Amtrak has continued to cancel trains in the Midwest and East amid the effects of a winter storm that swept across the country and disrupted travel generally.
Several Midwest corridor trains did not operate on Saturday and will not operate today.
The latest service advisory posted on the Amtrak website shows the following trains will not operate on Christmas Day.
Lincoln Service Trains 300, 301, 302, 305 and 306 between Chicago and St. Louis; Missouri River Runner trains 311 and 316 between St. Louis and Kansas City; Trains 318 and 319 between Chicago and Kansas City via St. Louis; Hiawatha Service Trains 329, 332, 333, 336, 337, 340 and 343 between Chicago and Milwaukee; Wolverine Service Trains 352 and 353 between Chicago and Detroit (Pontiac); Blue Water No. 365 from Port Huron, Michigan, to Chicago; the Pere Marquette from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Chicago; Illinois Zephyr No. 382 from Quincy, Illinois, to Chicago;
Several trains did not operate on Christmas Eve and have not yet been posted as cancelled for Christmas Day.
They include Lincoln Service Train 307; Hiawatha Service Train 341; Saluki Trains 391 and 382 between Chicago and Carbondale, Illinois; Wolverine Service Trains 350, 351, 354, 355, 364 and 365; and Pere Marquette Train 370 from Chicago to Grand Rapids.
Trains 318 and 319 have already been cancelled for Dec. 26.
In the East, the New York-Toronto Maple Leaf was cancelled between Syracuse and Niagara Falls on Saturday.
Empire Service Nos. 280, 281 and 283 were cancelled between Niagara Falls and Albany-Rensselaer on Saturday while No. 284 is cancelled on Sunday between Syracuse and Niagara Falls.
In the long-distance network, the Capitol Limited did not depart its terminals in Chicago and Washington on Saturday.
The Lake Shore Limited will not originate in Chicago, Boston or New York on Saturday or Sunday.
The Chicago-New York Cardinal did not operate on Saturday. Its next scheduled trip is out of New York on Christmas Day.
The Empire Builder between Chicago and Seattle/Portland continues to be suspended through Sunday.
Additional service is being reinstated on Amtrak’s Empire Service Route.
The passenger carrier said that effective Dec. 5 it will begin operating two additional round trips between New York and Albany-Rensselaer, New York.
The additions include trains leaving Albany-Rensselaer at 11:10 a.m. Sunday through Friday, arriving at Penn Station at 1:45 p.m.; and departing Albany-Rensselaer at 5:30 p.m. arriving in New York at 8:05 p.m.
New northbound trains will depart New York Penn Station at 8:15 a.m. arriving in Albany/Rensselaer at 10:47 a.m.; and New York at 3:15 p.m. and arriving in Albany-Rensselaer at 5:45 p.m.
The additional trains will boost Empire Service between New York and Albany-Rensselaer to 12 weekday roundtrips.
That remains one less than what the route hosted before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early spring 2020.
The westbound Maple Leaf is about to arrive at Buffalo Depew station in July 2011.
Track work being performed in New York state will result in schedule changes for Empire Service trains and the Maple Leaf.
In a service advisory, Amtrak said the work is occurring between Niagara Falls, New York, and Hoffmans.
The new schedules take effect April 25 and will remain in place through Oct. 23.
The eastbound Maple Leaf will depart Niagara Falls at its normal time of 12:17 p.m., with intermediate station adjustments from Buffalo Exchange to Albany-Rensselaer, where it is expected to arrive on its regular schedule.
Train 280 will depart Niagara Falls at 3:42 a.m., 10 minutes earlier than normal, with intermediate station adjustments from Niagara Falls to Rome. It will depart Utica on its regular schedule.
Train 284 will depart Niagara Falls at 6:31 a.m., 16 minutes earlier than normal, with intermediate station adjustments from Niagara Falls to Rome. It will depart Utica on it regular schedule.
The westbound Maple Leaf will depart Albany-Rensselaer at 10:10 a.m., 10 minutes later than normal, with intermediate station adjustments between Albany and Niagara Falls for an arrival at the latter 25 minutes later than scheduled.
