Empire Corridor

Empire Corridor
Empire Corridor
	Empire Corridor (red) as designated by theFederal Railroad Administration
Overview
Owner	CSX(Niagara–Poughkeepsie); Metro-North(Poughkeepsie–Riverdale); Amtrak(Riverdale–New York)
Termini	Niagara Falls; New York Penn Station;
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,Berkshire Flyer,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 ft8+1⁄2in(1,435 mm)standard gauge
Route map
Route map
	Legend
	CNGrimsby Subdivision
	Maple LeaftoToronto
	Ontario,Canada
	New York,United States
	AdirondacktoMontreal
	Ethan Allen ExpresstoRutland
	Lake Shore LimitedtoBoston
	Berkshire FlyertoPittsfield
	Newburgh, Dutchess
	& Connecticut RR
	Hudson Line
	toGrand Central Terminal
	This diagram: view; talk; edit;

TheEmpire Corridoris a 461-mile (742 km)passenger railcorridor inNew York Staterunning betweenPenn StationinNew York CityandNiagara Falls, New York.Major cities on the route includePoughkeepsie,Albany,Schenectady,Amsterdam,Utica,Syracuse,Rochester,andBuffalo.Much of the corridor was once part of theNew York Central Railroad's main line.

Amtrak'sEmpire ServiceandMaple Leafserve the entire length of the Empire Corridor, with theMaple Leafcontinuing northwest toToronto.TheLake Shore Limitedfollows most of the corridor from New York City, diverging west toChicagoat theBuffalo–Depew station.TheBerkshire Flyertakes the corridor toAlbany–Rensselaer,before diverging east toPittsfield,while theAdirondackandEthan Allen Expresstravel one stop further toSchenectady,before diverging north toMontrealandBurlington,respectively.Metro-North Railroad'sHudson Linemerges with the Empire Corridor inSpuyten Duyvil, Bronx,just south ofRiverdale,providing commuter rail service betweenPoughkeepsie, New YorkandGrand Central Terminalin New York City.

The line is electrified by bothoverhead catenaryand top-runningthird railon the Amtrak-owned segment betweenPenn Stationand 41st Street, as well as by under-runningthird railon the Metro-North segment, from the merge with the Hudson Line toCroton–Harmon.The Amtrak-owned section between 41st Street and the merge with the Hudson Line is unpowered, and can only be served by diesel ordual-modetrains.

The corridor is also one of ten federally designatedhigh-speed railcorridors in the United States. If the proposed high-speed service were to be built on the corridor, trains traveling between Buffalo and New York City could travel at speeds of up to 125 mph (201 km/h). In the 1890s, theEmpire State Expressbetween New York City and Buffalo was about 1 hour faster than Amtrak's service in 2013. On September 14, 1891, theEmpire State Expresscovered 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 byCSX Transportation(CSX), which owns most of the trackage between Niagara Falls andPoughkeepsie.^[3]Amtrak owns trackage rights for most of the Hudson line section north of Poughkeepsie to its rail yard inAlbany.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 theHarlem Riverover theSpuyten Duyvil Bridgeand make theEmpire Connectionto Penn Station. Amtrak owns the trackage after that fork, theWest Side Line.

The corridor had been part of the main line of theNew York Central Railroad;it was the eastern leg of the NYC's famed "Water Level Route" toChicago.The corridor passed toPenn Centralin 1968 upon the NYC's merger with thePennsylvania Railroad,and passed toConrailin 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 withNorfolk Southern,in 1999.

On October 18, 2011, Amtrak and CSX announced an agreement for Amtrak to lease, operate and maintain the CSX-owned trackage between Poughkeepsie andSchenectady.^[4]Amtrak officially assumed control of the line on December 1, 2012.^[5]Later, Amtrak bought the segment between Schenectady andHoffmansfrom CSX.

Current services

The busiest segment of the Empire Corridor is between New York City andAlbanywith twelve trains per day.

Amtrak

Southbound Amtrak train on Hudson line tracks, just south ofRiverdale Station.Looking south from 254th street bridge, Riverdale, Bronx, NY

The following trains operate along the varied segments of the corridor:

Empire Service:local service along the entire corridor fromNew York CitytoNiagara Falls, NY.Most trains operate along the southern segment between New York andAlbany–Rensselaer,with three trains in each direction continuing west to Niagara Falls daily.
Maple Leaf:daily service from New York City toToronto,operating on the entire corridor.
Lake Shore Limited:daily service from New York City toChicago,splitting from the corridor atBuffalo–Depew.A section of this train splits-off at Albany–Rensselaer to serveBoston.
Adirondack:daily service from New York City toMontreal,splitting from the corridor in Schenectady.
Ethan Allen Express:daily service from New York City toBurlington,splitting from the corridor in Schenectady.
Berkshire Flyer:weekly summer service between New York City andPittsfield,reversing direction and splitting from the corridor at Albany–Rensselaer.

Commuter rail

Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line,fromPoughkeepsie, New YorktoGrand Central Terminal,New York, comprises the corridor between Poughkeepsie to south of Riverdale.

Freight service

Freight service is provided byCSX Transportation.

Stations

All stations are in thestate of New York.

Location	Mile (km)	Station	Current station opened	Corridor services							Connections
Location	Mile (km)	Station	Current station opened	ES	ML	LS	AD	EA	BF	HD	Connections
Niagara Falls	461 (742)	Niagara Falls	December 6, 2016^[6]	●	●						NFTA Bus:52
Buffalo	437 (703)	Buffalo–Exchange Street	November 8, 2020^[7]	●	●						NFTA:Metro Rail(atCanalside station) NFTA Bus:14, 16, 42, 74 Amtrak ThruwaytoJamestown
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)
Syracuse	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 RailroadtoThendara 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:353, 354, 355, 370, 602, 605, 763, 905 BusPlus
Rensselaer	141 (227)	Albany–Rensselaer	September 22, 2002^[12]	●	●	●	●	●	●		CDTA: 114, 214 Vermont Translines
Hudson	114 (183)	Hudson	1874^[6]	●	●		●	●	●		Columbia County Public Transportation: Hudson–Albany Shuttle
Rhinecliff	100 (160)	Rhinecliff	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								●
Cold Spring	59 (95)	Cold Spring	1893							●	Putnam Transit:Cold Spring Trolley
Garrison	56.4 (90.8)	Garrison	1892							●
Garrison	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							●
Irvington	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-33JSQ-33JSQ-33 (via HOB) NYC Transit buses:M7,M20,M34 SBS,M34A SBS,Q32,SIM23,SIM24