SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — With the Saratoga horse racing season having begun last Thursday, Amtrak has announced it will extend Adirondack operations 37 miles beyond Albany-Rensselaer, N.Y., to Saratoga Springs starting Monday, July 24.
The New York City-Montreal train was the last state-supported corridor to be restored following nationwide discontinuances in March 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Daily round trips did not resume until this April [see “Adirondack tickets now on sale …,” Trains News Wire, March 17, 2023], although travel restrictions at the Canadian border were eased in 2021 and eliminated Oct. 1, 2022.
Despite bipartisan political pressure from New York federal, state, and local lawmakers, Amtrak and the New York State Department of Transportation declined to operate the Adirondack beyond Albany-Rensselaer when trains were not running to Montreal.
Amtrak and the state agency resumed this stance in late June, when Canadian National reduced authorized speeds on track north of the border [see “Amtrak abruptly suspends Adirondack …,” News Wire, June 26, 2023]. When the host railroad claimed the route lacked sufficient maintenance — to be paid for by Amtrak — to withstand rail expansion during periods of high daytime temperatures, the round trip was again cut back to Albany-Rensselaer, where many Empire Corridor trains originate and terminate.
Amtrak spokesman Jason Abrams says the company “has explored different solutions with Canadian National and New York State Department of Transportation on resuming Adirondack service to and from Montreal. The current heat restrictions CN has in place [on this section of track] limit Amtrak trains within Canada to 10 mph for up to 40 miles. Unfortunately, (the parties) did not find a feasible solution for this summer which would not result in our customers experiencing significant delays of up to four hours or even potentially being stranded mid-trip.”
Operationally, longer trip times would result in engineers and conductors regularly exceeding hours-of-service safety requirements under the current level of staffing.
Abrams says service to Montreal won’t return “until mid-September when CN is anticipated to lift its heat restrictions. It is possible that the heat restrictions are lifted before then if the local temperature drops, and Amtrak, with the support of our partners, could then restore service sooner than planned. We will also work with CN and NYSDOT to develop a long-term solution so that Amtrak trains can operate to and from Montreal in future summers. We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience.”
Sources tell News Wire that track repairs are awaiting resolution of a contractual dispute between CN and Amtrak, though the issues involved cannot be independently confirmed.
Under the schedule effective on Monday, the Adirondack is scheduled to arrive in Saratoga Springs at 12:28 p.m. (Post time for the first race at Saratoga Race Course, with racing Wednesday through Sunday, is 1:10 p.m. most days.) The train will depart for New York City at 5:54 p.m. The New York-Burlington, Vt., Ethan Allen continues to stop at 1:57 p.m. southbound and 6:02 p.m. northbound, as it has during much of the Adirondack’s hiatus. Tickets can be booked for both trains at the Amtrak website.
Other service options possible
Amtrak’s Abrams says the Adirondack will operate north of Albany-Rensselaer with one locomotive “until upgrades are made.” This likely means it will utilize a Canadian Pacific wye at Saratoga Springs. The possibility of connecting bus service to serve stations beyond the train’s temporary northern terminus is not addressed.
Given the fact that there is apparently no available infrastructure to wye the train between Saratoga Springs and the Canadian border, News Wire asked about impediments to operating a daily Adirondack with two locomotives — one at each end in push-pull operation, or back-to-back to facilitate reversing direction.
With a bidirectional configuration, a one-day round-trip could theoretically be made on the existing schedule as far as Westport, N.Y. (2:31 p.m. northbound scheduled arrival; 3:46 p.m. southbound departure), or the train could overnight at Rouses Point or Plattsburgh, N.Y. instead of Montreal. Amtrak has yet to respond to this inquiry, but without a bus connection to Canada or other northern New York communities, ridership and revenue would be limited.
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