Train 281 will depart Rochester at 5:24 p.m., five minutes later than normal, with intermediate station adjustments between Rochester and Niagara Falls. It will arrive in Niagara Falls 10 minutes later than scheduled.
Train 283 will depart Syracuse at 6:49 p.m., five minutes later than normal, with intermediate station adjustments between Syracuse and Niagara Falls. It will arrive in Niagara Falls 15 minutes later than scheduled.
New schedules on Amtrak’s Empire Corridor have been implemented to accommodate track work being performed between Niagara Falls and Hoffmans, New York.
In a service advisory, Amtrak said the work affects the Maple Leaf and select Empire Service trains. The changes are in effect through Oct. 31.
Train 64 will depart Niagara Falls 10 minutes earlier at 12:07 p.m., with intermediate station adjustments, and arrives in Albany 21 minutes earlier at 6:18 p.m.
Train 284 will depart Niagara Falls 16 minutes earlier at 6:31 a.m., with intermediate station adjustments, and goes back to its regular schedule at Utica.
Train 281 will have intermediate station adjustments beginning at Syracuse at 3:55 p.m. and will arrive in Niagara Falls 15 minutes later at 7:26 p.m.
Train 283 will have intermediate station adjustments beginning at Syracuse at 6:49 p.m. and will arrive in Niagara Falls 15 minutes later, at 10:26 p.m.
Passengers board Amtrak’s Chicago-bound Saluki at Effingham, Illinois, on March 21. The Chicago-Carbondale corridor lost one roundtrip since the COVID-19 pandemic began a year ago
Although Amtrak plans to restore daily service to most long-distance routes starting in late May, the restoration of corridor service cut during the COVID-19 pandemic presents a more mixed picture.
Some states might restore service by summer but that is not guaranteed.
Michigan Department of Transportation Rail Director Peter Anastor said he didn’t known when two suspended Wolverine Service roundtrips between Chicago and Detroit (Pontiac) would return.
He indicated it will hinge in part on ridership and revenue trends.
“The CARES Act and the second stimulus bill helped fill the gap caused by fixed costs that stay the same whether you have 10 or 100 riders,” he said.
Michigan also funds the Chicago-Port Huron Blue Water and the Chicago-Grand Rapids Pere Marquette.
Although the Blue Water continued to operate throughout the pandemic, the Pere Marquette was suspended between March and last summer.
Anastor indicated new Venture coaches are expected to be assigned to Wolverine Service this spring, making it the first Midwest corridor train to have the new cars.
On other Midwest corridor routes, Hiawatha Service between Chicago and Milwaukee is expected to increase to seven round trips on May 21.
Wisconsin Department of Transportation Rail Division head Arun Rao said the service expansion will be promoted with an extensive advertising push and increased social media activity.
Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Speegle said his agency will decide in April when some other corridor services will be restored.
IDOT has suspended one round trip on the Chicago-Carbondale route, one roundtrip on the Chicago-Quincy route and two roundtrips between Chicago and St. Louis.
“We anticipate resuming full service no earlier that mid-July; the final decision on that time frame will be made in April, approximately 12 weeks prior to resumption of service,” he said.
Speegle said IDOT will review ridership and revenue numbers for the current service, anticipated costs, and the level of federal support.
Whether a second St. Louis-Kansas City Missouri River Runner will resume operating will depend on how much funding the Missouri legislature approves.
The Missouri Department of Transportation has requested funding for two daily roundtrips but the chair of a House budget committee has proposed funding just one roundtrip.
In the East, New York State has not announced its intentions in regards to restoring any suspended Empire Corridor trains.
Two routes funded by New York, the Maple Leaf to Toronto and Adirondack to Montreal have been suspended due to the U.S.-Canadian border being closed during the pandemic.
Elsewhere in the East, North Carolina will begin a fourth roundtrip starting April 5 in the Charlotte-Raleigh corridor.
Amtrak and the North Carolina Department of Transportation are reinstating a third Piedmont Service roundtrip, making this the first multi-frequency state corridor to be fully restored.
North Carolina reinstated a second and third round trip last August and December, respectively.
Another Downeaster trip to Maine is expected to resume in May after schedules are worked out with Amtrak and host railroad Pan Am Railways.
Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority Executive Director Patricia Quinn said the new schedule will be a little different.
“Instead of just plugging two midday trains back into their old slots, we’re adding a 10:30 a.m. departure from Brunswick, which will turn as a 3 p.m. departure from Boston,” she said.
“Given the change in commute patterns, we decided to try something different, assuming we won’t need two trains leaving Boston for the evening rush hour, but the additional round-trip means we will again have a flex schedule for the late-night train from Boston to accommodate sports fans and concert goers.”
Quinn said weekday and weekend schedules will now be identical.
In the West, one Capitol Corridor roundtrip will on March 29 be extended from Oakland to San Jose.
Capitol Corridor managing director Rob Pagette said there will be a change in departure times based on the way customers now use the trains.
“We’re about at 15 percent of where we were in February 2020 but we are looking to have a more robust service by September,” he said.
“We’ve seen more demand spread throughout the day, and this has allowed us to improve the efficiency of how we use our equipment by (temporarily) going from seven to six consists.”
Pagette said officials will be watching to determine where people are riding after the schedule change to determine where we add back the seventh consist.” An eighth trainset will be added later.
The extended round trip to San Jose will originate in Auburn because there appear to be increasing numbers of “super commuters” who ride 80 miles or more to their jobs.
Ridership trends during the pandemic have shown that if passengers are less likely to travel every day, more will opt for less-costly housing further away from the Silicon Valley.
In the San Joaquin corridor, a fifth roundtrip is expected to be added in in the fall. However, the two round trips to Sacramento aren’t likely to return until early 2021 at the earliest.
Those plans, though, are contingent on ridership stabilizing.
In Southern California, the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency expects to restore one Pacific Surfliner roundtrip between San Diego and Goleta in July or August.
The date of that service restoration is dependant on available funding.
In the Pacific Northwest, the Washington Department of Transportation is eyeing returning two Seattle-Portland roundtrips in mid May.
Currently, the Cascades Service is operating with one Seattle-Eugene, Oregon, round trip.
Officials are considering increasing Portland-Eugene service to two roundtrips.
New York transportation officials have ruled out for now funding café car service on Amtrak’s Empire Service trains operating between New York City and Albany-Rensselaer.
Food and beverage service was removed by Amtrak from those trains in 2005 in a cost-cutting move.
Earlier this year, passenger train advocates, including the Empire State Passengers Association, began pushing for food service to be offered on all Empire Corridor trains.
However, a New York Division of Budget official ruled that out this week.
“The FY 2020 Enacted Budget does not include funding to restore food service in the Empire Corridor and we continue to look to the Federal government to restore its role in fully supporting train service,” said spokesman Freeman Klopott.
Nonetheless, the ESPA is not giving up. President Gary Prophet said the money needed to restore food service would used to cover startup costs of the service.
“Cafe service on short-distance trains breaks even,” Prophet said, adding that it was only the dining cars on the long-distance trains that lose money.
Café car service is available on several trains operating in the Empire Corridor including the Adirondack, Ethan Allen Express, Maple Leaf and Lake Shore Limited.
The two New York-Niagara Falls Empire Service roundtrips also offer café cars.
Amtrak cited heavy financial losses for ending food and beverage service on Empire Service trains operating south of Albany in 2005.
It launched a four-month trial in fall 2005 of selling Subway sandwiches aboard those trains, but pulled the plus before the end of the first week of operation.
Passengers since then had to bring their own food or buy something at a coffee shop in the Albany-Rensselaer station.
An effort to build another generation of visitors to the Berkshire mountains is behind an effort by Massachusetts officials to launch a pilot Amtrak service to western Massachusetts in 2020.
The plan is to have one of Amtrak’s Empire Service trains that now terminates at the Albany-Rensselaer, New York, station continue operating to Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
The target market for the service is primarily young couples ages 27 to 47 who live in the New York City metro area who don’t own cars and have a household income of more than $100,000.
“We’d love to see rail as an option for the next generation of Berkshire visitors,” said Jonathan Butler, co-chair of the Berkshire Flyer subcommittee and president and CEO of 1Berkshire, the economic development and tourism agency of Berkshire County.
Butler said another market for the train is older people who might already have a second home in the Berkshires.
The train would operate seasonally on weekends and officials hope to launch it by Memorial Day 2020.
The service would be funded by the State of Massachusetts.
A key to making the project work will be offering transportation for the “last mile” from the train to Berkshires resorts.
That could be anything from car-hailing services to rental cars to taxis and local buses.
The Berkshire Flyer is expected to leave New York City on Fridays at 2:20 p.m., arriving at 6:10 p.m. in Pittsfield.
Return trips would leave Pittsfield on Sundays at 2:45 p.m., arriving at Penn Station at 6:45 p.m.
The pilot program is projected to last 20 weeks and cost the state about $237,000.
Pittsfield is already a stop for Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited between Chicago and Boston.
Another task force is looking at adding passenger rail service to Pittsfield from Boston. It is expected to meet in the spring to consider six possible alternatives for that service.
Amtrak has announced its plans to divert most trains using the Empire Corridor between New York and Albany-Rensselaer, New York, to Grand Central Terminal in New York City.
The diversion will last between May 26 and Sept. 3 and result in the New York section of the Lake Shore Limited being terminated at Albany.
Passengers traveling to and from New York on Trains 48 and 49 will make an across the platform transfer at Albany-Rensselaer.
Passengers on No. 48 will transfer at Albany to Train 244 bound Grand Central Terminal.
Passengers originating in New York and ticketed aboard No. 49 will use Trains 291, 255 or 295 from Grand Central Terminal and Albany.
The Lake Shore Limited during the summer will travel between Chicago and Boston.
Train 449 will depart Albany 30 minutes later than scheduled with other minor timing adjustments.
Empire Corridor trains that will service Grand Central include Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Adirondack and Maple Leaf trains.
Trains arriving at and departing from Grand Central Terminal will operate on an adjusted schedule and passengers are urged to contact Amtrak for schedule information.
Amtrak personnel will be available at Grand Central Terminal between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. daily, to answer questions and provide information. The station also has an information kiosk.
Passengers transferring between New York Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal are being referred to taxi and local transit options. Amtrak is not providing transfer service. The two terminals are located about a mile apart.
Checked baggage service will not be available at Grand Central Terminal.
The service disruptions are being prompted by an infrastructure renewal program at New York Penn Station that also include work on the route leading into the terminal from the Empire Corridor.
A study of rail service between New York City and Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is underway.
The proposal would have trains use Amtrak’s Empire Corridor from New York to Rensselaer, New York, and then reverse direction and travel to Pittsfield via a CSX route now used by the Boston section of the Lake Shore Limited.
This route would be unlikely to require any significant additional investment in new track, signals or land purchases on the Amtrak-owned segments.
However, facilities will be needed in Pittsfield for overnight storage and servicing of equipment.
Eddie Sporn, a West Stockbridge resident who heads real estate and planning firm Robin Road Consulting, said another option that would avoid running through Rensselaer is being eyes, but the Rensselaer option appears to be the favored.
Six Amtrak Empire Service trains are expected to use Grand Central Terminal in New York City starting July 10 when track work begins at Penn Station.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Interim Executive Director Veronique Hakim said MTA and Amtrak have reached an agreement for sharing Grand Central.
“They will be bringing a small part of their Empire Service into Grand Central,” she said. “We think they’re looking at six trains, three in or three out. That could provide some relief at Penn (Station) as well.”
Amtrak has still not said which Empire Service trains will use Grand Central, but has announced that it would do so soon. Amtrak plans to use Grand Central until Sept. 1.
Empire Service trains are funded by the State of New York. Most of the service operates between Albany-Rensselaer and New York City, but some trains originate in Niagara Falls, New York.
Amtrak has not used Grand Central since 1991 when it moved to Penn Station all trains using the former New York Central mainline into New York along the Hudson River.
In a service advisory, Amtrak said the work affects the Maple Leaf and select Empire Service trains. The changes are in effect through Oct. 31.
Amtrak in the Heartland 