Empire Corridor

The Empire Corridor is a term used to refer to the approximately 460 mi (740 km) railroad corridor between Niagara Falls and New York City, including the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Schenectady and Albany. The Empire Service and Maple Leaf serve the entire length of this corridor, and the Maple Leaf continues to Toronto. The Metro-North Railroad Hudson Line provides commuter rail service from Poughkeepsie, New York to Grand Central Terminal.

Empire Corridor (red) as designated by the Federal Railroad Administration

The corridor is also one of ten federally designated high-speed rail corridors in the United States.

If the proposed high-speed service were built on the corridor, trains traveling between Buffalo and New York City would travel at speeds of up to 125 mph (201 km/h). In the 1890s service on the Empire State Express service between New York City and Buffalo was about 1 hour faster than Amtrak's service in 2013. On September 14, 1891 the Empire State Express covered the 436 miles (702 kilometers) between New York City and Buffalo in 7 hours and 6 minutes (including stops), averaging 61.4 miles-per-hour (98.8 km/h), with a top speed of 82 mph (132 km/h).

Current passenger services

The busiest segment of the Empire Corridor is between New York City and Albany with multiple trains per day.

Amtrak long-distance trains serving Empire Corridor stations:

• Adirondack- to/from Montreal.
• Empire Service- local service to/from Niagara Falls. Most trains terminate at and start from Albany, with two trains continuing to/from Niagara Falls. On the westbound journey to Niagara Falls, there are two trains daily. On the eastbound journey, there is one daily train, and the timing of the second train varies by day of the week.
• Ethan Allen Express- to/from Rutland, Vermont.
• Lake Shore Limited- to/from Chicago, using the Empire Corridor between Depew, New York (near Buffalo), and New York City (though half of the train splits off at Albany to continue to Boston).
• Maple Leaf- daily to/from Toronto.

Commuter rail

• Metro-North Railroad Hudson Line, from Poughkeepsie, New York to Yonkers, New York

Freight service

Freight service is provided by CSX Transportation, who owns the tracks between Niagara Falls and Poughkeepsie.

Ownership

The Empire Corridor is largely owned by CSX Transportation, which owns the trackage between Niagara Falls and Poughkeepsie. South of Poughkeepsie, Metro-North owns the trackage to Yonkers, from which Amtrak owns the trackage into Pennsylvania Station.

On October 18, 2011, Amtrak and CSX announced an agreement for Amtrak to lease, operate and maintain the CSX-owned track between Poughkeepsie and Schenectady. Amtrak officially assumed control on December 1, 2012.

Station stops

Town/City	Station	Connections
Niagara Falls	Niagara Falls	Amtrak: Empire Service, Maple Leaf
Buffalo	Buffalo-Exchange Street Station	Amtrak: Empire Service, Maple Leaf, Thruway Motorcoach to Jamestown, New York
Depew	Buffalo-Depew	Amtrak: Empire Service, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf
Rochester	Rochester	Amtrak: Empire Service, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf
Syracuse	Syracuse	Amtrak: Empire Service, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf CENTRO: 16, 48, 50, 60, 62, 70, 82, 236, 246, 250
Rome	Rome	Amtrak: Empire Service, Maple Leaf
Utica	Utica Union Station	Adirondack Scenic Railroad: to Thendara, New York Amtrak: Empire Service, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf CENTRO: 15, 31
Amsterdam	Amsterdam	Amtrak: Empire Service, Maple Leaf
Schenectady	Schenectady	Amtrak: Adirondack, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf CDTA: 63, 70, 351, 353, 354, 355, 905 (BusPlus)
Rensselaer	Albany-Rensselaer	Amtrak: Adirondack, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf CDTA: NX Northway Express, 14, 15, 24
Hudson	Hudson	Amtrak: Adirondack, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Maple Leaf
Rhinecliff	Rhinecliff-Kingston	Amtrak: Adirondack, Ethan Allen Express, Empire Service, Maple Leaf
Poughkeepsie	Poughkeepsie	Amtrak: Adirondack, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf City of Poughkeepsie Transit: Main Street Dutchess County LOOP: A, B, C, D, E, Poughkeepsie Commuter Connection Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line
New Hamburg	New Hamburg	Dutchess LOOP: New Hamburg Commuter Connection Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line
Beacon	Beacon	Dutchess LOOP: Beacon Commuter Connection Leprechaun Lines: Newburgh-Beacon Shuttle Newburgh-Beacon Ferry Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line
Town of Fishkill	Breakneck Ridge	Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line
Cold Spring	Cold Spring	Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line Putnam Transit: Cold Spring Trolley
Garrison	Garrison	Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line
Manitou	Manitou	Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line
Peekskill	Peekskill	Bee-Line: 16, 18, 31 Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line
Cortlandt Manor	Cortlandt	Bee-Line: 14 Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line
Croton-on-Hudson	Croton-Harmon	Amtrak: Adirondack, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf Bee-Line: 10, 11, 14 Metro-North Railroad:Hudson Line
Ossining	Ossining	Bee-Line: 13, 13B, 19 Haverstraw–Ossining Ferry Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line
Scarborough	Scarborough	Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line
Sleepy Hollow	Philipse Manor	Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line
Tarrytown	Tarrytown	Tappan Zee Express Bee-Line: 1T, 13, T Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line
Irvington	Irvington	Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line
	Ardsley-on-Hudson	Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line
Dobbs Ferry	Dobbs Ferry	Bee-Line: 1, 6 Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line
Hastings-on-Hudson	Hastings-on-Hudson	Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line Bee-Line Bus System Routes; 6, 1C, 1T, & 1W
Yonkers	Greystone	Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line, Bee-Line Bus System Routes; 6, 1C, 1T, & 1W
	Glenwood	Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line, Bee-Line Bus System Routes; 1C, 1T, & 1W.
	Yonkers	Amtrak: Adirondack, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Maple Leaf (Amtrak/VIA) Bee-Line: 6, 9, 25, 32, 91 (seasonal service) Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line
New York City	Penn Station	Amtrak: Acela Express, Adirondack, Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Keystone Service, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf, Palmetto, Pennsylvanian, Northeast Regional, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter LIRR: Main Line, Port Washington Branch NJ Transit: North Jersey Coast Line, Northeast Corridor Line, Gladstone Branch, Montclair-Boonton Line, Morristown Line NYC Subway: 1 2 3 trains at Seventh Avenue, A C E trains at Eighth Avenue NYC Transit buses: M4, M7, M20, M34 / M34A Select Bus Service, Q32

See also

• New York high-speed rail
• Amtrak
• High-speed rail in the United States
• West Side Line (NYCRR)

External links

• Empire Corridor section of the Federal Railroad Administration website