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- Aug 24, 2002
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Metro-North rail service may extend to Albany area - 1/11/03
By ERIC ANDERSON
Gazette Business Editor
RENSSELAER - Metro-North commuter trains could serve the Capital Region under
contingency plans being developed by state transportation planners if Amtrak
reduced or eliminated service to
New York City.
The planning began last summer when Amtrak was facing a budget crisis and
threatened to shut down operations nationwide. At the time, work on a new
Rensselaer train station was nearing
completion, and transportation officials faced the prospect of having a major
station and no rail service.
"It's a critical transportation need," said Metro-North Commuter Railroad
spokeswoman Marjorie Anders. "This is something the railroad looked at when
Amtrak was making dire noises about
going belly up.
"There's nothing imminent," she said.
Right now, Metro-North, part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority,
operates only as far north as Poughkeepsie. Efforts several years ago to
extend service to the northern edge of
Dutchess County were opposed both by Amtrak officials and some local residents.
Now, however, Amtrak says it would welcome service to Albany.
"We think it would be great for the community," Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Van
Veen said Friday. Travelers would have more service, and Metro-North likely
would stop at smaller
communities along the route that don't have Amtrak service, she said.
"We would have to work with CSX [the freight railroad that owns the tracks
north of Poughkeepsie] on scheduling," Van Veen added. But, "it can be done."
Travel by Metro-North to New York City likely would take longer than the two
hours and 20 minutes Amtrak takes because the Metro-North trains would make
more stops.
But travelers could benefit if the two railroads compete on fares. Currently,
full-fare round-trip Amtrak coach tickets can cost as much as $100 between the
Capital Region and New York City.
A space crunch could develop at the Rensselaer station, however. Now, it's not
unusual for trains to wait outside the station for one of the three available
tracks to open up. A planned fourth track
wasn't built because of budget constraints.
And a fifth track, a bypass for freight trains, has been blocked by stored
locomotives and passenger cars as newly rebuilt turbotrains take up space in
Amtrak's rail yard north of the station.
It's not clear how the service would be financed. Columbia and Rensselaer
counties aren't part of the Metro-North service area, but they likely could be
added through legislative action.
Connecticut now pays Metro-North to provide service to communities in the
southwestern corner of that state.
State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer Post said planners
were looking at their alternatives when it appeared Amtrak was in trouble.
Those alternatives ranged from busing
people along the route to bringing in another carrier to operate the rail service.
"There is no concrete plan," she said.
By ERIC ANDERSON
Gazette Business Editor
RENSSELAER - Metro-North commuter trains could serve the Capital Region under
contingency plans being developed by state transportation planners if Amtrak
reduced or eliminated service to
New York City.
The planning began last summer when Amtrak was facing a budget crisis and
threatened to shut down operations nationwide. At the time, work on a new
Rensselaer train station was nearing
completion, and transportation officials faced the prospect of having a major
station and no rail service.
"It's a critical transportation need," said Metro-North Commuter Railroad
spokeswoman Marjorie Anders. "This is something the railroad looked at when
Amtrak was making dire noises about
going belly up.
"There's nothing imminent," she said.
Right now, Metro-North, part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority,
operates only as far north as Poughkeepsie. Efforts several years ago to
extend service to the northern edge of
Dutchess County were opposed both by Amtrak officials and some local residents.
Now, however, Amtrak says it would welcome service to Albany.
"We think it would be great for the community," Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Van
Veen said Friday. Travelers would have more service, and Metro-North likely
would stop at smaller
communities along the route that don't have Amtrak service, she said.
"We would have to work with CSX [the freight railroad that owns the tracks
north of Poughkeepsie] on scheduling," Van Veen added. But, "it can be done."
Travel by Metro-North to New York City likely would take longer than the two
hours and 20 minutes Amtrak takes because the Metro-North trains would make
more stops.
But travelers could benefit if the two railroads compete on fares. Currently,
full-fare round-trip Amtrak coach tickets can cost as much as $100 between the
Capital Region and New York City.
A space crunch could develop at the Rensselaer station, however. Now, it's not
unusual for trains to wait outside the station for one of the three available
tracks to open up. A planned fourth track
wasn't built because of budget constraints.
And a fifth track, a bypass for freight trains, has been blocked by stored
locomotives and passenger cars as newly rebuilt turbotrains take up space in
Amtrak's rail yard north of the station.
It's not clear how the service would be financed. Columbia and Rensselaer
counties aren't part of the Metro-North service area, but they likely could be
added through legislative action.
Connecticut now pays Metro-North to provide service to communities in the
southwestern corner of that state.
State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer Post said planners
were looking at their alternatives when it appeared Amtrak was in trouble.
Those alternatives ranged from busing
people along the route to bringing in another carrier to operate the rail service.
"There is no concrete plan," she said.
