Metro North service area limit - why?

[DaveNF2G]

Does anyone know why Metro North does not serve Albany/Rensselaer? It seems as if they could increase ridership by a large percentage if they did, and the Capital District market would benefit greatly from a lower-cost alternative to Amtrak for NYC travel.

 

[N_Jay]

You are asking why a government entity is not doing what makes sense?

Please sit down and call an ambulance right away. You may be having a stroke and not realize it.

Maybe what we should be asking is why Amtrak does not run commuter service between metro-centers?

 

[K2KOH]

Dave, get a book called "The Coming of the Harlem Railroad," it's a history book about the New York Central Harlem Division. The ICC made a ruling about commuter and intercity railroads back in the '70s that affected the Penn Central, which ran the railroad into the ground. Amtrak must provide the service, not the MTA.

 

[hvscan]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9530/5.0.0.328 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

Back in the 90's, I was taking an Amtrak train from Croton to Buffalo. We broke down in Cold Spring (I could have walked home). We sat there for a couple of hours until a Metro-North train came and towed us to Albany-Rensselaer.

 

[kb2vxa]

"Maybe what we should be asking is why Amtrak does not run commuter service between metro-centers?"
They don't? I could have sworn there were plenty of stops along the Boston-Washington run and Philadelphia-Harrisburg, but then we always had intercity commuter express service here in the Northeast.

 

[DaveNF2G]

Dave, get a book called "The Coming of the Harlem Railroad," it's a history book about the New York Central Harlem Division. The ICC made a ruling about commuter and intercity railroads back in the '70s that affected the Penn Central, which ran the railroad into the ground. Amtrak must provide the service, not the MTA.

Thanks for the tip. I'll see if I can find it.