PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Amtrak has resumed selling tickets for the much-interrupted Adirondack to Montreal and plans to resume service on Sept. 11, WAER radio reports, but the station quotes an Amtrak spokesman as saying the company still needs to “work out several operational details to make that date happen.”
Operations north of Albany were halted June 24, only about seven weeks after the train began operating to Montreal after a three-year hiatus, because of heat-related speed restrictions imposed by Canadian National on the Canadian portion of the route [see “Amtrak abruptly suspends ‘Adirondack’ …,” Trains News Wire, June 26, 2023]. In subsequent statements, the host railroad and Amtrak were at odds on the state of Amtrak payments to maintain the track north of the Canadian border and the imposition of the heat restrictions [see “CN, Amtrak disagree …,” News Wire, June 29, 2023].
The train was subsequently extended to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in July.
Communities along the train’s route have decried the impact on residents and tourism from the train’s absence, so it was no surprise that Garry Douglas, president of the North Country Chamber of Commerce, said his organization welcomes “indications that Amtrak will resume the Adirondack service.” But given the on-again, off-again nature of that service, he also called on Amtrak and Canadian National “to define the track improvements needed and how and when they will be undertaken so we can hopefully avoid future summer stoppages.”
Similarly, state Assemblyman D. Billy Jones told the Plattsburgh Press-Republican, “CN and Amtrak need to release their long-term plans to make the necessary fixes to the track so that this doesn’t happen again next year.”
Service on the New York-Montreal route was suspended in April 2020 during COVID-19-related cutbacks, but remained suspended long after other routes had returned. Amtrak cited “challenges with operations, border facilities, security and staffing” for the inability to restore cross-border operations, and “servicing, staffing, and train operations challenges” for not running the U.S. portion of the route as far as Plattsburgh [see “Amtrak to resume Adirondack service …,” News Wire, March 11, 2023]. Members of New York’s congressional delegation eventually became involved in the effort to restore service.
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