MTA Metro North Commuter Rail/Amtrak

This station has a beautiful restored interior and exterior due to renovations that have occurred over the last decade along with the overall gentrification of the nearby neighborhood. The station is clean and will keep you shielded from the elements and has plenty of seating before you head down to the tracks to catch your Metro North or Amtrak train. The boards posted in and around the station show time and track updates and the announcements are clear. Parking can be abysmal (and it is on weekdays) so getting dropped off /​picked up is the way to go. Enjoy your trip to New York or Montréal!

I visited the Poughkeepsie Station as an Amtrak customer in transit from Beacon to Cleveland. Upon arriving at the station on the MTA, I was initially confused as to what track I could expect my train to arrive on. I wandered around the station for a bit until I arrived into the main waiting area.
Now, I will say it was a HOT July day… about 94 outside… so it was stuffy and oppressive inside this GORGEOUS station. The interior is vast and beautiful. It really brings you back to the romantic past of train travel. I quickly learned what track my train was supposed to be arriving on from the Amtrak window and the monitors in the building were soon updated.
During our hour and a half, our train was moved 3 times… which was annoying… however, they did a really good job of announcing it loud and clear, as well as updating the signs on the tracks to reflect the change.
I had a really good experience at the station and wouldn’t mind venturing through it again… except maybe on a slightly cooler day.

The station is fine even if the design is a bit confusing and there are not enough elevators.
Beware of the cab drivers. We were totally ripped off when we took a cab to the Culinary Institute. Charged us $ 20 and when we used a reputable cab company on the way back we were charged $ 8.50. I almost wanted to yell at the driver when we got back to the train station… since I saw him standing there.

The recent face-​lift the Poughkeepsie train station did a lot to improve it. The inside is nice, thought the benches are still uncomfortable. The ticket windows are open something like 15 hours each day, with plenty of ticket machines as well. The bathrooms, especially the men’s room, are a thousand percent better.
There’s still some basic things that would take a fortune to improve. One is the parking. You can only do so much with the space you have compared to the people using it. Fortunately, parking is free on weekends, and long-​term parking is reasonable. I only wish they had additional 30-​minute parking spaces near the entrance, because I like to stop in and buy my weekend tickets in advance to avoid long lines.
It would also be nice if there were more food options, but if you have the time to spare to get food and/​or drink, there are several good establishments on the other side of the parking lot (river side).

I really love the fact that the powers that be have spent lots of money trying to develop the immediate area. There are great places to eat and drink before getting on the train to the city or after getting off the train.
Free parking on the weekends but not a fan of the parking fare on weekdays ($ 3.50 for 16 hours/​$ 6 for 24 hrs… um random number). However on a weekday after 7am, good luck trying to find a spot since there all taken by the commuters.
Beware of parking on the weekends though. A bar frequented by drunk upstaters is right by the non-​garaged parking. You should definitely park in the garage or beware of drunk kids scratching up your car or worse.
Same goes for college kids pregaming from PK down to the city. Beware of the hot mess on the train ride down.
Overall happy with Metro North, as they’re always on time.

Although this rail station is a pain and is in one of the worst parts of town, it’s also a popular station which is run primarily as the northern-​most hub for the MTA’s Metro-​North Railroad. It seems like every single person imaginable always needs some reason to travel on Metro North. Metro-​North may have a commuter fan-​base here for that reason, but with the shortness of amount of services it provides it’s passengers, I think it should really do more to help their passengers go about their travel trips.
If it’s Amtrak’s services you find amazing, this is also another stop for Amtrak, before leaving for Croton-​Harmon (Westerchester Co., 2 counties south of this station). I find this station to be a savior in that respect. Even if you decide to travel north on Amtrak’s trains, it still provides some decent services for those customers too.
Although the station’s outside was just repaired within the last few years, the station’s inside (dependant on area) has seen better days. Although the waiting room is spectacular, it only has one bathroom (which most of the time doesn’t flush just right). If you walk down the area that leads you to all the tracks, this too is immensely old and desperately needs refurbishing to upgrade it to recent times (add a patch of bright colors to spruce things up a bit-​the dark red/​brown/​black paint don’t bode well for people who travel to/​from here.
As for parking, well, it too has it’s good things and bad things. Although parking is free on weekends (in and near the parking garage), the parking lot isn’t free during weekdays. However, during weekdays is the only time when you’ll find employees who survey the security of the place occasionally.
As for the parking lot straight accross from the main entrance to the terminal, it’s rare that anyone in our family will ever find a spot there. I, myself, am rarely able to find a spot there. And when I do, that spots I’m forced to take, are either in a «more-​likely to be vandalised» area by streetpeople wanting a handout, or I have to park in time-​monitored parking (which is closely guarded by police).
I may be a stickler for fees (then again, who isn’t in this economy), but I’d rather pass up this station a bit, as after coming out and trying to find Route 9 NORTH (South is really easy), I rather not have to try using this station.

Any thing that saves me driving to the 5 boroughs is awesome. I have used the Metro-​North Commuter rail on several occasions (to go to Yankees games and to Grand Central Station). I didn’t go inside on my most recent venture, but the last time I was there they were undergoing a significant rehab of the waiting area for the Amtrak clients (historic «church» pews and all… very cool looking building). The bathrooms were atrocious, but its a train terminal (but slightly better than the bathrooms at Penn Station).
Parking is FREE on Saturday and Sunday in the parking structure.
Round Trip to Yankees Stadium is $ 27.50 (this is less than you would pay in tolls, gas, and parking fees to drive to the Bronx).
Its clean-​ish on the trains although there is always a funky smell.
The conductor has an awesome beard
Trains leave regularly at all hours
The bad: people sneak alcohol on the train and become loud and the website is poorly designed and laid out. There is usually someone there to assist with Amtrak matters, but the MTA/​Metro North is usually unattended. I also really really dislike that the ticket kiosks give you change in dollar coins (I didn’t need $ 12.50 of coins weighing me down).
If you are going to this station from points north, do not use google maps as it takes you on on a «scenic tour» of some little towns in Dutchess Co. Take exit 18, turn right, pass the «exotic dancer» club on Rt 299 (i think), turn right again toward the Mid Hudson Bridge, turn left off the bridge and follow the signs.