Amtrak agrees to pay Canadian rail operators to repair tracks connecting N.Y. to Montreal
May 19—The north country's only full-service passenger rail line has been temporarily suspended while Amtrak and Canadian National Rail work to repair the 30 miles of track directly north of the border crossing point.
It's a major investment that's been years in the making —the rails between Rouses Point in New York and Montreal's Central Station have long been in a state of serious disrepair, forcing trains to travel at a maximum of 10 miles per hour along the route.
Extreme heat pushed Canadian National to suspend service on the rails in the summer of 2023, forcing Amtrak to stop running the Adirondack line north of Albany for months during the summer travel season. The hot weather heated the rails to the point they buckled, and what is an already-rough ride became nearly impossible to safety travel at any speed.
The Adirondack line was suspended for most of 2020 and all of 2021 and 2022 because of COVID-19 pandemic border restrictions that blocked all but essential travel over the border. The service was briefly restored in the spring of 2023 before it was suspended again.
From May 20 to June 30 of this year, the line will run from New York City to Saratoga Springs — where this year's Belmont Stakes, the third leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown, will be held.
In a statement shared on Friday, Amtrak and Canadian National Rail officials said they were "pleased to have resolved the service issues," for the Adirondack line.
Under the terms of their agreement, Amtrak will pay CN rail a currently-undisclosed amount of money as a "settlement payment," to repair the tracks north of Rouses Point for Amtrak's benefit.
The company statement says this work will "help mitigate, but not eliminate, heat slow order speed limits going forward."
The companies gave special thanks to the local stakeholders and the N.Y. Congressional delegation for their work to resolve the ongoing track issues and summer travel stoppages.
The Adirondack Line runs through a number of Congressional districts in New York, but the areas experiencing service cuts are always in NY-21, represented by Congresswoman Elise M. Stefanik.
In a statement shared shortly after the announcement, Stefanik's said she was proud to announce the news.
"This result will allow tourism to flourish through the summer months, strengthening economic development in the region and our partnership with our Canadian neighbors," she said.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., also lauded the news in a statement Friday afternoon.
"From Plattsburgh to Poughkeepsie and into Penn Station, the Adirondack Line is the economic engine which connects some of the most beautiful parts of upstate New York, and resumption of this service will help pump vital tourism dollars into Main Streets across upstate New York," he said.
North country Assemblyman D. Billy Jones, D-Chateaugay Lake, said he was happy to see the development, which for years has damaged communities in his district with transit gaps.
"The closures in past years have been detrimental to our communities and I am pleased that they are finally addressing this issue so that we can keep the train operating in the future," he said.
