Amtrak and the Capital District Transportation Authority have reached an agreement that will allow the demolition of two abandoned Amtrak station buildings to proceed.

The buildings originally were to have been demolished five months ago, but work was delayed while liability concerns were addressed."There were some liability issues and Amtrak and CDTA resolved those," said state Department of Transportation spokesman Skip Carrier. "Our expectation is demolition would begin shortly."

The two buildings have prevented CDTA, which operates the current rail station, from adding a fourth track and lengthening station platforms.
Rail advocates would like to see some progress.

"We hope the project can move ahead," said Bruce Becker, president of the Empire State Passengers Association.

The older of the two former stations dates from 1968, and replaced the former Union Station in downtown Albany.

As passenger demand grew, a second, larger station was built in 1980. That served Amtrak passengers until the current multi-level station and parking garage were completed in 2002.

A $194,400 contract was awarded last October to Dan's Hauling & Demolition in Albany to remove the stations by the end of February. The new station can accommodate four tracks, and the lack of the fourth track often caused delays while arriving trains waited for others to clear.