Empire Corridor

Empire Corridor
Empire Corridor (red) as designated by the Federal Railroad Administration
Overview
Owner	CSX (Niagara–Poughkeepsie) Metro-North (Poughkeepsie–Riverdale) Amtrak (Riverdale–New York)
Termini	Niagara Falls New York Penn Station
Stations	35 (12 Amtrak, 20 Metro North, 3 shared)
Service
Type	Higher-speed rail, commuter rail
System	Amtrak CSX Transportation
Services	Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Adirondack, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf, Berkshire Flyer, Hudson Line
Operator(s)	CSX (Niagara–Schenectady) Amtrak (Schenectady–Poughkeepsie) Metro-North (Poughkeepsie–Yonkers) Amtrak (Yonkers–New York)
Technical
Line length	461 mi (742 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map Legend CN Grimsby Subdivision Maple Leaf to Toronto Niagara River Ontario, Canada New York, United States Niagara Falls, New York Buffalo–Exchange Street Lake Shore Limited to Chicago Buffalo–Depew Rochester Syracuse Rome Utica Amsterdam Adirondack to Montreal Ethan Allen Express to Rutland Schenectady Hudson River Albany–Rensselaer Lake Shore Limited to Boston Berkshire Flyer to Pittsfield Hudson Rhinecliff Poughkeepsie Yard Poughkeepsie New Hamburg Wappingers Creek Beacon Beacon Line Fishkill Creek Newburgh, Dutchess & Connecticut RR Dutchess Junction Breakneck Ridge Breakneck Tunnel Cold Spring Garrison Tunnel (southbound) Garrison Manitou Anthony's Nose Tunnel Middle Tunnel Little Tunnel Roa Hook Annsville Creek Peekskill Montrose Cortlandt Crugers Oscawana Oscawana Tunnel Croton North Croton–Harmon Croton River Ossining Scarborough Philipse Manor Tarrytown Irvington Ardsley-on-Hudson Dobbs Ferry Hastings-on-Hudson Greystone Glenwood Yonkers Ludlow Mount St. Vincent Riverdale Hudson Line to Grand Central Terminal Harlem River Empire Connection Northeast Corridor to Washington New York Penn Station Northeast Corridor to Boston This diagram: view talk edit

The Empire Corridor is a 461-mile (742 km) passenger rail corridor in New York State running between Penn Station in New York City and Niagara Falls, New York. Major cities on the route include Poughkeepsie, Albany, Schenectady, Amsterdam, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo. Much of the corridor was once part of the New York Central Railroad's main line.

Amtrak's Empire Service and Maple Leaf serve the entire length of the Empire Corridor, with the Maple Leaf continuing northwest to Toronto. The Lake Shore Limited follows most of the corridor from New York City, diverging west to Chicago at the Buffalo–Depew station. The Berkshire Flyer takes the corridor to Albany–Rensselaer, before diverging east to Pittsfield, while the Adirondack and Ethan Allen Express travel one stop further to Schenectady, before diverging north to Montreal and Burlington, respectively. Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line merges with the Empire Corridor in Spuyten Duyvil, Bronx, just south of Riverdale, providing commuter rail service between Poughkeepsie, New York and Grand Central Terminal in New York City.

The line is electrified by both overhead catenary and top-running third rail on the Amtrak-owned segment between Penn Station and 41st Street, as well as by under-running third rail on the Metro-North segment, from the merge with the Hudson Line to Croton–Harmon. The Amtrak-owned section between 41st Street and the merge with the Hudson Line is unpowered, and can only be served by diesel or dual-mode trains.

The corridor is also one of ten federally designated high-speed rail corridors in the United States. If the proposed high-speed service were to be built on the corridor, trains traveling between Buffalo and New York City could travel at speeds of up to 125 mph (201 km/h). In the 1890s, the Empire State Express 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 km) between New York City and Buffalo in 7 hours and 6 minutes (including stops), averaging 61.4 mph (98.8 km/h), with a top speed of 82 mph (132 km/h).^[1][2]