Empire Corridor
| Empire Corridor | |
|---|---|
 Empire Corridor (red) as designated by the Federal Railroad Administration | |
| Overview | |
| Owner | CSX (Niagara–Poughkeepsie) Metro-North (Poughkeepsie–Riverdale) Amtrak (Riverdale–New York) |
| Termini | |
| Stations | 35 (12 Amtrak, 20 Metro North, 3 shared) |
| Service | |
| Type | Higher-speed rail, commuter rail |
| System | Amtrak CSX Transportation |
| Services | Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Adirondack, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf, Hudson Line |
| Operator(s) | CSX (Niagara–Schenectady) Amtrak (Schenectady–Poughkeepsie) Metro-North (Poughkeepsie–Yonkers) Amtrak (Yonkers–New York) |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 461 mi (742 km) |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Empire Corridor is a term used to refer to the 461-mile (742 km) railroad corridor between Niagara Falls, New York and New York City, including the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Amsterdam, Schenectady, Albany, and Poughkeepsie. Amtrak's Empire Service and Maple Leaf serve the entire length of the corridor, with the Maple Leaf continuing to Toronto. Lake Shore Limited trains from Chicago join the Empire Corridor just before Buffalo–Depew station, and continue to Albany, where half of each train diverges to Boston, and the other half continues to New York City. The Ethan Allen Express and Adirondack follow the corridor between New York and Schenectady, after which they diverge and continue on to Rutland and Montreal, respectively. Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line merges with the Empire Corridor in Spuyten Duyvil, Bronx, just south of Riverdale, providing commuter rail service between Poughkeepsie, New York and Grand Central Terminal.
The line is electrified by both overhead catenary and top-running third rail on the Amtrak-owned segment between Penn Station and 41st Street, and by under-running third rail on the Metro-North segment, from the merge with the Hudson Line to Croton–Harmon. The Amtrak-owned section between 41st Street and the merge with the Hudson Line is unpowered and can only be served by diesel or diesel-electric trains.
The corridor is also one of ten federally designated high-speed rail corridors in the United States. If the proposed high-speed service were built on the corridor, trains traveling between Buffalo and New York City would travel at speeds of up to 125 mph (201 km/h). In the 1890s service on the Empire State Express service between New York City and Buffalo was about 1 hour faster than Amtrak's service in 2013. On September 14, 1891 the Empire State Express covered the 436 miles (702 km) between New York City and Buffalo in 7 hours and 6 minutes (including stops), averaging 61.4 mph (98.8 km/h), with a top speed of 82 mph (132 km/h).[1][2]
Ownership
The Empire Corridor is largely owned by CSX Transportation (CSX), which owns the trackage between Niagara Falls and Poughkeepsie.[3] Amtrak owns trackage rights for most of the Hudson line section north of Poughkeepsie to their rail yard in Albany. South of Poughkeepsie, the Empire Corridor is coextensive with Metro-North's trackage until it forks off between Metro-North's Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil stations in the Bronx, to cross the Harlem River over the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge and make the Empire Connection to Penn Station. Amtrak owns the trackage after that fork, the West Side Line.
The corridor had been part of the main line of the New York Central Railroad; it was the eastern leg of the NYC's famed "Water Level Route" to Chicago. The corridor passed to Penn Central in 1968 upon the NYC's merger with the Pennsylvania Railroad, and passed to Conrail in 1976. In a series of purchases in the 1980s and 1990s, Amtrak bought the Bronx-Manhattan segment, Metro-North acquired the Poughkeepsie-Bronx segment, and CSX acquired the remainder when it split Conrail's assets with Norfolk Southern.
On October 18, 2011, Amtrak and CSX announced an agreement for Amtrak to lease, operate and maintain the CSX-owned trackage between Poughkeepsie and Schenectady.[4] Amtrak officially assumed control of the line on December 1, 2012.[5]
Current services
The busiest segment of the Empire Corridor is between New York City and Albany with multiple trains per day.
Amtrak
The following trains operate along the varied segments of the corridor:
- Empire Service: local service along the entire corridor from New York City to Niagara Falls, NY. Most trains operate along the southern segment between New York and Albany–Rensselaer, with two trains in each direction continuing west to Niagara Falls daily.
- Ethan Allen Express: one train in each direction daily from New York City to Rutland, splitting from the corridor in Schenectady.
- Adirondack: New York City to Montreal, splitting from the corridor in Schenectady.
- Lake Shore Limited: New York City to Chicago, splitting from the corridor at Buffalo–Depew, though a section of the train splits off in Albany to serve Boston instead of New York.
