B-Roll, Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Restores Service and Announces Further Improvements to Rail Service Between Albany and New York City

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that New York State has secured a series of improvements to rail service on the Empire Service Corridor between Albany and New York City. Supported by New York State via the Department of Transportation, the Empire Service is an economic engine up and down the Hudson River, carrying two million riders annually and achieving record-high ridership in 2024. Following the suspension of three daily Amtrak Empire Service round-trips, Governor Hochul tasked the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to develop potential solutions leveraging its existing Metro-North Railroad service as a mitigation for affected customers. The MTA is now advancing a plan with partners to run Metro-North service between Albany and Grand Central, starting with one daily round-trip in the Spring of 2026. In addition, Amtrak has committed to restoring one daily round-trip previously suspended between New York City and Albany on December 1.

B-ROLL: The Governor touring Amtrak’s new locomotive is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor’s Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

Good afternoon on what is a great day for commuters here between New York City and Albany. I first want to thank the President of Amtrak for joining us here today, Roger Harris, should be hearing from him momentarily. Justin Vonashek, the President of Metro-North Railroad. And also, my Commissioner of DOT who manages so much in this state, I want to thank her every day for what she does, Marie Therese Dominguez. Let's give her a round of applause as well.

My friends in labor who are doing an extraordinary job keeping people safe and getting our riders where they need to go every day. And our elected officials, we have our County Executive Dan McCoy and Assemblymembers John McDonald and Gabriella Romero. Thank you all for joining us.

So here's my thoughts. When you think about taking Empire Service from New York to Albany, you start underground — I've done this many, many times — you're in this darkness and then you all of a sudden start to see the bright waters of the Hudson. And as you continue on north, you're speeding along this magnificent river and places filled with incredible history, and then all of a sudden you're in the Hudson Valley. And that journey carries about 2 million riders every year.

The Empire Service is an important part of our state. It’s in an artery that connects New York City and Albany. But this past spring, Amtrak had to begin long overdue repairs to the East River Tunnel, and that damage goes all the way back to Hurricane Sandy. And the riders had to pay the price. This had to be done, no way around it, but what had to happen was three daily round trip trips between New York City and Albany were canceled. You can only imagine the disruption this caused when people needed to get to their jobs or get to their education, or get to see family members. Families, workers and students lost their vital connections. And also, for those who were able to get a seat on the leftover trains, those that were left, it was hard, there were a lot of sold out trains and ticket costs went up. So, these service cuts made it difficult for an advocate wanting to come speak their piece and lobby in Albany, or a student who wanted to come and see their parents on the weekends, and just added time and costs and stress. And I know Amtrak didn't make that decision lightly, but shutting down one of the four tubes for repairs meant limiting service in the remaining three.

But we all know this, New Yorkers deserve more and they certainly demand more. They deserve the best, most affordable, reliable service anywhere. And that's why I pushed Amtrak and the MTA to join forces together and see if we couldn't find some creative solutions and tackle this issue head on. I said, “For those who said I was supposed to accept the status quo, that doesn't work very well.”

I said, “Keep trying. Keep trying. And I don't take no for an answer.”

So, I'm proud to announce here today you've come up with not just one, but two creative solutions to a tough problem. First, Amtrak will restore at least one daily round trip of Empire Service beginning December 1 — give that a round of applause. And, to protect affordability, our riders’ wallets, coach tickets will be capped at $99 regardless of how busy it gets. There you go.

Now, let's do something else, MTA is now stepping up. We talked about this. It seemed too farfetched to even happen. But for the first time ever, Metro-North’s Hudson Line will extend service beyond Poughkeepsie all the way to Albany. Starting in the spring, Metro-North Hudson Line will launch its initial round trip from Grand Central all the way north to our Capital Region, and this'll ease the burden on thousands and thousands of commuters.

It's also more than just addressing an urgent problem, it’s keeping a promise. When we implemented congestion pricing, I vowed that we had to do so much more to make it easier to get to and from Manhattan without a car. Now, if we're asking people to drive less, they need to have more reliable alternatives. So as part of that promise, two weeks ago, MTA launched the faster “super-express” service on the Hudson Line ahead of schedule. And people told us they'd like to take the train if it was faster and more efficient. Well, we delivered on that as well. Those “super-express” trains can shave 70 minutes off the weekly commutes, saving them five hours every single month.

We know what that is, it's more time with your family, more time to catch up with your kids’ sports or do homework together, have dinner together. And that's really how I view infrastructure, it's that connectivity between people and places, their lives, their jobs, their recreational experiences. So it's not just about roads and bridges and railroads, I look at it as improving people's quality of life. And that's why I'm so fascinated in and invested in delivering the best service we can based on the best technology, the best workers — we do have the best workforce, union members who are here today, I applaud all of you. But it's also connecting people in a way that they're starting to get used to and saying, “Well, it's never going to be that convenient.” We found a path forward, and I'm very excited about these announcements today, and we're going to continue devoting our time and energy to giving New Yorkers exactly what they deserve.

But today's a big start. December 1, we'll have the first trains going, as I said. And then, starting next spring, Metro-North is going to find their way beyond Poughkeepsie, all the way up to the Capital Region.