Amtrak Threatens to Cut ADIRONDACK, Due to low state funding Options

[NickG]

From Capital News 9:

Amtrak is threatening to halt passenger service on its Adirondack route to Montreal because the state is behind in its subsidy to support the train.

The full story is here.

[KevinKorell]

Well that is something I would hate to see happen. I think part of the reason Amtrak would like to jettison this service is the international border crossing, as happened to the INTERNATIONAL earlier this year.

I would expect that a 180-day advance notice would have to be posted, since all stations from Whitehall to Montreal would lose all rail service. (Saratoga Springs and Fort Edward-Glens Falls might retain service on the ETHAN ALLEN EXPRESS, which is supported by the state of Vermont, not New York. Montreal, of course, would continue to have VIA service within Canada.)

Let's hope that is not necessary, and that this is just a game of hardball between Amtrak and the state. Still arguably the most scenic trip one can take in the East, it would be a shame to lose this train. Plus, having already lost the Thruway motorcoach connection with the VERMONTER, there would be no way to get to Montreal by rail, other than going west to Toronto and then coming back east on VIA through Canada.

[ICGsteve]

But Amtrak said it has provided all the information required

I for one would like to see the exact quote from AMtrak. The word "required" indicates that Amtrak cares more about a get tough legalist line in the sand then they do about the health of the relationship between the state and AMtrak. One thing is for sure, this sort of nonsense should never had mad it to a public newspaper. The state and Amtrak should have a better working relationship than one where they bicker about documentation and refuse payment. No matter the exact cause of the problem (which we don't know) this problem should have been solved long ago behind closed doors. I don't know about Gunn's move going public with a threat to shut down service as just about everyone is sick of this ploy. I can't see how it gets Amtrak anywhere but in reverse by creating a few more Amtrak haters.

[BillMagee]

This is round two of what appears to be an on-going feud between Amtrak (aka: David Gunn) and New York State. I wonder if there is some long-simmering anamosity between Gunn and the state from his days at the MTA?

David Gunn's long-time MO is the threatened shut down of service. Do what I want or I'll shut down the trains. That works for a while, and then it just gets tiresome. Maybe it is time for someone to call his bluff. MBTA did, and Amtrak lost the contract. Wouldn't Metro North be an attractive operator of the Albany to New York service?

[KevinKorell]

Wouldn't Metro North be an attractive operator of the Albany to New York service?

Well maybe they would, although there would be some baggage along with such a deal.

• I would think that areas north of Poughkeepsie would have to join Metro North's service area.
• Metro North would have to get permission from commuter-unfriendly CSX to operate on their tracks north of Poughkeepsie. Presumably MNRR would operate the trains more often than Amtrak now does (which is almost hourly, but with some gaps of 2 or more hours).
• This does not address the current Empire service west of Albany, either. Would Amtrak be allowed to run those trains into New York City, or would they run only as far east/south as Albany-Rensselaer, with supposed "cross-platform transfers" to Metro North trains? Would the LAKE SHORE LIMITED, MAPLE LEAF, ETHAN ALLEN EXPRESS, and ADIRONDACK (if it survives) also end in Albany?
• And what about the New York terminus of a Metro North-operated Albany-New York service? Would they use Metro North's Grand Central Terminal, or continue to connect with Amtrak trains at Penn Station? Allowing them into Penn would open the door for other shorter-distance (Poughkeepsie, Croton-Harmon) commuter trains also coming into Penn Station via the Empire Connection.

[ICGsteve]

I have been trying to get the backstory on the Amtrak-MN clashes. The best that I can come up with is that a few years ago the two agencies were going to work together on a capital improvement project, but when Amtrak started to run low on cash they just refused to had over to MN the money they had agreed tp pay ($75 million). From what I gather Amtrak knew at least months in advance that they had no money for the project, but they never bothered to tell MN. MN now as a result feels lied to by AMtrak. I do not know the project but this all went down right around the time that Gunn came in. I think that this is just the tip of the iceberg, the problem expands to include MTA and the NY Congreesional delegation.

[RailHaRRy]

From the Press-Replublican, Plattsburgh, NY, 7/1:

Amtrak Adirondack line appears to be saved

By JOHN MILGRIM,Ottaway News Service

ALBANY — The deadline Amtrak set to begin shutting down its daily Adirondack train if it did not get overdue state subsidies came and went Wednesday with no checks cut and no cut in service.

However, the state has promised to pay the $4.4 million it owes Amtrak. 

Full article here.