The Amtrak Adirondack passenger train resumed service between New York City and Montreal on Monday. Officials were at the station in Plattsburgh to welcome the first run of the train since 2020.
For the first time in three years Amtrak’s Adirondack train stopped in Plattsburgh on its journey north to Montreal. Some passengers disembarked and a few others boarded. The station was filled with people elated to see the train service return after the pandemic pause, including North Country Chamber President Garry Douglas.
“Where things move is where prosperity occurs," Douglas said. "We’ve said that for years and that is certainly true in everything moving people and goods north and south through this corridor. And for Montreal’s U.S. suburb to once again be attached by rail for rail passenger service with Montreal, it’s exciting. It’s welcome. It’s been three years. A three-year gap that we’ve been separated by rail. We’re back on track and separated no more.”
Douglas acknowledged representatives in Washington including Democratic Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand who worked to get Amtrak to restore the service. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, a Republican from the 21st district, said her office worked closely with Amtrak pushing to get the Adirondack train service restored.
“It’s so important to our North Country economy and broadly upstate economy," Stefanik said. "Whether it’s the tourism, whether it’s the students going to school or so many people who rely on this rail transportation to connect Montreal to New York City and ultimately to Washington D.C. on the train.”
Nationwide service is back to about 85 percent of pre-COVID ridership, according to Amtrak President Roger Harris. He says they are seeing new customers and the bipartisan Infrastructure bill is allowing Amtrak to develop new services. Despite that Harris notes that the Adirondack line is the last in the nation to resume service following the pandemic.
“We had some infrastructure issues that occurred during the suspension of service," Harris said. "There was a change of ownership in the station in Montreal. The tracks needed some work after the end of the pandemic and ironically there was a big warehouse in Albany which was threatening the line for a few weeks and it disrupted our training schedules. So there was a whole series of complications. But our team worked through them and got back to service because we knew how important it was for the community. Every line in the country is now back. This is why I’m so excited about it. This is really kind of the icing on the cake.”
Stefanik says one of the challenges to restoring service is something many employers face: staffing shortages.
“As you go to small businesses, manufacturers, any organization one of the top concerns I hear is staffing. That was the case for Amtrak as well: making sure that they had appropriate staffing to get it up and running," Stefanik said. "Because of those staffing challenges here we are in April, we’re very glad it’s open, but that was one of the challenging aspects. And that’s just a broader issue in today’s economy.”
As the train left the station, Douglas noted that some people had boarded it for a day trip to Montreal.
“I didn’t realize how much that happened until an older couple told me that they used to enjoy doing that and they were thinking of doing it on the first train out of here. And they were here today. So it isn’t just folks coming into Plattsburgh or college students or people visiting the Adirondacks. It was growing 5 percent in 2019 before the pandemic. I expect it’s going to grow even more in the years ahead as more and more people look to green forms of transportation," Douglas said. "And we know the Montreal community is particularly committed to that. And so I think we’re going to see strong growth in the service now that its back.”
The Adirondack train runs once a day between Penn Station in New York City and Central Station in Montreal. Stops along the route include Albany-Rensselaer, Poughkeepsie, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, Ticonderoga, Westport, Plattsburgh, and Rouses Point.
