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New York …new rails? Governor unveils high speed solution

It’s been over twenty years since New York State had a rail plan. As of March 9 that’s changed - and it’s good timing - two federal bills in the last several months are making money available for rail projects. With that potential influx of federal money, New York lawmakers are hoping that within five years New York’s railways will be revamped and running at much higher speeds.

At a March 9 press conference Governor David Paterson announced the details of New York’s new rail plan. Total cost of the plan is $10.7 billion over 20 years, with most of the funding being asked for from the federal government. The highlights of the plan include a third rail for the crowded Albany to Niagara Falls line, a second rail between Albany and Schenectady and technology to allow increased speed to 110 miles per hour. Currently the rails only go as fast as 79 miles per hour and average as low as 60 miles per hour.The state hopes to decrease the average travel time between Albany and New York City to two hours, from two and a half hours, from Albany to Montreal to six and a half hours, from eight hours and from Syracuse to Buffalo to four hours, from six hours. The plan allows for a 45-day public comment period, as yet unannounced. There are as yet no guarantees for full federal funding for the plan, but Charles Carrier, spokesman Department of Transportation (DOT), told the Hudson Valley Business Journal that New York was in good position to receive monies for most parts of the plan.

"The stimulus bill has $8 billion in it for high speed rail, for the nation, specifically for ten existent rail corridors in the country, of which the Empire corridor is one," said Carrier. State lawmakers and the DOT began working on the project two and a half years ago and that made for fortuitous timing. Besides the Reinvesting in America monies for high speed rail, in the fall of 2008 Congress had passed the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) which Carrier said would provide money to create a third track on the congested line between Albany and Buffalo. A general transportation bill is also up for renewal by Congress in October of 2009 and this has railroad funds in it as well. "Congress passed and President Bush signed that law which gives every state opportunity to access federal funding for rail projects. One thing you have to have to qualify is a plan," Carrier continued. "We haven’t had a rail plan for more than 20 years. We were working on this for more than two years, in discussion with industry and business community for last several months, to put a final plan together. The fact that the federal government passed PRIIA and the stimulus bill is a nice, serendipitous thing that happened along the way."

The state’s rail plan include calling for twice as many intercity rail passengers along the three major corridors of New York’s rail system: New York City to Albany, Albany to Niagara Falls and Albany to Montreal; achieving on-time performance at least 95 percent of the time between Albany and New York City; establishing new passenger service, where viable, such as between Saratoga and Albany, Niagara Falls and Buffalo, and Binghamton and New York City; increasing freight rail usage by 25 percent; creating the first "green" short line fleet in the nation. The yard at Poughkeepsie was designated for tens of million of upgrades. The yard at Croton-Harmon was notmentioned in the plan.

"As far as stimulus dollars, we are going to be competing for the money with other states. It’s not the same as initiatives for shovel-ready projects in community, to fix up roads, bridges, culverts in a 120-day period. The high-speed rail part is part of competitive program, not the same kind of quick turn-around. We need to be prepared come June, to make an aggressive case to get our fair share of that $8 billion," said Carrier. New York and indeed the entire United States lags far behind Europe, China and Japan in its rail service, Carrier said. Europe is noted for having 200 mile per hour "bullet trains" and a Shanghai line in China holds the record for fastest passenger train, averaging 270 miles per hour and once going as high as 311 miles per hour. "What we can do, with real money we have now is get to 110 mph on existing lines right away. To get up to Europe or China would require acquiring land," Carrier said. At the press conference both Governor Paterson and Senator Schumer said New York City Congressman Jerrold Nadler was a leading light behind the rail plan, and has been working for increased rail service for decades.

Nadler’s spokesman Ilan Kayatsky said, "Really I don’t know if there has been a rail advocate longer than Congressman Nadler, for probably 30-odd years, he’s been pushing for regional state-wide rail plan that would coordinate, expand and improve freight and commuter."

Westchester Congresswoman Nita Lowey has also long been an advocate for bringing high speed rail to the state – especially to serve the commuter traffic that runs each day from her district into the city and back. Many Westchester and Rockland leaders, including RBA head Al Samuels, have been pushing the state for years to come up with an effective and reasonable mass transit solution to the growing commuter traffic issue. They have, especially, been lobbying to include at least a light rail line into reconstruction plans for the Tappan Zee Bridge.

"The modernization and expansion of New York’s rail system will reduce traffic congestion on our roads and runways. It will decrease pollution throughout our state, facilitate commercial transport, and improve transportation options for commuters and travelers. I look forward to working with Governor Paterson and the Congressional delegation to develop and implement a plan to upgrade New York’s rail system," said Lowey. Kayatsky continued, "What we have is trucks on road clogging roads, causing pollution and reducing speed by which goods can be transported. It was clear years ago we needed overarching freight and passenger rail policy to coordinate and improve simultaneously. He’s the senior member of Trans and Infrastructure from Northeast he will major role in reauthorization of transportation bill coming up. For many years they’d joke he was rail advocate and nobody really cared about rail. It’s nice that his views are reflected now."
The state sent a press release out with quotes from public leaders. In the release Governor Paterson said, "rail transportation is critical to efficiently moving people and goods throughout New York State. With the 2009 New York State Rail Plan, we are charting a course for the future. We have prioritized investments to improve inter-city passenger rail service and strengthen our freight rail system, while helping to promote the State’s economy and protect the environment by reducing energy use, emissions and congestion on our highways and runways." "From Albany to Rochester and from Poughkeepsie to Plattsburgh, we must update and reinvent our rail network to unclog the transportation arteries cutting off potential economic growth Upstate," Schumer said.

The concept has wide support – which will, no doubt, help it in getting federal funding for an infrastructure project that is expected to cost millions, at a time when the state is, effectively, broke. "High-speed rail is one of my top priorities. It is a key component of Upstate New York’s economic development and will spur job growth throughout the State. The development of high-speed rail throughout New York will create an economic development engine for decades. I look forward to continuing my work to advance this vital goal with the Obama Administration, Governor Paterson, Senator Schumer, and the rest of the New York Delegation," U.S. Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand said. Nadler added, "Today’s announcement of a State rail plan is truly historic. For decades, I have worked on this issue and have long awaited a forward-looking and comprehensive policy to guide and improve the region’s vast rail network. This is big news for both passengers and freight, and it could have a major, lasting effect on our economy. This rail plan will also be instrumental in securing funding for New York through the federal stimulus and upcoming  transportation reauthorization bill. Congratulations to Governor Paterson and Commissioner Glynn for their timely leadership and vision." Department of Transportation Commissioner Astrid Glynn said, "The State Rail Plan provides a contemporary blueprint for managing and improving New York’s railroad infrastructure, an integral part of our transportation network of highways, bridges, transit systems, ports and airports. This far-reaching plan outlines how to utilize existing resources most efficiently and positions us to improve mobility and connectivity across the State by creating a network that makes moving people and goods on rail a truly viable alternative."

The state’s accompanying press release indicated that inter-city passenger rail systems use 20 percent less energy per passenger mile traveled than automobiles and 17 percent less than airline travel. You can learn more about the "New York State Rail Plan 2009, Strategies for a New Age," at the NYSDOT web site at http://www.nysdot.gov/staterailplan.