Adirondack (train)

The ''Adirondack'' is an intercity rail passenger train operated daily, partially along the Empire Corridor, by Amtrak between New York City and Montreal. The trip takes approximately 11 hours to cover a published distance of , traveling through the scenic Hudson Valley and along the eastern border of the Adirondack Mountains. The ''Adirondack'' is financed by the New York State Department of Transportation. It is temporarily suspended as of March 2020 due to the closure of the Canadian/American border in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of fall 2022, a service resumption date has not yet been announced.

For most of its existence, the ''Adirondack'' has been plagued by numerous delays. Amtrak only owns two legs of the route, in Manhattan and between Poughkeepsie and Schenectady. Additionally, the route crosses an international boundary where immigration procedures can take up to two hours. The on-time performance of the route averaged 64.8% for the year ending June 2016. According to Amtrak, 28.8% of the train delay was due to track- and signal-related problems, especially along the Delaware & Hudson segment, which is now owned by Canadian Pacific Railway.

History

At the inception of Amtrak on May 1, 1971, the Delaware & Hudson operated two trains between Albany, New York and Montreal: the ''Montreal Limited'' (overnight) and the '' Laurentian'' (day). Both trains were discontinued, and for three years the D&H line saw no service. Amtrak service to Montreal began with the Montrealer, which ran through Vermont rather than New York, in 1972. The ''Adirondack'' began running on August 6, 1974 (with a ceremonial train the previous day) from Grand Central Terminal in New York to Albany, then over the D&H's line to Windsor Station in Montreal. From the outset the train operated with financial support from the state of New York. The train initially operated as a section of the New York–Buffalo ''Empire State Express''.

The ''Adirondack'' used CP Rail's Windsor Station until January 12, 1986, when it was rerouted to CN Rail's Central Station. Until the Empire Connection was built in 1991, the train served Grand Central Terminal instead of Penn Station in New York City.

As part of an effort to improve on-time performance along the Empire Corridor, Amtrak reached an agreement with CSX to lease the CSX Hudson Subdivision between Poughkeepsie and Schenectady. Starting in 2012, Amtrak effectively took operational control of the Hudson Subdivision, handling all maintenance and capital responsibilities. Even with this move, Amtrak still operates less than half of the trackage along the ''Adirondack'' route.

In 2012, U.S. Customs and Border Protection began planning a preclearance facility at Montreal Central Station, which would allow departing passengers to be prescreened in Montreal, where northbound passengers would be processed by the Canada Border Services Agency upon arrival, rather than at the border itself. Presently, the ''Adirondack'' must stop at Lacolle, Quebec northbound and Rouses Point, New York southbound for immigration procedures that can take up to two hours. By early 2017, the United States Congress had passed its necessary enabling legislation. The corresponding Canadian legislation was given royal assent in late 2017, though it is yet to enter into force.

On April 10, 2018, Amtrak announced that all trains using the Empire Connection, excluding the ''Lake Shore Limited'', would operate into Grand Central Terminal from May 26 to September 4, 2018, to allow work on the Empire Tunnel, the Spuyten Duyvil movable bridge, and Track 19 in New York's Penn Station.

Due to continuing infrastructure work at Penn Station, the northbound ''Adirondack'' ran combined with the northbound ''Maple Leaf'' for most of the summer of 2019, splitting in Albany. The two trains ran separately on weekends during July and August.

In March 2020, the ''Adirondack'' was truncated to Albany–Rensselaer after all non-essential travel across the Canada-United States border was banned in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2021, ''Adirondack'' service was suspended following the resumption of ''Ethan Allen Express'' service to Rutland, which overlaps the ''Adirondack'' between New York City and . In October 2022, Amtrak began running crew re-qualification trips in preparation of the train's return. No date has been set .

Route details

The ''Adirondack'' operates over Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway, CSX Transportation, Metro-North Railroad and Amtrak rails:
*CN St-Hyacinthe Subdivision, Montreal to Southwark:
*CN Rouses Point Subdivision, Southwark to Rouses Point:
*CP Canadian Subdivision, Rouses Point to Ballston:
*CP Freight Subdivision, Ballston to Schenectady:
*CSX Hudson Subdivision, Schenectady to Poughkeepsie (trackage leased by Amtrak):
*Metro-North Hudson Line, Poughkeepsie to Spuyten Duyvil:
*Amtrak Empire Connection, Spuyten Duyvil to Penn Station

Unlike the ''Maple Leaf,'' which is operated by Via Rail crews in Canada, the ''Adirondack'' (like '' Cascades'' trains to Vancouver) is operated solely by Amtrak personnel.

Equipment

The ''Adirondack'' operates with General Electric P42DC and P32AC-DM units and Amfleet passenger cars. A typical consist includes:
* 1 P42DC/P32AC-DM locomotive. The P32AC-DM operates between New York and Albany; the P42DC handles the remainder.
* 1 Amfleet I cafe car
* 2-4 Amfleet I coach cars
* 2 Amfleet II coach cars
Unlike other Empire Corridor trains, the ''Adirondack'' does not offer business class seating.

The ''Adirondack'' debuted in 1974 with D&H equipment, much of it ex-'' Laurentian'', as Amtrak was experiencing equipment shortages. These were supplemented by a pair of Skyline dome cars leased from the Canadian Pacific Railway. Two D&H ALCO PA diesel locomotives hauled each train. On March 1, 1977, new Turboliner gas turbine trainsets took over from the D&H cars. Conventional Amtrak equipment would eventually displace the Turboliners.

Station stops

References

Notes

External links

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{{Amtrak routes

Amtrak routes
Named passenger trains of Canada
International named passenger trains
Railway services introduced in 1974
Passenger rail transport in Quebec
Passenger rail transportation in New York (state)