New York (state)/Railroads

Kudos to the wikipedia.org page which does a much better job of text descriptions, yet doesn't link to relevant data relations in OSM (via BrowseRelation wiki entries), as many OSM wiki readers have become familiar with. You might choose the text-oriented wikipedia.org page now and that'd be good, however, if you need the OSM data we are building links into tables and that will take some time and effort into the future. An Overpass Turbo link might prove useful, try this for passenger train routes. So, see List of New York railroads if text descriptions are "good enough for now." We could use something like that for OSM specific data, even if it is simply links in wikipedia.org pages like the one ref'd above.

New York Railroads in OSM are in very good shape. The only place where they might need work is in the railroad yards in Buffalo, which are in constant flux, and in New York City where there are disused underground railways which cannot be visited (legally or easily or safely) yet which exist and some have tracks, and some are even used for special purposes (e.g. the City Hall station in the city).

Due to recent wiki and associated software upgrades, the map details are not-quite-correct. To fix, please select "Transport Map" from the upper-right "layers stack" icon to see New York rail at wide scale; zoom in to see more tracks, infrastructure networks and stations. As this is a "live" slippy map, it can be panned and zoomed.

Introduction

This is a VERY early seed of New York (state)/Railroads, please bear with OSM as it completes. It will be quite some work to properly complete this, as New York has a rich rail history and this wiki barely scratches the surface of fully documenting both "what is" (in the real world) and "what is in OSM." By way of comparison, please see California/Railroads for a substantially-complete statewide railroad wiki (now in a "later beta" stage of completion), whereas this (New York (state)/Railroads) wiki can be characterized as (quite) "pre-alpha" — long journeys begin with early steps!

Active lines

Lines that see regular rail traffic whether freight, passenger, industrial, tourism, whatever. If they are active, they go here. If they are not, they are placed into the Disused or Abandoned sections below.

CSX Transportation (CSXT)

A Class I major railroad in the USA.

Main

Subdivision	Operator	Relation	Route	Notes
Selkirk	CSX	4793512 4793512	Selkirk	Needs TIGER review

Norfolk Southern (NS)

A Class I major railroad in the USA.

Short Lines

Often Class III minor USA railroads.

Passenger trains

Tracks and stations used for passenger train routes are correctly collected into route=train relations. This is a very rich topic in the state of New York, as rail is a frequent, common transportation mode, especially in denser urban areas.

Amtrak

Amtrak operates long_distance passenger=national and one high-speed train with wide service to more than 500 destinations in 46 states, the District of Columbia and three Canadian provinces on more than 21,400 miles of routes: some passenger=suburban (commuter) trains, most passenger=regional (medium-distance: often interstate, sometimes intrastate) trains and all passenger=national (long distance, interstate, most are overnight) and passenger=international trains. All Amtrak trains which serve New York are believed to be in this table. Please correct and/or update if you find errors or corrections are needed.

