Post Road Branch

Post Road Branch
Overview
Other name	Post Road Subdivision
Status	Operational
Owner	Amtrak
Locale	Capital District
Termini	Amtrak Hudson Line [1] Berkshire Subdivision [1]
Service
System	Amtrak CSX Transportation
Services	Berkshire Flyer , Lake Shore Limited
History
Opened	1842 (1842) [2]
Technical
Line length	12.0 miles (19.3 km) [1]
Number of tracks	1 [1]
Character	At-grade [1]
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed	79 miles per hour (127 km/h) [1]
Post Road and Schodack Subdivisions Legend Amtrak Hudson Line to Schenectady Albany–Rensselaer   Post Road Branch Castleton Subdivision to Selkirk Yard Berkshire Subdivision to Springfield   Schodack Subdivision Amtrak Hudson Line to Poughkeepsie This diagram: view talk edit

The Post Road Branch is a railroad line owned and operated by Amtrak in the U.S. state of New York. The line runs from a junction with CSX Transportation'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 line. Freight service is provided by CSX Transportation, who calls it the Post Road Subdivision, via trackage rights. ^{[3] [4] [1]}

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 and Albany. ^[2] The line became part of the Boston and Albany Railroad and New York Central Railroad through leases and mergers. With the opening of the Hudson River Connecting Railroad in 1924, ^[5] 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. ^[6] The abandoned line was assigned to Amtrak in the 1976 formation of Conrail, ^[7] and Amtrak reopened it on October 28, 1979, ^[8] with Conrail trackage rights for freight. These rights were assigned to CSX Transportation in the 1999 breakup of Conrail.

A sinkhole under the tracks in East Greenbush was discovered in May 2025, causing the Berkshire Flyer and Lake Shore Limited to be replaced with buses east of Albany. Service on the line was originally estimated to be restored by January 2026. ^[9] In October, Amtrak announced that service would resume on December 1, 2025. ^[10]

See also

• List of CSX Transportation lines

References

1. CSX Transportation (November 1, 2004). "Albany Division, Timetable No. 4" (PDF).
2. "PRR Chronology, 1842" (PDF). (70.6  KiB), May 2004 Edition
3. "CSX Timetables: Post Road Subdivision". Archived from the original on November 26, 2002.
4. "CSX Post Road Sub". The RadioReference Wiki.
5. "PRR Chronology, 1924" (PDF). (83.2  KiB), July 2004 Edition
6. "PRR Chronology, 1972" (PDF). (52.1  KiB), June 2005 Edition
7. 1975 Conrail Final System Plan
8. Schafer, Mike (June 1991). "Amtrak's atlas". Trains .
9. Richter, Zach (July 17, 2025). "Amtrak: Service to Berkshires suspended due to large hole". WNYT. Archived from the original on July 19, 2025.
10. Szafranski, Matt, ed. (October 21, 2025). "Briefings: Lake Shore Be Gone? Not in December, When Trans-Mass Service Rail Resumes…". Western Massachusetts Politics & Insight. Retrieved October 28, 2025.

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