And here we were thinking that Amtrak simply realized its dedication to travelers in upstate New York ...
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen is boasting that its pressure campaign against Gov. Hochul and the MTA helped stop the planned Metro-North expansion between Poughkeepsie and Albany.
Amtrak General Chairman Pat Darcy argued that the plan would violate state and federal law as well as the union's contract with Amtrak. BLET National President Mark Wallace sent a letter to Hochul in January with the Teamsters, Amtrak and CSX presidents CC'd, and union members sent more than 650 communications to state lawmakers.
“The BLET played offense this time and it helped protect the jobs of our Brothers and Sisters in Division 752,” said Darcy on the union's website.
Hochul had proposed that the Hudson Line add service between Albany and Poughkeepsie because Amtrak had suspended its full range of service due to a lack of equipment and other projects in the region.
But as the calendar ticked closer and closer to the project's spring start, Amtrak declared it could restore service in late January, and the expansion was placed on the back burner.
No one is complaining about Amtrak restoring service, but it's never been explained how the Metro-North's use of the same tracks to add stops and service at a more affordable price would endanger union jobs or adversely affect the state of transportation in upstate New York.
More news:
- Are Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani playing a game of chicken over taxes? (City & State)
- The money for the Gateway Tunnel may be moving, but the shovels sure aren't. (Gothamist)
- State and local officials are searching for a more permanent solution for a tricky bridge between Buffalo and Canada that can leave unsuspecting motorists in immigration limbo. (The New York Times)
- A 19-year-old Albany was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison after killing a man in August, then backing over him with his car before driving away. (The Times Union)
- State police say they have arrested the pickup truck driver who ran into a Skaneateles man operating a snowblower earlier this month. (The Syracuse Post-Standard)
- A Rochester pedestrian was hit by a bus driver after a police chase got out of hand. (The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle)
- Buffalo's East Side Parkways Coalition is holding a town hall today for the Kensington Expressway project that had to go back to square one. (Spectrum News)
- State Senate Transportation Chair Jeremy Cooney is sponsoring a bill that would let workers in New York set aside salary pre-tax to pay for transportation expenses. (WXXI)
- Here’s more news on why New Jersey Transit riders are going to suffer so much over the next month. (NY Times times two)
