Empire State Passengers Association

06/03/2026

ESPA Pop Quiz! This beautiful sunset view was taken from an Empire Corridor train 7 years ago today!

Can you identify where this is? (Hint...the water is NOT the Hudson River)

06/01/2026

April 2026 New York State Ridership stats!

With the full schedule of 13 daily Hudson Valley round-trips operated throughout April, the positive year-over-year results are clearly evident.

View the current New York State schedules here - https://www.esparail.com/travel-information/schedules/

However, the effects of the overall capacity limitations due to the lack of available equipment continues to constrain ridership and sold-out trains frequently occur, particularly on weekends and around holidays. Passengers planning to travel over the upcoming busy summer 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.

06/01/2026

The first NEC Airo train has been built and shipped to Pueblo for testing.

Railroad industry news about: Amtrak, Airo trainsets, Siemens Mobility, passenger rail, Pueblo Colorado, Northeast Regional, Northeast Corridor. From the editors of Progressive Railroading Magazine

05/31/2026

The Mets Ferry to Citi Field is a travel option that people should be aware of — a transportation option that avoids driving. This new ferry supports alternative transportation to an important sporting venue, and is operating today! For more please visit the website for the service.
— Gary Prophet, ESPA President ⚾

The Best Way to Attend NY Mets Baseball Games: Mets Ferry to Citi Field

Go to a NY Met's game by boat from Highlands, NJ, East 35th St, NYC, Staten Island, NY & Stamford, CT to Citi Field. Buy ferry tickets or game + ferry combo tickets through Seastreak ferries.

05/30/2026

Amtrak has released several videos in the past week on YouTube — if you have not seen them yet, go check them out, here are three of them.

Building the Future of American Passenger Rail (1min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gszo8Txe3c

1 Million Customer Trips on NextGen Acela and Counting (1min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BODNS7zO1-Y

How Amtrak Investments Are Modernizing Rail and Driving Economic Growth Across America (19min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gz3Rqu2gH4&t=10s

Amtrak NextGen Acela, Airo, and major Northeast Corridor infrastructure upgrades are driving a new era of American passenger rail. Faster, more reliable serv...

05/25/2026

Not fully verified, but hopefully accurate. Mr. Fain does own property across from the station.

05/23/2026

Great news that Amtrak is moving forward with the exterior station rehabilitation work.

Amtrak will begin work to repair the outside of the historic Rhinecliff Station building in the coming days.

05/21/2026

The Penn Station master plan by Penn Transformation Partners (real-estate company Vornado and construction-company Halmar) chosen by Amtrak and USDOT is actually an old one previously touted in 2023 by ASTM (Halmar) when the MTA was leading the redevelopment process. As such we already have a lot on what the proposal looks like, so here are some images from 2023.

HOK Group | June 28th 2023 | ASTM North America Unveils Plan for New Penn Station
https://www.hok.com/news/2023-06/astm-north-america-unveils-plan-for-new-penn-station/

NY Times | June 28, 2023 | Private Firm Announces Competing Vision for Penn Station Redesign. In a move that has stoked conflict with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a private developer unveiled a renovation plan that it says would save at least $1 billion.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/28/nyregion/nyc-penn-station-plan.html

NY Times | May 20, 2026 | Penn Station Renovation Moves Ahead as Developer Is Chosen. The announcement came a day after Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said the federal government intended to spend $8 billion on the project.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/20/nyregion/penn-station-renovation-developer.html

05/20/2026

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and the Amtrak Board of Directors today announced the selection of Penn Transformation Partners (Halmar) as the private Master Developer team to lead the transformation of New York Penn Station.

https://media.amtrak.com/2026/05/penn-station-update-trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-amtrak-announce-penn-transformation-partners-halmar-as-master-developer-team-for-new-york-penn-station-renovation/

According to the press release the transformation of New York Penn Station will:

- Construct a grand entrance on Eighth Avenue to a new train hall
- Replace cramped, decrepit walkways with open, beautiful concourses
- Expand track capacity, including the introduction of at least limited through-running on the regional rail network
- Enable new retail, better wayfinding, and other passenger experience improvements, all while maintaining the iconic Madison Square Garden with a new cladding for a classical look
- Improve the station’s existing subterranean structure

05/20/2026

Well we will see how this plays out. Is it going to be 8 billion for above ground architecture or does it include serious work on track and platform capacity?

The Trump administration took control of the rebuild from the MTA last year. Now, the feds are indicating they'll put up an astronomical sum.