This week Amtrak began to reduce its service on its Empire service line due to reconstruction of the East River Tunnels in New York City. It’s being felt across New York and Governor Kathy Hochul is now calling on company’s executives to look into alternatives if they cannot restore service cuts.
Amtrak reduced its Empire rail service between Albany and New York City on Monday. The revised schedule affects the Maple Leaf and Adirondack lines with reduced or suspended service.
In a letter to Amtrak senior executives, Hochul notes that while her office supports the project “...it is critical that you maximally restore service and protect New York’s riding public while the project progresses.” The Democrat adds that it is imperative that Amtrak “... find a solution that immediately mitigates the impacts..(and) fully restores service...”
In northern New York Amtrak’s Adirondack service was the last to be restored following the pandemic. It was then suspended several times for track repairs and now faces new delays.
North Country Chamber of Commerce President Garry Douglas hopes the governor’s intervention will have an impact as stakeholder frustration peaks.
“They do not communicate and that’s been one of the most consistent complaints is that ‘What the hell is going on?” Douglas finds. “You don’t communicate with state legislators. You don’t communicate with members of Congress and the Senate. You don’t communicate with the state of New York. You don’t communicate with key stakeholders. And that’s been consistent. That’s been our experience for over four years now. The lack of communication by an operation that is publicly funded and underwritten by the federal taxpayers and the state taxpayers remains absolutely astounding.”
State Assemblyman D. Billy Jones, a Democrat from the 115th District, says he is encouraged Hochul is weighing in and believes it will have an impact.
“For the last four years the Amtrak service has just been unreliable. We’ve had stops and starts and fits oftentimes without any communication or consulting. You know, they would just do it and most of the time I hear it from you guys actually! I’d hear it from the media. And that was part of the frustration I told them the other day. I related that to them,” Jones said. “They have told me that in the future communication will be better. But certainly we want to see some kind of resolution to make sure that our residents here have good reliable Amtrak service.”
Empire State Passengers Association Executive Director Steve Strauss is confident Amtrak will take action following the Governor’s intervention.
“We appreciate her decision to sort of step in and there’s already some rumors that there may be some changes. You know I think they’re taking the concerns pretty seriously,” Strauss believes. “Particularly with respect to these forced layovers of the northbound Adirondack in the morning and the eastbound Maple Leaf in the evening and hopefully getting one or more of the round trips that were taken out restored. That would be great if these things happen. Alternatively, they could add a coach to each of the remaining trains so that we could deal with the overcrowding problem.”
Amtrak did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday or Thursday.
