Brighton Line

Service resumes for the first time since the pandemic. First train to Montreal leaves NYC at 8:40 AM on 4/3. First train to NYC leaves Montreal at 11:10 AM on 4/4.

https://media.amtrak.com/2023/03/amt...ndack-service/
https://cnycentral.com/news/local/am...a-rail-service

danib62

I really wish this train and the Maple Leaf were timed so you could connect to them easily from WAS...

Coly Hope

I use to take the Adirondack from Wilmington to Westport and back when I lived in upstate New York. When you get north of NYC it is a beautiful ride. After you pass Albany a lot of people have left the train and you can stretch out and take a nap.

username

The Adirondack now stops at Albany - Rensselaer. North of that is suspended as of late June 2023 due to CN restrictions on speed (10 mph) when the temperature is above 30C / 86F..

ND76

Let's hope the suspension ends soon. I have a ticket to ride this train MTR-SDY in September.

zephyr17

Well, the immediate cause of the suspension is a 10 mph speed restriction on segments of lightly used, poorly maintained trackage over the border in Canada when temperatures exceed 30°C/86°F. Depending on when in September, you may be able to expect lower temperatures. However, this is a problem that will cause the Adirondack to be wholly unreliable in summer months. As such, I think the chances are reasonable that the train will again be suspended entirely until a permanent solution is found to the track maintenance issue. The issue is vastly complicated because it is as Amtrak operated service, funded by New York State operating in Canada on a Canadian railroad. CN had frankly and publicly stated unless someone steps up to pay for a maintenance level that exceeds CN's own needs, they simply will not do it and the 10 mph speed restriction in hot weather will stand. Amtrak/NYS have no leverage at all to force the issue under Canadian jurisdiction. Spending US Federal or New York State grant money in Canada to remedy the issue is problematic, to say the least. I not think the root problem here will be quickly resolved.

In short, while I do not think you should bail at this point, I think you definitely should be formulating a Plan B.

ND76

I have a Plan B; take the VIA Rail service to Toronto Union Station which leaves before 2 pm and arrives around 7 pm. There is a 7:43 pm GO commuter train that leaves Union Station on the Lakeshore West line and can get me to Burlington station near Hamilton, where I can get a scheduled bus to Niagara Falls. I can then walk over the Rainbow Bridge, clear CBP, and get a scheduled bus to Buffalo five blocks east of the checkpoint that leaves at 2309, getting to Buffalo around midnight. A taxi takes 20 minutes to get to Depew station. The Lake Shore Limited leaves at 0039.

Or I could just overnight in Montreal, and then see what my options are in the morning. If the Ocean runs late, this is what I am thinking about doing anyway.

PHXflier

When I took the Adirondack during the summer before the pandemic (2018 or 2019), the train was exceedingly slow in Canada as well (due to poor track and high temperature), arriving 1-2 h late in Montreal. The way back was better as it was in the morning and temperatures were lower. As this is a long-standing problem, a speedy resolution is unlikely. So maybe they can adjust the schedule to avoid the heat of the day? Or use another route from the border to somewhere near Montreal?

zephyr17

The most obvious solution is to stay on CP instead of switching over to CN right at the border. The CP route hosts more freight traffic and is maintained to a higher level. The issue is they cannot reach Gare Central on the CP route, the train would have to go to Lucien L'Allier station, a commuter station a couple blocks west of Gare Central. This would require cooperation of EXO and CP, and the station is a bare bones commuter station.

ND76

In 1984, when Mrs. ND76 was 7+ months pregnant with our daughter and she couldn't fly, we took a train that no longer exists, "The Montrealer", which was an overnight sleeper from Washington to Montreal, via Penn Station, New Haven, Hartford, Springfield, White River Junction, Essex Junction and St. Albans, crossing the border at Cantic, QC. I'm not sure whether the Montrealer crossed the border on the track that the Adirondack uses, but I do remember the train being stopped for over one hour at Cantic (and I remember the Canadian border police escorting two men from the train). We left DC around 5 pm and didn't get to Montreal until after noon. It was a great trip in any event. The train had a dining car and a club car which included a piano. As we took this trip on very short notice, we were unable to book a sleeping accommodation. We were told to speak to the conductor after we left New York City to see if anything opened up. As luck would have it, a bedroom went unclaimed, and the conductor let us have it for $100. Those were the days.

