Empire Service and Maple Leaf Voyage Tips and guide

The Empire Service is an Amtrak train connecting New York City with upstate New York several times a day. The Maple Leaf, jointly operated with Canada's Via Rail, runs once a day each way on the same route and continues across the Canadian border to Toronto. Major stops on the way include Albany, Rochester, Buffalo, and Niagara Falls.

Understand

The Empire Service always serves the stations in black and on some runs also serves the stations in blue. The Maple Leaf serves all labeled stations.

The full Empire Service between NYC and Niagara Falls takes nine and a half hours, assuming no delays. A shorter version runs more often between New York City and Albany; this takes about two and a half hours.

The Maple Leaf takes 13 hours to go the full distance between Toronto and New York, including an hour for customs at the US-Canada border. If you're just riding the Canadian portion between Toronto and Niagara Falls, that's only two hours.

The Empire Service and the US portion of the Maple Leaf are operated by Amtrak; the Canadian portion of the Maple Leaf is operated by Canada's Via Rail.

These trains have a cafe car with prepackaged food for sale, but as this is one of Amtrak's shorter routes there's no full-service dining car and no observation car. WiFi is available on board in the US but not in Canada.

Prepare

If you're crossing the border, you're not allowed to check luggage as you'll have to take all your luggage off the train with you for customs. Fortunately Amtrak is pretty generous with carry-ons: one personal item plus two larger bags.

Get in

New York and Toronto are enormous cities and transit hubs, with many train connections from other parts of the US and Canada as well as major international airports. Some of the other stations in New York State are reasonably well connected by train too, at least by American standards, and Buffalo, Albany, and Rochester have significant airports as well.

If you're planning to take the Maple Leaf across the border, arrive at your departure station early for passport checks.

Ride

New York City to Albany

This portion is the most scenic, with views of the Hudson River. For the best views, sit on the left westbound (towards Albany/Niagara/Toronto) and on the right eastbound (towards New York City). All these stations are in New York state.

40.750556-73.9938891 New York City (Penn Station)
40.9356-73.90232 Yonkers
41.1898-73.88273 Croton-Harmon
41.707222-73.9383334 Poughkeepsie
41.921111-73.9519445 Rhinecliff
42.2541-73.79776 Hudson
42.641389-73.7411117 Albany

Albany to Niagara Falls

Only a few trains per day run between Albany and Niagara Falls. These stations are in New York state.

42.8146-73.94281 Schenectady
42.953611-74.2194442 Amsterdam
43.104199-75.2281123 Utica
43.1995-75.44994 Rome
43.0767-76.16915 Syracuse
43.1635-77.60826 Rochester
42.9071-78.72667 Buffalo (Depew)
42.8783-78.87388 Buffalo (Exchange Street) – the main Buffalo station
43.109722-79.0552789 Niagara Falls (New York)

Niagara Falls to Toronto (Maple Leaf only)

One train per day in each direction, the Maple Leaf, runs the full distance between Toronto and New York City. Schedules are timed so that you can use this train for a day trip to Niagara Falls from Toronto.

All these stations are in Ontario.

43.1088-79.06341 Niagara Falls (Ontario)
43.147778-79.2563892 St. Catharines
43.195833-79.5577783 Grimsby
43.313333-79.8555564 Aldershot (between Hamilton and Burlington)
43.455-79.68255 Oakville
43.645278-79.3805566 Toronto

Go next

This itinerary to Empire Service and Maple Leaf is a usable article. It explains how to get there and touches on all the major points along the way. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.