Passenger rail service between Montreal and NYC was suspended following the CN-Amtrak deal

Amtrak says passenger trains will not run between Montreal and New York City for at least the next six weeks due to maintenance after the company reached a deal with Canadian National Railway Co.

Schedules show that service on the U.S. railway between Canada’s second-largest city and the city of Whitehall, New York, was suspended between May 20 and June 30 – just before the peak season.

In an email Saturday, Amtrak and CN said they had reached an agreement under which the Montreal-based freight railroad would receive a settlement from Amtrak to perform work on the tracks.

The so-called Adirondack route is no stranger to disruption after Amtrak canceled the only daily train between Montreal and New York City last summer, a move that followed a three-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A few months after restoring the line, Amtrak announced last June that it would again suspend service along the CN Line north of the border due to speed restrictions caused by summer heat that can cause buckling in the steel rails.

The American rail giant said at the time that the “inconsistent application” of CN’s policy on heat orders could leave customers stranded or suffer delays of up to three hours, while CN was quick to point the finger at Amtrak’s maintenance costs This would have caused, not paying, enabled the route to be modernized so that it could withstand the high summer temperatures.