Amtrak from Albany to Penn Station is the way I'm going, same schedule you mentioned. Cheapest seat is $42 each way, I got the AAA discount down to $37.80 for a round trip of $75.60. I saw some reviews of the LIRR from prior Belmonts & decided against that. My main concern is making the 9:15 PM train. I was looking at alternative trains to NYC and any delays on long lines would end in me missing my train home. I'm also getting too old to stand the whole way back on a LIRR train. I ended up paying more for the comfort and I'm taking the Rally Bus from Manhattan to Belmont for $55. Total transportation $130, about $20 more than driving & avoiding all aggravation. The original ETA for the Bus back to NYC was 8:20 PM, giving me about 50 minutes extra for traffic. Since they moved the Belmont about 15 minutes later, I still have over a half hour delay factored in to make the train. If I miss it, I'll catch the 11:35 train home, but I don't want to wait that long so I'm taking a shot the bus can get to Manhattan in less than an hour & a half.