ALBANY --- Amtrak will no longer allow Metro-North to add Hudson Line between Poughkeepsie and Albany, but will instead restore suspended Empire Service between Penn Station and Joseph L. Bruno Station in early March, according to Gov. Hochul's office.
Amtrak's lack of cooperation all but kills this spring's planned daily Metro-North round-trips between Grand Central Station and Albany-Rensselaer, but Hochul didn't eliminate the possibility of a future expansion.
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
"I remain fully committed to short- and long-term proposals to bring better transit — including expanded Metro-North service if the demand exists — beyond Poughkeepsie and into the rest of the Hudson Valley and Capital Region," she said in a statement. "New Yorkers rely on high-quality rail transit like no other state, and I will always fight to save commuters time and to make service better."
The proposed Metro-North expansion was announced with great fanfare last October, along with a $99 price cap on Amtrak service between New York City's Penn Station and Amtrak's Albany-Rensselaer station, and would have added stops in Rhinecliff and Hudson to complete its extension to the Capitol Region.
Last year, Amtrak suspended some of its commuter service between New York City and Rensselaer on account of the $1.6-billion East River Tunnel rehabilitation project, which would restore two tunnels damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
During some periods, there were only 10 trips north and south available for riders. The Adirondack Line between New York City and Montreal and the Maple Leaf Line between New York City and Toronto were also combined into one line before reaching Albany-Rensselaer.
Amtrak offers more amenities than Metro-North trains, including sometimes-functioning Wi-Fi, larger seats, and more bathrooms. However, its wild fluctuations in price — sometimes exceeding $100 for a one-way trip — and limited seats have made the prospect of Metro-North commuter service between the Capitol Region and New York City very attractive to some consumers, who could have expected one-way fares on the lower end of Amtrak's price structure -- around $38.
Amtrak did not respond to inquiries about why it was not able to restore service to previous levels and still grant Metro-North access to its lines.
"By taking advantage of schedule changes in place to support major infrastructure projects on the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak has identified the equipment necessary to fully restore the Empire Service schedule that was in place before the East River Tunnel rehabilitation project began, and is moving to fully restore service in early March," Amtrak said in a statement. "The ERT project remains on schedule and within budget with completion expected in 2027."
This is not the first time Amtrak has slowed or stopped the MTA from pursuing projects. Amtrak was blamed by transit authority officials for the Penn Station Access project, which aims to create four new Metro-North stations in the Bronx to connect them with Penn Station, stretching into the 2030s.
State lawmakers are already praising the restoration, citing the immense popularity of the Empire Service.
"I'm thrilled to see what we had be restored, and I really commend the governor for jumping on this, but we also saw that when the announcement came that we could possibly get that [the Metro-North], that was met with huge excitement too," state Sen. Pat Fahy (D-Albany) told Streetsblog.
Fahy and Assembly Member John McDonald (D-Cohoes) sent a letter to then-U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner in 2024, warning them of the line's importance as a regional transportation hub to the northeastern U.S., Canada and the Midwest amid news Amtak would reduce service.
Fahy added that the restoration of Amtrak service doesn't mean a Hudson Line expansion should be abandoned.
"Given the tremendous interest in Metro-North, I say we keep working on that, too," Fahy said. "That's my take on this."
Downstate transit advocates share a similar view on expanding rail service between New York City and the Capital Region.
"While it's good that Amtrak has expedited repairs, riders were looking forward to more affordable train service to Albany," said Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director at Riders Alliance. "We're still looking forward to a future in which New York makes the iconic Hudson Line route more frequent and accessible to more New Yorkers."
