There are many adjectives that describe the experience of taking Amtrak trains up to the Hudson Valley. Picturesque is one. Crowded is another. Expensive is a third.
When Amtrak began slashing routes last year between New York City and Albany to repair lingering damage from Hurricane Sandy, those issues only worsened, driving ticket prices into the hundreds of dollars in some cases, as demand increased.
But riders got an unexpected reprieve on Monday, when Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that, beginning Dec. 1, some of that some Amtrak service to Albany would be restored and the price capped at $99.
Even better, Ms. Hochul announced that the Metro-North commuter railroad, which is funded by the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority, would be running its own lines to Albany for around $40. Currently, Metro-North terminates at Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Its predecessor last ran trains to Albany in 1967.
“New Yorkers deserve more and they certainly demand more,” Ms. Hochul told reporters at the Albany-Rensselaer train station. “That’s why I pushed Amtrak and the M.T.A. to join forces together and see if we couldn’t find some creative solutions and tackle this issue head-on.”
Anyone who has wanted to go past Poughkeepsie — or has paid triple digits for an Amtrak fare — may have wondered why Metro-North could not extend northward.
For years, the seemingly simple solution — running more trains on existing track — was deemed “too far-fetched to even happen,” Ms. Hochul said. But she said she was not willing to take no for an answer.
The service will offer a lifeline to last-minute travelers who may find themselves boxed out of Amtrak’s assigned seats. It will also benefit those riders departing from Manhattan’s East Side and Harlem, who will be able to head to Albany from Grand Central Terminal or 125th Street. Amtrak trains leave from Pennsylvania Station, on the West Side of Manhattan.
New York has long found itself at loggerheads with Amtrak, a for-profit corporation whose majority owner is the federal government. Those tensions escalated a year ago, when the company first announced it would suspend three daily trains between New York and Albany to complete repairs on the East
Tunnel. Ms. Hochul repeatedly asked Amtrak to reconsider, including in a letter in April.
Even so, it was all smiles on Monday when Amtrak President Roger Harris stood beside Ms. Hochul, praising the governor for her leadership and New Yorkers for their “passion and patience.”
Starting Dec. 1, Amtrak will restore one of the canceled round-trip routes between New York City and Albany. Those fares will be capped for the first time at $99 for a one-way coach seat — offering riders a reprieve from the dynamic pricing that can drive a single one-way seat to $109.
Metro-North service to the capital will begin in spring 2026, officials said on Monday, and will proceed from Poughkeepsie through Rhinecliff, Hudson and on to Albany-Rensselaer. Those fares will be pegged to the lowest Amtrak rate — around $40 one-way.
Officials said that they would begin with a single daily round-trip route, but left the door open for additional service. Amtrak service between Albany and Boston will also resume in December.
Ms. Hochul said the expansion would not lead to an increase in payroll mobility tax, also known as commuter taxes, for counties that will be newly served by Metro-North. Currently, the five boroughs and seven downstate counties are subject to the tax.
Even so, Representative Elise Stefanik, a Republican representing the North Country in Congress who is considering a run for governor against Ms. Hochul, insisted the move would increase taxes on upstate New Yorkers.
“New Yorkers are not stupid, this is a painful tax hike to raise revenue for Kathy to try to shore up the disastrous run MTA,” Ms. Stefanik said on X.
In her remarks Ms. Hochul, a Democrat seeking re-election next year, said that she saw the expansion as fulfilling her side of a bargain with New Yorkers. “When we implemented congestion pricing, I vowed that we had to do so much more to make it easier to get to and from Manhattan without a car,” she said, highlighting the new express trains added on Metro North’s Hudson line.
Even so there is a long way to go: Only a small portion of New York’s Lower Hudson Valley is accessible by Metro North’s commuter rail.
James Skoufis, a Democratic state senator who represents Orange and Rockland Counties was unmoved by Monday’s announcement.
“Unless I’m missing something, there’s no new rail line being built in Orange or Rockland Counties,” he said in an interview. “I’m very happy for people on the other side of the river, but it doesn’t help me or my constituents.”
Grace Ashford covers New York government and politics for The Times.
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