Empire State Passengers Association

09/03/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BgW6VhZLv/

09/03/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ESmw8gFnG/

09/02/2026

Albany’s infamous Central Warehouse may finally come down next year after Albany County says it got permits from Amtrak to continue demolition.

The City of Albany declared a state of emergency on July 29, 2022 after chunks of the building's concrete wall began to fall near the train tracks below. Amtrak, who uses this portion of the track for service west of Albany, temporarily suspended use of the track. The closure disrupted the inaugural run of the extended Ethan Allen Express to and from Burlington, Vermont. On August 1, after the city made emergency repairs to the crumbling wall, Amtrak resumed use of the track.

The once state-of-the-art shipping and cold storage facility is scheduled to be demolished by next June — just before its 100th anniversary — Albany County Executive Dan McCoy confirmed Wednesday. The demolition project had stalled in February when Amtrak — which has a passenger rail line that runs next to the building — did not respond to requests for two permits necessary to continue the work. One of the permits was to remove a trestle connecting the rail line to the warehouse and another was needed to put scaffolding up in that area.

To break through the bureaucratic red tape, McCoy said his office called U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s office Monday for assistance. “I don’t know if it had anything to do with it or not, but three hours later we got a permit to remove the trestle,” he said.

By 3 p.m. that day, they were told the permit had been approved. By 4 p.m., they had the permit. McCoy said the second permit — needed to install scaffolding — should be approved by Friday or early next week. It will then take about two months to put up scaffolding and another six months to slowly tear down the building, he said.

It’s been more than a year since McCoy and Gov. Kathy Hochul, announced the start of asbestos abatement and subsequent demolition of the Central Warehouse — a feat Hochul said was “the only thing blocking us from our true potential” in Albany.

ALBANY TIMES UNION

Albany’s infamous Central Warehouse may finally come down next year after Albany County says it got permits from Amtrak to continue demolition.

09/02/2026

The Harlem Line of the Metro-North commuter railroad runs along the Bronx River and has two stops in the Village of Tuckahoe. Since both stations could not be named Tuckahoe, the southern station by the village hall is named Tuckahoe for the area east of the station, and the northern station Crestwood for the Crestwood neighborhood to the west, in Yonkers. This train station was depicted on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post issue for November 16, 1946, in the painting Commuters, by Norman Rockwell. The magazine’s January 2027 issue will be its last in print after more than two centuries of publishing.

09/02/2026

Latest issue of Trains Magazine is a special on New York State, including an article by Bob Johnston focused on intercity passenger rail of the Empire Corridor.
https://www.trains.com/trn/magazine/october-2026/

09/02/2026

Good news, theoretically.

Railroad industry news about: Amtrak, system expansion, new committee, Rob Gleason, Amtrak service, passenger-rail service increases, demand. From the editors of Progressive Railroading Magazine

09/01/2026

July 2026 New York State Ridership stats!

With the full schedule of 13 daily Hudson Valley round-trips now operating, the positive year-over-year results are clearly evident. The 125,200 passengers carried in the Hudson Valley is a new all-time July record!

However, the effects of the overall capacity limitations due to the lack of available equipment continues to constrain ridership, as demand often far exceeds the number of available seats! Sold-out trains frequently occur, particularly on weekends and around holidays. Passengers planning to travel over the upcoming busy months should purchase tickets as far in advance as possible!

Click the graphic for best viewing!

NYS Route Definitions:
- Empire Service - Passengers on New York To Albany-Rensselaer
trains plus all passengers whose entire trip is contained in the New York to Albany-Rensselaer section of the Corridor (for example passengers on the Maple Leaf and Ethan Allen, who only travel on the portion Albany and south), but not passengers on the Lake Shore Limited.
- Maple Leaf - Passengers who are on board trains #63, 64, 280, 284, 281, 283 and travel west of Albany. This count excludes passengers who travel on these trains only on the section south of Albany.
- Adirondack - Passengers on Trains 68 and 69 who travel north of Albany. This count excludes passengers who travel on these trains only on the section south of Albany.
- Ethan Allen Express - Passengers on Trains 290 and 291 who travel north of Albany. This count excludes passengers who travel on these trains only on the section south of Albany.
- Lake Shore Limited - New York/Boston - Albany - Buffalo - Cleveland - Chicago Train. Any passenger boarding Train 48/448 and 49/449 is counted as a Lake Shore Limited passenger.

09/01/2026

Following recent announcements of expanded passenger rail service, including a second daily Pennsylvanian train between Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Philadelphia and New York, Amtrak today announced the creation of a new Board-level System Expansion Committee focused on growing passenger rail service across the country.

Committee will help guide new routes, additional frequencies, and strategic investments across the Amtrak network WASHINGTON – Following recent

08/29/2026

It was rather disappointing to see this inaccurate sign on the fence at Sunnyside Yard. President Trump had nothing to do with passage of the Bi-Partisan Infrastructure bill. Yes, some of the appropriated funds are being spent while he is in office, but the Yard project funds in particular were allocated to Amtrak by Congress to modernize and expand their facilities. It was a direct appropriation and not discretionary funding.

08/29/2026

ESPA was invited to attend the groundbreaking for Amtrak's new Airo trainsets maintenance facility on Friday at Sunnyside Yard in Queens. This Level 1 facility for the Airos will be followed by a Level 1 facility in Rensselaer and a Level 2 facility in Niagara Falls. ESPA reminded several of the officials on hand that the environmental work for the Niagara Falls facility is completed.