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New York|New York to Albany by Train for $40 Flat? It’s Happening Next Year.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/nyregion/metro-north-trains-albany-hochul.html
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For the first time, Metro-North will run trains past Poughkeepsie through the Hudson Valley to Albany. Some Amtrak service will also be restored.
Grace Ashford has spent hundreds of hours on the train between New York City and the Hudson Valley over the last 15 years.
Oct. 20, 2025, 8:10 p.m. ET
There are many adjectives that describe the experience of taking Amtrak trains up to the Hudson Valley. Picturesque is one. Crowded is another. Expensive is a third.
When Amtrak began slashing routes last year between New York City and Albany to repair lingering damage from Hurricane Sandy, those issues only worsened, driving ticket prices into the hundreds of dollars in some cases, as demand increased.
But riders got an unexpected reprieve on Monday, when Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that, beginning Dec. 1, some Amtrak service to Albany would be restored and the price capped at $99.
Even better, Ms. Hochul announced that the Metro-North commuter railroad, which is funded by the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority, would be running its own lines to Albany for around $40. Currently, Metro-North terminates at Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Its predecessor last ran trains to Albany in 1967.
“New Yorkers deserve more and they certainly demand more,” Ms. Hochul told reporters at the Albany-Rensselaer train station. “That’s why I pushed Amtrak and the M.T.A. to join forces together and see if we couldn’t find some creative solutions and tackle this issue head-on.”
Anyone who has wanted to go past Poughkeepsie — or has paid triple digits for an Amtrak fare — may have wondered why Metro-North could not extend northward.
