Amtrak, CN quietly cancel summer passenger train service between Montreal, New York

Quebec travellers who were hoping to visit New York City by train this summer will now have to wait until fall.

No passenger trains are set to run between Montreal and the Big Apple until September amid maintenance work on the tracks after Amtrak struck a deal with Canadian National Railway last month.

Schedules at the American passenger railway show that service out of Manhattan will go no farther on the so-called Adirondack route than the upstate New York town of Saratoga Springs between May 20 and Sept. 9.

The prolonged timeline chugs well past the peak of high season and pinpoints an end date 10 weeks later than planned, based on a joint statement the rail companies issued on May 18.

Attempts to book tickets for a summer trip on the Adirondack line prompt a message on Amtrak’s website that says “no trains or buses are scheduled on the travel date” selected, citing the next available day as Sept. 9 or 10, depending on the starting point.

Amtrak said service would now be suspended through Sept. 8 “as CN continues to progress track work on their line in Canada.”

“We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience,” said spokesman Jason Abrams in an email Sunday.

CN, which owns the tracks north of the border, confirmed the extended maintenance work by the country’s largest railway.

No statements on the halted route were posted on the two organizations’ sites.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2024.