPA President Gary Prophet. "It is imperative that Amtrak lengthen the remaining trains as partial mitigation for the frequency reductions," he said.

The other problem will stem from delays on the northbound Adirondack route from Albany/ Rensselaer to Montreal. Passengers on that line from New York City could face 90-minute or longer delays due to the new configuration. Riders coming from the west on the Maple Leaf route also will face delays.

The Adirondack line from Albany to Montreal was shut down last year and for part of this year while workers fixed tracks north of the border in Quebec. Before that, the route was shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are four East River tunnels being rehabilitated sequentially. Some were damaged during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and some have decayed with the passage of time. The work, Amtrak said, is expected to last for three years, although it is unclear how long Amtrak schedules will be impacted.

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