- Maple Leaf: daily service from New York City to Toronto, operating on the entire corridor.
Commuter rail
- Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line, from Poughkeepsie, New York to Grand Central Terminal, New York, uses the corridor between Poughkeepsie to south of Riverdale.
Freight service
Freight service is provided by CSX Transportation.
Stations
All stations are in the state of New York.
| Location | Mile (km) | Station | Current station opened |
Corridor services | Connections | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES | ML | LS | AD | EA | HD | |||||
| Niagara Falls | 461 (742) | Niagara Falls | December 6, 2016[6] | ● | ● |  NFTA: 52
| ||||
| Buffalo | 437 (703) | Buffalo–Exchange Street | November 8, 2020[7] | ● | ● |  NFTA: Metro Rail Erie Canal Harbor NFTA Bus: 14, 16, 42, 74  Thruway Motorcoach to Jamestown
| ||||
| Depew | 431 (694) | Buffalo–Depew | October 28, 1979[8] | ● | ● | ● | NFTA Bus: 46
| |||
| Rochester | 370 (600) | Louise M. Slaughter Rochester Station |
October 6, 2017[9] | ● | ● | ● | RTS: 37, 41
| |||
| Syracuse | New York State Fair | August 22, 2002[10] | ● | ● | (seasonal) | |||||
| 291 (468) | William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center |
August 1998[6] | ● | ● | ● | CENTRO: 16, 48, 50, 60, 62, 70, 82, 236, 246, 250
| ||||
| Rome | 250 (400) | Rome | 1914[6] | ● | ● | CENTRO of Oneida: 4, 7
| ||||
| Utica | 237 (381) | Utica Union Station | May 24, 1914[6] | ● | ● | ● |  Adirondack Scenic Railroad to Thendara CENTRO of Oneida: 12 Birnie Bus Services, Adirondack Trailways, Chenango Valley Bus Company,  Greyhound Lines
| |||
| Amsterdam | 177 (285) | Amsterdam | 1973[6] | ● | ● | |||||
| Schenectady | 159 (256) | Schenectady | October 17, 2018[11] | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | CDTA: 351, 353, 354, 355, 370, 763, 905 BusPlus
| |
| Rensselaer | 141 (227) | Albany–Rensselaer | September 22, 2002[12] | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | CDTA: NX Northway Express, 114, 214
| |
| Hudson | 114 (183) | Hudson | 1874[6] | ● | ● | ● | ● | Columbia County Public Transportation: Hudson–Albany Shuttle
| ||
| Rhinecliff | 100 (160) | Rhinecliff–Kingston | 1914[6] | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ||
| Poughkeepsie | 80 (130) | Poughkeepsie | February 18, 1918[13] | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | Dutchess County Public Transit: A, B, C, D, E, H, J, K, L, RailLink; UCAT: KPL, UPL
|
| New Hamburg | 71.5 (115.1) | New Hamburg | October 17, 1981[14] | ● | Dutchess County Public Transit: RailLink
| |||||
| Beacon | 65.5 (105.4) | Beacon | 1915[15] | ● | Dutchess County Public Transit: B, G; Leprechaun Lines: Newburgh-Beacon Shuttle Newburgh–Beacon Ferry
| |||||
| Cold Spring | 61.5 (99.0) | Breakneck Ridge | ● | |||||||
| 59 (95) | Cold Spring | 1893 | ● | Putnam Transit: Cold Spring Trolley
| ||||||
| Garrison | 56.4 (90.8) | Garrison | 1892 | ● | ||||||
| 52.5 (84.5) | Manitou | 1983[16] | ● | |||||||
| Peekskill | 47.7 (76.8) | Peekskill | 1874 | ● | Bee-Line Bus: 16, 18, 31
| |||||
| Montrose | 44.9 (72.3) | Cortlandt | 1996[17] | ● | Bee-Line Bus: 14
| |||||
| Croton-on-Hudson | 39.7 (63.9) | Croton–Harmon | 1988[6] | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | Bee-Line Bus: 10, 11, 14
|
| Ossining | 37.3 (60.0) | Ossining | 1914 | ● | Bee-Line Bus: 13, 13B, 19 Haverstraw–Ossining Ferry
| |||||
| Briarcliff Manor | 36 (58) | Scarborough | 1851 | ● | ||||||
| Sleepy Hollow | 33 (53) | Philipse Manor | January 30, 1911[18] | ● | ||||||
| Tarrytown | 31.7 (51.0) | Tarrytown | 1925[19] | ● | Hudson Link: H07, H07X; Bee-Line Bus: 1T, 13, T
| |||||
| Irvington | 29.2 (47.0) | Irvington | 1889 | ● | ||||||
| 28.2 (45.4) | Ardsley-on-Hudson | c. 1896 | ● | |||||||
| Dobbs Ferry | 27.2 (43.8) | Dobbs Ferry | 1899 | ● | Bee-Line Bus: 1, 6
| |||||
| Hastings-on-Hudson | 26 (42) | Hastings-on-Hudson | 1910 | ● | Bee-Line Bus: 6, 1C, 1T, & 1W
| |||||
