ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – If you want to take a trip to our Northern Neighbor once the border reopens on Monday, you might have to wait a little bit longer to take the train there. Amtrak says it’s still working to resume its Adirondack Service between New York City and Montreal.

Steve Strauss, Executive Director of the Empire State Passengers Association is calling on Amtrak to resume service from New York to Canada. Strauss says, “so what we’re basically trying to say to Amtrak and the freight railroads that Amtrak operates over on the Adirondack is that this is an important service and we want it back and the communities that have the Adirondack depend on it.” 

The Adirondack Service, which originates in New York City, was suspended in March 2020 at the onset of the pandemic. Strauss says with the Canadian border reopening Monday, November 8, rail fans, such as himself, are eager to get back on board the Adirondack Service. He acknowledges, though, there is a lot more that goes into getting these trains back on the tracks.

“We realize it can’t happen overnight. It’s not going to happen Monday when the border opens. We want them [Amtrak] to get it going as soon as possible and there are a lot of things that have to happen before we can start riding again,” Strauss says.

In a statement, Amtrak says they hope to “resume passenger rail service between our two countries a short time after the borders reopen,” and that they will “announce at a later date when services will be restored.”

For Amtrak to resume service, it needs the cooperation of railroad organizations and other government agencies in both Canada and the United States before the first train departs the station.