Amtrak to Resume Full Empire Service in Spring

By Mirai Abe | February 10, 2026

Metro-North will no longer operate beyond Poughkeepsie, but Amtrak will restore full Empire Service trips in early March.  Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Amtrak is set to restore all the Empire Service trains between Penn Station in Manhattan and Albany-Rensselaer Station in early March, despite operating fewer trains between New York City and the Capital Region since last year, following an East River Tunnel project: a $1.6 bilion reconstruction of two of the tunnels on the route.

To supplement the canceled or combined Empire Service trips, Governor Kathy Hochul had announced in October that Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) would extend its Metro-North service to Albany-Rensselaer Station beyond Poughkeepsie, the current northbound final destination. However, MTA will no longer run its Metro-North service to Albany as it was scheduled in early spring, Governor Hochul said on Tuesday (1/27). 

“When Amtrak proposed to significantly reduce Empire Service trips for several years to accommodate the East River Tunnel project, I demanded better," Hochul said. “I remain fully committed to short and long-term proposals to bring better transit — including expanded Metro-North service if the demand exists — beyond Poughkeepsie and into the rest of the Hudson Valley and Capital Region. New Yorkers rely on high quality rail transit like no other state, and I will always fight to save commuters time and to make service better."

Hochul also implied her interest in a further expansion of Empire Service. 

“Nearly three million New Yorkers rely on this state-supported train to travel between New York City, the Hudson Valley, and the Capital Region each year,” Hochul said. “I have been clear that our commuters cannot suffer disproportionately for regional construction projects and am glad Amtrak has heeded my call and committed to running full service for the duration of the project and beyond. We will soon be able to offer more Empire Service capacity than existed even before the tunnel work began last spring and run full service far earlier than anticipated, which are big wins for riders.”

Although the plan to extend Metro-North service to Albany, which was highly expected to lower the price of train rides between New York City and the Capital Region, will not move forward, the $99 fare cap on coach tickets that Amtrak had introduced last year will remain effective after early March. 

“Amtrak is pleased to restore full Empire Service schedules in partnership with Governor Hochul and NYSDOT, giving New Yorkers in the Hudson Valley the reliable service they know and expect,” an Amtrak spokesperson told the ASP via email. “By taking advantage of schedule changes in place to support major infrastructure projects on the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak has identified the equipment necessary to fully restore the Empire Service schedule that was in place before the East River Tunnel rehabilitation project began, and is moving to fully restore service in early March. The ERT project remains on schedule and within budget with completion expected in 2027.”