PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Amtrak has resumed selling tickets for the much-interrupted Adirondack to Montreal and plans to resume service on Sept. 11, WAER radio reports, but the station quotes an Amtrak spokesman as saying the company still needs to “work out several operational details to make that date happen.”
Operations north of Albany were halted June 24, only about seven weeks after the train began operating to Montreal after a three-year hiatus, because of heat-related speed restrictions imposed by Canadian National on the Canadian portion of the route [see “Amtrak abruptly suspends ‘Adirondack’ …,” Trains News Wire, June 26, 2023]. In subsequent statements, the host railroad and Amtrak were at odds on the state of Amtrak payments to maintain the track north of the Canadian border and the imposition of the heat restrictions [see “CN, Amtrak disagree …,” News Wire, June 29, 2023].
The train was subsequently extended to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in July.
Communities along the train’s route have decried the impact on residents and tourism from the train’s absence, so it was no surprise that Garry Douglas, president of the North Country Chamber of Commerce, said his organization welcomes “indications that Amtrak will resume the Adirondack service.” But given the on-again, off-again nature of that service, he also called on Amtrak and Canadian National “to define the track improvements needed and how and when they will be undertaken so we can hopefully avoid future summer stoppages.”
Similarly, state Assemblyman D. Billy Jones told the Plattsburgh Press-Republican, “CN and Amtrak need to release their long-term plans to make the necessary fixes to the track so that this doesn’t happen again next year.”
Service on the New York-Montreal route was suspended in April 2020 during COVID-19-related cutbacks, but remained suspended long after other routes had returned. Amtrak cited “challenges with operations, border facilities, security and staffing” for the inability to restore cross-border operations, and “servicing, staffing, and train operations challenges” for not running the U.S. portion of the route as far as Plattsburgh [see “Amtrak to resume Adirondack service …,” News Wire, March 11, 2023]. Members of New York’s congressional delegation eventually became involved in the effort to restore service.
With rail expansion being an issue during the immense heat of Summer, welded rails should be replaced with 39-foot jointed rails where gaps between them allow for expansion. The structural integrity of the tracks would not be as compromised in safety and ride quality.
Really Penelope? Have you been trackside any time in the last six decades or so? Or ridden a train?
And next Summer they will have to suspend the train again. Run a bus.
I thought “running a bus”, actually two buses was actually happening in the absence of the Adirondack. I read that Adirondack Trailways, almost immediately following the train’s June suspension had launched two runs in both directions north of Albany. Somehow they have no problem negotiating Canadian customs.
My understanding is no progress whatsoever was made to smooth out the customs processes during the three years the train was suspended.
The real shame in all this is, from a previous Newswire article, that Amtrak and NYState DOT nixed any ideas of operating the train to/from Plattsburgh. I can see Amtrak’s problem with that; There’s no wye at Plattsburgh and they don’t have enough engines to put one on both ends of the train or enough cab cars or cabbages to deploy there. NYState DOT’s problem was, IMO, they didn’t want to spend the $$$ to build a wye.
After a summer of no service, it’s wonderful news for the Adirondack Amtrak line between New York and Montreal.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
The photo accompanying this article is unintentionally a bit mournful. It depicts the relatively new platform at Port Kent (which also has an attractive open air Adirondack style platform cover). But the train no longer stops there.
Port Kent was always seasonal–timed to the high season only crossings of the Port Kent to Burlington Vermont ferry. The ferry landing was only about 200 feet from the stop. In the early years of the ADIRONDACK there was neither a station nor a platform here. The train literally stopped in the middle of the highway grade crossing leading to the ferry.
Amtrak is not the villain here. The ferry company, Lake Champlain Transportation, theoretically “temporaily” suspended the route in 2020 due to COVID, but subsequently scrapped two of their three vessels suitable for this 70 minute crossing and removed the landing stages on the Burlington side–probably to facilitate a future hotel on the waterfront.
The coming of the ETHAN ALLEN EXPRESS directly to Burlington further eroded the justification to resume the ferry. It would now require acquiring new vessels and a new Burlington dock to restart that crossing. LCT still runs its shorter year-round Grand Isle–Plattsburg and Charlotte–Essex ferry lines, but these come nowhere near walkable distances to Amtrak.
So the restored ADIRONDACK will only pass by Port Kent.
Good point!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün