Metro-North and Amtrak will be joining forces to partially restore weekday train service between New York City and Albany in the spring, after work on the East River Tunnel forced a cut in the number of runs between the two cities.
Gov. Hochul announced Monday that Amtrak will be restoring one round trip to its service from Penn Station to the state capital beginning December 1 —Train 235, departing Penn for Albany at 3:15 p.m., and Train 238, departing the capital for Gotham at 12:10.
In addition, starting in the spring, Metro-North Railroad will be running a train north from Grand Central Terminal to Albany once a morning, with a return trip scheduled for the afternoon.
That trip will mark the first time Metro-North service has operated service to Albany since the railroad began. MNR’s predecessor, the New York Central Railroad, ran service to the capital from NYC until 1967.
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A Metro-North train. (Shutterstock)
Logistical complications stemming from Amtrak’s closure of one of the four tubes of the East River Tunnel — which connects Penn Station to points East — caused the federal passenger railway to cancel three weekday round-trips between New York and Albany in May.
“Restoring Amtrak service and debuting Metro-North service to Albany is a huge win for riders,” Hochul said in a statement.
“While Amtrak’s repairs to the East River Tunnel are necessary, riders from Albany to New York City have had to endure sold out trains and higher fares for the past five months.”
Amtrak plans to fully reopen the East River Tunnel by the end of 2027.
