A passenger group is urging Amtrak to reconsider service cuts on its busy New York City to Albany route during reconstruction of the storm-damaged East River Tunnel.
Beginning April 28, two daily round trips will be eliminated from Amtrak’s Empire Service Line schedule and won’t be restored for three years when work on the 114-year-old East River tunnels is scheduled to end.
Service: Amtrak’s Empire Service from NYC to Albany to cut 2 trains in April. What to know
But the Empire State Passengers Association (ESPA) says schedule cuts Amtrak announced in February will have an outsized impact on ridership in the Hudson Valley.
“With frequent Amtrak sellouts three to four days a week in the Hudson Valley, the current schedule was already underserving the market, and these new reductions will only make matters worse,” the association said in a statement.
The Empire Service tallied two million passengers last year, making it one of Amtrak’s busiest routes.
ESPA says the service cuts will lead to long layovers in Rensselaer for passengers on the morning northbound Adirondack train (55 minutes) and the evening eastbound Maple Leaf (95 minutes).
Backtrack: Amtrak backtrack: Railroad restores most service cuts on Empire Service line through March
How to fix the Amtrak schedule
ESPA is proposing three fixes that would ease the pain caused by the service cuts:
Move the extended layover for the northbound Adirondack to Saratoga Springs.
Operate the Maple Leaf and Adirondack trains separately on weekends when there are fewer commuter trains.
Expand capacity on Hudson Valley trains by shifting train coaches from Northeast Regional trains.
An Amtrak train heads north along the Hudson River from Manhattan through Irvington Jan. 5, 2025.
When asked for a response, an Amtrak spokesman referred to the schedule changes announced in February.
When Amtrak announced the service cuts last year, Gov. Kathy Hochul joined state lawmakers in urging the railroad to reconsider.
That led to the addition of two midday trains to the daily schedule and added capacity on six trains.
Two of the East River tunnels that were destroyed by floodwaters during Superstorm Sandy in 2012 will be demolished during the $1.6 billion project. The tunnels connect Penn Station to Queens and points north and are used by more than 450 Amtrak, NJ Transit and Long Island Rail Road trains each day.
Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA Today Network’s New York State team. He’s won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others during a decades-long career that’s included stops at the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack. He can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Hudson Valley NY Amtrak service cuts: Passenger group pushes back