Building an Express Track for the Empire Corridor | Short Version

The Empire Corridor has a Service Development Plan, a detailed planning document from the Empire Corridor Tier One Environmental Impact Study, released in spring of 2023, that was developed from the study’s Preferred Alternative 90B. The Service Development Plan outlines a program of infrastructure and operational improvements for the Empire Corridor.

The central feature of the Service Development Plan is the construction of 293 miles of Dedicated Passenger Track between Schenectady County and Buffalo, on the surplus right-of-way of the formerly four-track mainline of the New York Central Railroad, now a double-track mainline operated by freight railroad CSX Transportation.

This new Dedicated Passenger "Express" Track would be the railway equivalent of a highway express lane (HOV lane) by separating faster passenger trains from slower and longer freight trains, just as a dedicated express lane separates faster passenger cars and transit buses from slower moving trucks. This Express Track would facilitate a doubling of train frequency between Albany and Buffalo, cutting over an hour off travel times, while increasing on-time performance to 95 percent!

Empire Corridor Service Development Plan
www.esparail.org/resources/empire-corridor-eis

Express Track to the Future | 60-page PDF Booklet
https://www.esparail.org/site/assets/...