NEW YORK – Amtrak will operate two additional round trips between New York and Albany/Rensselaer, N.Y., beginning Dec. 5. The new departures will bring the total number of weekday round-trip trains to 12, one fewer than Amtrak’s pre-COVID schedule for the route.
A new southbound train will depart Albany/Rensselaer at 11:10 a.m. Sunday through Friday, arriving at Penn Station at 1:45 p.m. A second new southbound will leave Albany/Rensselaer at 5:30 p.m. arriving in New York at 8:05 p.m. This train will eliminate a three-hour southbound service gap for travel between Albany and New York.
Northbound, a new departure will leave New York at 8:15 a.m. arriving in Albany/Rensselaer at 10:47 a.m. Another new northbound train departs New York at 3:15 p.m. and arrives in Albany/Rensselaer at 5:45 p.m.
The trains are part of the state-funded Empire Corridor service between New York and Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Mr Fine- Thank you I will admit that sometimes I do get carried away with my passion and enthusiam for trains and railroads. I’m a dedicated railfan, train buff and model railroader and i’m really disgusted and saddened by how trains and the railroading industry is going downhill like a runaway freight train- pardon the pun but it is true. There is a lack of knowledgable and skilled railroaders both in management and operations and the good ones either get run off or out the door or retire or quit in disgust. They will talk about us railfans being crazy or childish but there are some in our group that could do a far better job and have more knowledge and skills on what it takes to run a railroad. If I get excited about a few extra trains being added to the schedule, it’s because there is very little to cheer about in the railroad industry and these few bright lights make it look things are turning around but who knows these extra trains can disappear from the schedule as quickly as they came.
Joseph C. Markfelder
Mr Markfelder your second comment was right on; you should have posted that one first.
Adding a couple of trains to previously existing slots is not exactly worth any shouting from our mountain tops. I have been riding trains on the NYC water level route for 75 years, worked in T&E for forty years including Amtrak, commuted ROC to ALB and NYP 25 times per year for meetings. The current management is easy to rate—WRETCHED. They cannot run trains mid-week during low patronage travel periods. Cancel trains based on TV speculative weather forecasts. Make it next to impossible during peak demand days adding no extra seats, and seasons when you would like to choose rail as a better choice than the possibility of challenging winter driving conditions and/or massive airline cancelations. Coach passengers, no use of the diner or seating to eat in the table seats in cafe cars. Amtrak Is number ONE, TOP OF EVERY LIST, for metrics of service as being the WORST by far of any other travel choices. You wanted a comment , you got one.
Mr. Shapp- Yes I read Trains Newswire every day and yes as a dedicated and concerned railfan I am most upset about the current bunch of bumblers running Amtrak who don’t know anything about trains or railroads or how they operate. Mr Coscia and Mr Gardner are so inept that they couldn’t run a grocery store in their neighborhood right. But they do know how to count money and put it in their pocket. Might as well add the Wall Street puppets who are operating and running the freight railroads as well. I can add that the incompents who contro Wall Street and the stock market are bumblers who will drag the rail industry along with other industries down to ruin and disaster. We all have a right to complain and be critical but also lets us see a few positive things that are taking place in the rail industry. I might add that the improvements seen in Amtrak are the result of dedicated railfan groups, civic associations and local government officials and representatives. Not the political hacks and cronies running Amtrak
Joseph C. Markfelder
Great and positive news for Amtrak and passenger train travel. All the critics and detractors who regularly post negative comments about Amtrak and rude remarks about service and equipment shorfalls, where is your input? Here is something good and positive to report on for Amtrak but I don’t see any comments from you. It would seem you only like to be negative and complain about how bad the entire Amtrak network and passenger train is without posting some good remarks and reading about the bright spots and developments that is taking place within Amtrak
Joseph C. Markfelder
Mr. Markfelder: While this is indeed a bright spot on the Amtrak landscape, I hope you are also reading at the Newswire of the utter disgrace taking place with PRIIA209 services operating out of the Chicago Hub. And of the greatly shortened consists being operated on the LD trains. And this is all fallout from the October 2020 “massacre” engineered by Amtrak’s then President and now CEO Stephen Gardner and Board Chair Anthony Coscia. Trains’ Bob Johnston nailed it when he wrote in the article citing that the reduced LD consists would be the norm for fiscal 2023 that Gardner’s and Coscia’s MO was to raise revenue by significantly increased fares even though it was significantly reducing ridership. And then we witnessed the C-suite giving themselves huge bonuses even though they were depressing ridership. Maybe the folks you are scolding have a great deal to be upset about.
This is indeed good news. Too bad it took this long for Amtrak? NYStateDOT? to restore trains cut back in 2020-2021. Taking the ALB-NYP trains first: If memory serves, the 1110am ALB-NYP is the slot of the former Ethan Allan Exp, #290, when it originated at Rutland, VT. The 530pm is 30m earlier than the Adirondack’s departure. Northbound: The 815am is the Adirondack’s old departure time. The 315pm is the slot of the old NYP-Rutland Ethan Allan Exp #291, ex. Fridays. (Fridays, the 547pm NYP-ALB #239 and the 315pm #291 swapped slots as Nos. 255 and 293 respectively). A shame NYStateDOT and Amtrak could not or would not extend the 815am train to Saratoga and return to become a 6pm ALB-NYP. With #48 due out at 410pm and #244 right behind at 430pm something a bit later than 530pm would more balance that 3 hour gap. But layover facilities would have to be provided at SAR for that new crew that would takeover the 815am at ALB and return mid-afternoon.