525 East Street, Rensselaer, New York
42°38′29″N 73°44′28″W
Rensselaer Rail Station, signed as Albany-Rensselaer on its platforms, is a train station in Rensselaer, New York, located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from downtown Albany across the Hudson River. Operated by the Capital District Transportation Authority, it serves as Amtrak's primary station for the Capital District. To emphasize the station's location across the river from Albany, as well as to distinguish from the Rensselaer station in Indiana, Amtrak refers to the station as "Albany-Rensselaer."
It is served by Amtrak's Empire Corridor routes, including the Lake Shore Limited, whose Boston and New York sections diverge at the station.
As of 2018 it was Amtrak's ninth-busiest station, as well as the busiest to serve a metro area with a population smaller than 2 million a distinction it has held since at least 2010. This is primarily due to the large number of passengers who commute to and from New York City.
The present station is the third on the site. The first station was built in 1968, and the second in 1980. Before 1968, trains stopped at Union Station in Albany. That building, located on Broadway, now houses the northeast headquarters of Bank of America. The New York Central Railroad had plans to leave Albany, in part because Interstate 787 needed the space occupied by a rail yard, but the move took place under Penn Central's watch.
The 1968 building was torn down in order to expand the station's parking facility. The current structure was completed in September 2002 and opened on September 22.
On October 27, 2010, Amtrak indicated that installation of the fourth track would begin in 2013, and the project was completed in March 2016.
Sources:
"Rail Stations". Capital District Transportation Authority. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
"Penn-Central to Open New Rensselaer Station Dec. 29". The Times-Record. Troy, New York. December 20, 1968. p. 3. Retrieved June 23, 2019 - via Newspapers.com.
Holland, Jesse J. (June 3, 1999). "New Digs". The Post-Star. Glens Falls, New York. p. A5. Retrieved November 14, 2020 - via Newspapers.com.
"Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2017, State of New York" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
"Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2018, State of New York"(PDF). Amtrak. June 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
Anderson, Eric (October 27, 2010). "High-Speed Rail Chugs Toward the Fast Lane". Albany Times Union. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
Woodruff, Cathy (February 14, 2010). "Train Late? Old Stations Derail New Track". Albany Times Union. Retrieved March 5, 2010.