| Yonkers | 24.3 (39.1) | Greystone | 1899 | ● | Bee-Line Bus: 6, 1C, 1T, & 1W
| |||||
| 22.7 (36.5) | Glenwood | ● | Bee-Line Bus: 1C, 1T, & 1W
| |||||||
| 21.6 (34.8) | Yonkers | 1911[6] | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | Bee-Line Bus: 6, 9, 25, 32, 91 (seasonal)
| ||
| 20.8 (33.5) | Ludlow | ● | Bee-Line Bus: 32
| |||||||
| The Bronx | 19.5 (31.4) | Riverdale | ● | Hudson Rail Link: A, B, C, D
| ||||||
| New York | 0 (0) | Penn Station | 1968[6] | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | Amtrak (long-distance): Acela, Adirondack, Cardinal, Crescent, Lake Shore Limited, Palmetto, Pennsylvanian, Silver Meteor, Silver Star Amtrak (intercity): Carolinian, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Keystone Service, Maple Leaf, Northeast Regional, Vermonter LIRR: ■ Main Line, ■ Port Washington Branch NJ Transit: ■ North Jersey Coast Line, ■ Northeast Corridor Line, ■ Gladstone Branch, ■ Montclair-Boonton Line, ■ Morristown Line NYC Subway:        PATH: HOB-33 JSQ-33 JSQ-33 (via HOB) NYC Transit buses: M7, M20, M34 SBS, M34A SBS, Q32, SIM23, SIM24
| |
See also
References
- ^ John Lienhard. "Rain, Steam & Speed: Inventing Powered Motion". Retrieved January 28, 2007.
- ^ "GREAT SPEED Off THE CENTRAL.; Empire State Express Engine Travels at the Rate of 112 1-2 Miles an Hour" (PDF). The New York Times. May 12, 1893. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
- ^ Amtrak system timetable, Fall 2010/Winter 2011, page 25
- ^ "Amtrak to lease Empire Corridor trackage from CSX". Trains Magazine. October 18, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
- ^ "Governor Cuomo Announces Hudson Rail Lease - Amtrak/CSX Deal Will Improve Passenger Service, Move Projects Forward" (PDF) (Press release). Albany, New York: Amtrak. December 4, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Building Great American Stations". Amtrak. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
- ^ Prohaska, Thomas J. (November 8, 2020). "New Amtrak Station Opens Downtown handling Curtailed Runs Amid Pandemic". The Buffalo News. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
- ^ "New Buffalo Station". Amtrak NEWS. 6 (12): 6–7. November 1979. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
- ^ Manon, Tianna. "Rochester's new train station is open for business". www.wxxinews.org. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
- ^ Lankes, Tiffany (September 2, 2002). "State Fair attendance drops, vendors suffer sales losses". The Daily Orange. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
- ^ "Governor Cuomo Announces Grand Opening of Schenectady Train Station". Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. October 17, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
- ^ Woodruff, Cathy (February 14, 2010). "Train Late? Old Stations Derail New Track". Albany Times Union. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
- ^ Howe, Patricia; Katherine Moore (February 25, 1976). "National Register of Historic Places nomination, Poughkeepsie Railroad station". Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
- ^ "New Rail Car to Arrive at New Hamburg Stop". The Poughkeepsie Journal. October 16, 1981. Retrieved December 30, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Ken Kinlock. "Railroad at Fishkill Landing NY First Phase". Archived from the original on January 4, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
- ^ "New York Division Bulletin". Electric Railroaders' Association. July 1993.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ Transportation Research Record. Transportation Research Board, Commission on Sociotechnical Systems, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences. 1999. ISBN 9780309071031.
- ^ "Philipse Manor". The New York Times. February 5, 1911. p. 71. Retrieved December 27, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Big Apartment for Suburb". The New York Times. October 11, 1925. Retrieved May 18, 2008.