Route name	Trains (ref=*)	Passenger Service	type=route_master	type=route	Status and Notes
Acela Express®	2100-2222	high speed	9796393 9796393	WAS-BOS 9796293 9796293 BOS-WAS 9796352 9796352	Roughly complete; public_transport v2. 457 miles (735 km). Amtrak's premier high-speed service between Boston and Washington, with speeds up to 150 mph (241 km/h) in parts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Underlying infrastructure Northeast Corridor needs track connectivity fixes.
Adirondack®	68, 69	international	10322765 10322765	v1 4073816 4073816	Roughly complete; public_transport v1. 381 miles (613 km), a "higher-speed" corridor and service, contrasted with Acela, Amtrak's highest speed service. No overnight service.
Cardinal®	50, 51	national	10322762 10322762	v1 2807121 2807121	Complete; public_transport v1. 1146 miles (1844 km).
Carolinian℠	79, 80	national	10322760 10322760	v1 1900976 1900976	Nearly complete; public_transport v1. (Needs minor "track split" fixes). 704 miles (1133 km). No overnight service.
Crescent®	19, 20	national	10322758 10322758	v1 1809808 1809808	Somewhat complete; rough public_transport v1. 1377 miles (2216 km). Underlying infrastructure (route=railway) relations need fixing.
Empire Service®	230-260, 233-259, 280, 281, 283, 288	regional	4452798 4452798	NYP-YNY-POU-ALB 4234377 4234377 ALB-POU-CRT-YNY-NYP 4452779 4452779 NYP-POU-ALB 10322899 10322899 ALB-POU-CRT-NYP 10322903 10322903 NYP-ALB 10322898 10322898 ALB-CRT-NYP 10322902 10322902 ALB-NYP 10322901 10322901 NYP-YNY-ALB-NFL 9155839 9155839 NFL-ALB-YNY-NYP 9155838 9155838 NYP-ALB-NFL 10322900 10322900 NFL-ALB-NYP 10322904 10322904	NYP-ALB ALB-NYP 142 miles (229 km) New York City - Albany NYP-NFL NFL-NYP Complete; public_transport v2. 460 miles (740 km) New York City - Buffalo, a "higher-speed" corridor and service, contrasted with Acela, Amtrak's highest speed service.
Ethan Allen Express®	290-293, 295, 296	regional	4445810 4445810	RUD-NYP 4445771 4445771 NYP-YNY-RUD 4234911 4234911 NYP-RUD 10322921 10322921	RUD-NYP NYP-RUD Complete; public_transport v2. 241 miles (388 km).
Lake Shore Limited®	48, 49, 448, 449	national	10322753 10322753	v1 CHI-ALB 1358974 1358974 v1 ALB-NYP 10946018 10946018 v1 ALB-BOS 10946019 10946019	Complete; rough public_transport v1. 959 miles (1543 km). At Albany-Rensselaer, trains 48 and 448 decouple eastbound and trains 49 and 449 couple westbound. Underlying infrastructure (route=railway) relations need fixing.
Maple Leaf℠	63, 64	international	4467191 4467191	TWO-NYP 4467190 4467190 NYP-TWO 4467189 4467189	TWO-NYP NYP-TWO Complete; public_transport v2. 544 miles (875 km). No overnight service. Needs to be separated at Niagara Falls, Ontario into Amtrak- and VIA-operated segments.
Northeast Regional℠ (Norfolk/Newport News)	65-67, 82, 83, 85-87, 88, 93-96, 99, 110, 111, 121, 123, 125-127, 129-141, 143, 146, 148-170, 172-175, 179-190, 192-196, 198, 199	regional	10322749 10322749	v1 4799100 4799100	Somewhat complete; rough public_transport v1. Amtrak's busiest routes. 457 miles (735 km), a "higher-speed" corridor and service, contrasted with Acela, Amtrak's highest speed service. Underlying infrastructure (route=railway) relations need fixing.
Northeast Regional℠ (Roanoke)	65, 67, 82, 83, 85-87, 93, 95, 96, 99, 110, 111, 121, 123, 125-127, 129-141, 143, 145-156, 158-178, 180-190, 192-196, 198, 199	regional	10322749 10322749	v1 4799101 4799101	Somewhat complete; rough public_transport v1. Amtrak's busiest routes. 457 miles (735 km), a "higher-speed" corridor and service, contrasted with Acela, Amtrak's highest speed service. Underlying infrastructure (route=railway) relations need fixing.
Palmetto®	89, 90	national	10322751 10322751	v1 2648181 2648181	Complete; public_transport v1. 829 miles (1344 km). No overnight service.
Pennsylvanian℠	42, 43	regional	10322745 10322745	v1 4044002 4044002	Complete; rough public_transport v1. 444 miles (715 km). Underlying infrastructure (route=railway) relations need fixing.
Silver Meteor®	97, 98	national	10322741 10322741	v1 1590286 1590286	Complete; public_transport v1. 1522 miles (2449 km). Part of "Silver Service®."
Silver Star®	91, 92	national	10322742 10322742	v1 1897938 1897938	Complete; public_transport v1. 1377 miles (2216 km). Part of "Silver Service®."
Vermonter℠	54-57	regional	10322744 10322744	v1 1359387 1359387	Essentially complete; public_transport v1. 611 miles (983 km). Needs rerouting through Connecticut River Line (see [1])

Suburban/urban/light_rail/tram rail

Under construction. Add suburban/urban/light_rail/tram systems post haste as there are at least five additional rail tables with BrowseRelation entries to make here:

• Long Island Rail Road (New York)
• Metro-North Railroad (New York, Connecticut)
• NFTA-Metro (Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, Buffalo)
• MTA (New_York_City_Subway)
• PATH

Disused lines

Lines that don't have regular traffic but with all infrastructure in place. Tracks are tagged railway=disused.

This is an early, stubby table only just getting started. It needs much more population as there is a vast rail history in New York. Very much under construction and only in its infancy here.

Here is an Overpass Turbo (OT) query which can be helpful.

Name	old_railway_operator=*	Relation	Route	TIGER Review	Notes
Ithaca Branch	LV	The single way is entered	A disused spur off the Ithaca Branch, Ithaca	No TIGER Review required	An initial stub entry into the Disused table

Abandoned lines

Former railroad lines, whether still visible on the ground or not. A formal abandonment process with FRA has completed. Ways are tagged railway=abandoned or sometimes railway=razed if they have become completely built over in urban areas or are now, for example, farmland which has reverted to a more natural state with no evidence of tracks having been there. These should be historically determined or able to be so, but sometimes this is difficult because of lost history.

This is an early, stubby table only just getting started. It needs much more population as there is a vast rail history in New York. Very much under construction and only in its infancy here.

Here is an Overpass Turbo (OT) query which can be helpful.

Name of Subdivision/Line and/or Operator (at abandonment)	old_railway_operator=*	Relation	Route	TIGER Review	Notes
West Shore Railroad	NYC	1376497 1376497	Buffalo - Syracuse - Kingston - Union City, New Jersey	Substantially TIGER Reviewed	An initial stub entry into the Abandoned table

Railtrails

A railtrail uses a former railroad right-of-way for e.g. bike or hiking paths, preserving the ROW for possible future re-use as a railway while providing a useful service in the meantime.

Relation	Route	TIGER Review	Notes
	Empty	Placeholder	Unknown

To Do

Full list of active railways, whether they are in route relations or not. Assess their TIGER review status. Pressure will rise to stub passenger routes, abandoned and disused will emerge, as will tourism/heritage.