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The Empire Service is a train service operated by Amtrak within the state of New York in the United States. Trains on the line provide frequent daily service along the 460-mile (740 km) Empire Corridor between New York City and Niagara Falls, New York. Service on the line is supplemented by Metro-North Railroad, a major New York City based commuter train network operating across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, with the northern terminus of its Hudson Line at the Poughkeepsie station.
During fiscal year 2010, the Empire Service carried 981,241 passengers on the line between New York and Albany, while services between Albany and Toronto, including the Maple Leaf and Lake Shore Limited carried an additional 386,430 people.[1] Ridership on both sections of the Empire Service's line increased from FY 2009, by six and 13%, from previous totals of 925,746 and 339,434 respectively.[1] Ticket revenue on the New York-Albany section was $37,807,261, while revenue on the Albany-Toronto route was $21,797,094.[1]
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Hourly weekday service is available on the Hudson portion of the line between New York Penn Station and Albany-Rensselaer. The Upstate portion west of Albany is served by a total of four trains in each direction daily:
The Adirondack to Montreal and Ethan Allen Express to Rutland, Vermont also supplement service on the southern portion of the line between New York and Albany.
The route was formerly the Water Level Route of the New York Central Railroad to Buffalo and then the former Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad.
Amtrak began on May 1, 1971 with seven daily trains on the New York—Albany—Buffalo corridor: four operated New York—Albany and three ran through to Buffalo. All service west of Buffalo was discontinued. All the trains retained their ex-Penn Central numbers and were otherwise nameless.[2] Westward service resumed briefly on May with the introduction of the Chicago—New York Lake Shore, but this train was canceled on January 6, 1972.
Despite doubts about Amtrak's potential success, the company was key in reestablishing some discontinued services along he Empire Corridor. Service beyond Buffalo to Niagara Falls, which had been abandoned by the New York Central in 1961, was reestablished with such trains as the Niagara Rainbow and the Maple Leaf. In addition Amtrak restored service to downtown Schnectady in 1978, a service which Penn Central had discontinued in 1968, for all Empire Service trains that continued beyond Albany. Service was restored permanently on the New York Central Water Level Route to Chicago with the reintroduction of the old New York Central train the Lake Shore Limited in 1975.
On April 7, 1991, all Amtrak Empire Service trains started using the new Empire Connection into Penn Station, New York. Prior to that change, all passenger trains from Albany and beyond went into Grand Central Terminal which forced passengers going beyond New York to transfer via shuttle bus, taxicab or via the New York City Subway to reach Penn Station. The move also saved Amtrak the expense of operating two stations in New York.
In October 2011, CSX and Amtrak reached an agreement for Amtrak to lease the Hudson Subdivision between Poughkeepsie and Schenectady, with Amtrak assuming maintenance and capital responsibilities. CSX will retain freight rights over the line, which hosts only five freights a day. Amtrak will use federal funds to double track the line between Rennselaer and Schenectady, and add an additional station track at the Albany-Rennsalaer station. Amtrak sees the lease as key to improving Empire Service speeds and frequencies.[3]
The Empire Service operates over CSX Transportation, Metro-North Railroad, and Amtrak trackage:
The Empire Service utilizes dual-mode locomotives due to a ban on diesel locomotive operations in the Penn Station tunnel. An "on the fly" power change from diesel to third rail (or vice-versa) takes place once the train enters the tunnel near Penn Station.
The Empire Service has been a long standing candidate for high-speed rail and electrification. The need for high speed rail service has been addressed by former Governor George Pataki, former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, and members of the New York State Assembly representing upstate regions. Other politicians have asked that high speed rail be introduced along the Empire Corridor, diminishing the time for New York City – Buffalo trains from seven hours to just three hours; train travel from New York City to Albany would take less than two hours to complete. This may introduce Acela trains to the Empire Corridor if high speed rail is successful. Another reason which politicians are noting is that high speed trains may help improve upstate New York's economy, which is currently stagnant.
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