Post Road Branch

Post Road Branch
Overview
Other name(s)	Post Road Subdivision
Status	Operational
Owner	Amtrak
Locale	Capital District
Termini	Amtrak Hudson Line[1]; Berkshire Subdivision[1]
Service
System	Amtrak; CSX Transportation
Services	Lake Shore Limited
History
Opened	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
	Amtrak Hudson Line
	to Schenectady
	Castleton Subdivision
	to Selkirk Yard
	Berkshire Subdivision
	to Springfield
	Amtrak Hudson Line
	to Poughkeepsie

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]

Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited operates over the Post Road Branch.

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.

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