Amtrak gave up this line quite a few years ago. They run "The Vermonter" up through Albany to Rutland.

Long Train Runnin

​​​​​​​https://www.trains.com/trn/news-revi...atoga-springs/

zephyr17

The really problematic part of the line is between Cantic and Rouses Point, since most CN freight to and from the US goes via St. Albans, staying on CN. Relatively little is interchanged with CP at Rouses Point, so 10 mph is fine with CN for that.

The Vermonter goes to St. Albans via New Haven, Springfield and Montpelier, not Albany, btw. The Ethan Allen Express was recently extended to Burlington from Rutland and goes via Albany and Saratoga Springs.

ND76

Thanks for correcting my misunderstanding. I just looked into getting from Montreal to Burlington to take the Ethan Allen Express; there are two buses, one leaves at 8 am and arrives in Burlington at 11 am, too late to catch the EAE, which leaves at 10:17 am. The other bus leaves at 11:30 pm and arrives in Burlington at 2:30 am. The bus station and the train station are about 5 blocks apart (the train tracks are just east of Lake Champlain). I suppose I could get a hotel room for 6-7 hours if I did this.

The alternative is to take the Vermonter from Essex Junction (6.7 miles by road from the Burlington Downtown Transit Center) to Springfield, and connect there to the westbound Lake Shore Limited, where there is a scheduled 51 minute layover (arrives 1435, leaves 1526).

I look at my options and I think I will book a ticket with VIA from Montreal to Toronto and then work my way down to Buffalo from there. I'm disappointed that I will miss out on the Adirondack, but pleased that I learned about the EAE and the actual termination point of the Vermonter.

ND76

My routing back from Montreal took another hit a couple of days ago when a CSX freight train had 19 cars derail on the New York Central line at Amsterdam, NY, west of Schenectady.

I have now implemented a plan B, as I bought a ticket for the business car on VIA's 1656 departure from Montreal to Toronto; my fare including taxes was C$152 (approximately US$115.50), which includes dinner and non-alcoholic drinks. If this train runs to schedule I get to Toronto at 2203, and have 37 minutes to board the GO Lakeshore West 2240 departure for Niagara Falls, ON, arriving there on the stroke of 0100. I have a Presto transit fare card; the fare for seniors is roughly C$7.75. There is a Ramada Inn within two blocks of the NFS station, and I will overnight there. The Amtrak Maple Leaf shows up at NFS at 1021; I'm going to use that to cross the border and take it as far as Depew, arriving there at 1230; I paid US$19.80 for this. I have a 12 hour layover (there are a number of places I could go, so I won't get bored). The Lake Shore Limited is scheduled to depart from Depew at 0039 and arrive back in Cleveland at 0353; my fare was a paltry $15.30.

Train travel at its finest.

ND76

A postscript on the Adirondack. As of September 14 the Adirondack was back in service; it left Montreal Gare Centrale on time, which turned out to be 90 minutes before my train from Nova Scotia, The Ocean, arrived there. I'm glad I had a Plan B, which was VIA's "Corridor Service" train to Toronto Union Station, connecting onto the GO commuter train service to Niagara Falls, ON. I overnighted at a refurbished Ramada Inn just north of the station there, and then took Amtrak's Maple Leaf the next morning to Rochester, renting a car there (there were no rental cars available in Buffalo), touring western New York, and then returning the car, getting back to the station and taking the Lakeshore Limited to Cleveland (arriving there about an hour late).

I have no complaints whatsoever. I had a great experience on VIA and would highly recommend it to anyone who loves rail travel.