(The following article by Cathy Woodruff was posted on the Albany Times-Union website on October 6.)
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — A fresh new train station seems to be boosting enthusiasm for reaching the Spa City by rail, with ridership up as much as 10 percent .
There were 10,810 arrivals and departures through the station this year from May through August, compared with 9,784 during the same period last year, according to Amtrak.
In August, traditionally the city’s big racing month, rail travel to and from the city was up 6.7 percent over last year.
Most of the credit for the increase goes to a $5.9 million station that the Capital District Transportation Authority opened in March, replacing a structure built in the 1950s, officials believe.
“When you look at the architecture and the artwork, it gives a grand statement about Saratoga, compared with the dungeon-like atmosphere that existed in the previous station,” said Saratoga Chamber of Commerce President Joseph Dalton. “It gives an impression of class.”
Though Amtrak has not increased the number of trains stopping in Saratoga, this was the first summer in which race fans headed for the six-week thoroughbred meet and others drawn by attractions like the New York City Ballet and the Philadelphia Orchestra could enter the city through the new 6,400-square-foot facility.
The new station has a small coffee shop and newsstand and an art gallery, which seem to attract some folks who don’t even have a train to catch, noted CDTA spokesman Carm Basile.
Hopes that the project would be finished for part of last year’s season went unfulfilled, leaving travelers to await their trains in a temporary modular station. And in another blow to the appeal of riding the rails to Saratoga last year, downstate race fans traveling on Amtrak weekend discounts had to catch a bus in Rensselaer for the final 35-mile leg of their trip to make it to the track by post time.
This year, it was a different story.
Sales for a package deal that included a round trip from New York City to Saratoga Springs on Amtrak, shuttle service from the station to the Saratoga Race Course, grandstand admission and a daily racing program were stronger this year, though an exact tally of sales is not yet complete, said Amtrak spokeswoman Marcie Golgoski.
The New York Racing Association also heard warm words from race goers about the station.
“We did receive positive feedback from our customers regarding the convenience of the Saratoga train station,” said NYRA spokesman Bill Nader.
Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau President Gavin Landry said visitors in town for several recent events — from school superintendents to geologists to submarine veterans — also have remarked on the improved rail gateway.
Even folks with local ties are responding to the fresh look.
Dalton said his 37-year-old son, Matt, just dropped his car off for upstate storage last weekend after seven years of regularly driving to Saratoga County from New York City to visit his parents. The new station was a factor that helped highlight the convenience of coming home by train instead, Dalton said.
Katherine Blodgett, director of public and media relations for the Philadelphia Orchestra, couldn’t immediately say whether musicians had increased their rail travel during the orchestra’s residency here in August. But she said one musician’s girlfriend found the train was just the ticket for keeping romance alive during the extended separation.
“She made a flying trip up there for a surprise visit,” Blodgett said. “She found it much easier to take the train.”