The Post Road Branch is a
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
line owned and operated by
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
in the U.S. state of
New York. The line runs from a junction with
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...
's
Berkshire Subdivision in
Castleton-on-Hudson, New York, northwest to CSX's
Hudson Subdivision at
Rensselaer, New York (near
Albany), along a former
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...
line. Freight service is provided by CSX Transportation, who calls it the Post Road Subdivision, via
trackage rights.
The Boston branch of Amtrak's long-distance ''
Lake Shore Limited'' operates over the Post Road Branch, as does the seasonal ''
Berkshire Flyer.''
History
The
Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad opened the line in 1842 as part of a line between
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
and Albany.
[ , May 2004 Edition] The line became part of the
Boston and Albany Railroad and
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...
through leases and mergers. With the opening of the
Hudson River Connecting Railroad in 1924, it became a minor branch, with through freight using the new
Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge around Albany. On April 30, 1972,
Penn Central Transportation removed the track on the Post Road Branch, forcing passenger trains to make a reverse movement along the current
Schodack Subdivision. The abandoned line was assigned to
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
in the 1976 formation of
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busine ...
, and Amtrak reopened it on October 28, 1979,
with Conrail
trackage rights for freight. These rights were assigned to
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...
in the 1999 breakup of Conrail.
See also
*
List of CSX Transportation lines
References
{{Amtrak
Amtrak lines
CSX Transportation lines
Rail infrastructure in New York (state)
Boston and Albany Railroad lines