Schumer Announces Major High Speed Rail Deal: CSX, Amtrak, New York Dot and the Federal Railway Administration Finalize Necessary Agreements to Get Nearly $150 Million in New York Rail Project Moving Forward

Press Release

Today, after a push from U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer, CSX, Amtrak, the New York State Department of Transportation and the Federal Railway Administration, have reached the necessary agreements to move forward with rail projects across the state. From Fiscal Year 2009 and 2010 and the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), Senator Schumer has helped New York secure $250 million in rail funding, but only a small amount had thus far been obligated for specific projects. The delay had occurred because CSX, Amtrak, NYSDOT, and the FRA had yet to complete the necessary agreements on land and track leasing, operating and management, dispatching and right-of-way maintenance, implementing, and service outcomes. After Schumer pushed the parties to sign off on these agreements, a deal was reached that will now allow nearly $150 million to be obligated to high speed rail projects.

"High speed rail is a key to upstate New York's economic future, and that future starts today," said Schumer. "I pushed the parties to reach an agreement so that we could put hammer to nail and get these projects rolling down the tracks. I'm thrilled that everyone has signed off on this deal, and can't wait to see the construction begin. We're going to create jobs and modernize our rail infrastructure that is going to be key to bringing even more jobs and economic opportunity to the Empire State."

The projects receiving funding appear below:

Albany - Schenectady Second Main Track -- $91.2 million

Along the 17 mile rail corridor between the cities of Albany and Schenectady, there is only one main track to accommodate all train traffic. The existing single track requires trains to wait at either the Schenectady Station or the Albany-Rensselaer Station for approximately 26 minutes for the rail line to clear when another train is traveling in the opposing direction, resulting in train delays. The existing single track also does not allow for redundancy should this track require maintenance work, resulting in time delays during maintenance, which also has negative impacts on train delays and further reduces reliability.

The New York State Department of Transportation will administer the final design and construction of the Albany -- Schenectady 2nd main track and upgrade and existing controlled siding on the Empire Corridor in the City of Albany, Town of Colonie and Village of Colonie within Albany County and the City of Schenectady and Town of Rotterdam. Completion of this Project will provide double track operation between the Albany-Rensselaer Station and the Schenectady Station, which will reduce delays and improve reliability for this section of the Empire Corridor.

The Project includes the reconstruction of four interlockings and installation of two new interlockings, and relocation of switches. The Project will also include signal system improvements, installation of signals for the second track, trenching/burying signal and power wires, and correction of identified track deficiencies necessary to restore the existing track to a state of good repair. The Project will include the repair/rehabilitation of 16 bridges, the potential replacement of one bridge and possible culvert repair/rehabilitation.

The three grade crossings located within the Project limits will also be improved by upgrading the existing grade crossing surfaces to accommodate the second track and the installation of four quadrant crossing gate warning devices at each crossing. The existing signal cables on poles will be removed during construction and will be replaced with new underground signal cables.

Albany-Rensselaer and Schenectady Fourth Track/Station Improvements - $58.1 million

Overall benefits for this project include increased schedule reliability, reduced congestion and interference between freight and passenger trains, and increased capacity and efficiency, resulting in less delay and improved intercity passenger rail operations in this segment of the Empire Corridor. The project benefits also include increased ridership as well as increased frequency of Amtrak service to the Schenectady Station, improved timeliness of rail service, and improved overall quality of passenger experience, all of which provide an outlet for increased modal transit choice. There are three elements to the project:

Section 1 -- Albany-Rensselaer Fourth Station Track -- Section 1 of this project is currently being progressed with an existing FRA grant for final design. The Conceptual Operating Plan and the preliminary track layout have been approved by the FRA, and a conceptual construction staging plan has been submitted to stakeholders and the FRA for review and approval. The major components of this project are track and platform improvements and signal work. The project is located at the Albany-Rensselaer Station in the City of Rensselaer, NY. The project will benefit Empire corridor Service, with end points of New York City and Niagara Falls, NY, which serves major locations including upstate cities such as Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse. This project also includes improved service for the Lake Shore Limited (NYC/Boston to Chicago), Maple Leaf (NYC to Toronto), Adirondack (NYC to Montreal), and Ethan Allen (NYC to Rutland, VT) trains. There are currently thirteen passenger roundtrips between New York and Albany, four of which extend west of Albany to Buffalo and points west, one of which that extends north to Montreal, and one of which that extends north to Rutland, VT. In addition, there is one daily roundtrip between Albany and Boston.

Section 2 -- Hudson Line Signal Wire Relocation (Phase 2) -- Section 2 of this project relocates the signal wires underground and connects with Phase 1 of the signal wire relocation (which was selected for funding under the FY2010 HSIPR program) to the southern terminus of the Albany-Rensselaer Fourth Station Track project. Signal outages from the existing above ground signal wires lead to train delay, a reduction in average operating speed over the line, degradation in Amtrak on-time performance and a reduction in the train capacity of the line. Twenty-four percent of delays on this segment of the Hudson Line are due to outages associated with the above ground signals. Operating safety is reduced by the occurrences of signal outages. In addition, signal system maintenance and repair costs are increased and schedule reliability and locomotive fuel efficiency are reduced due to signal outages.

With the signal improvements associated with this project in place, signal work for the Albany-Rensselaer Fourth Station Track can be effectively tied into the new signal system being constructed as a part of the FRA FY2010 funded signal relocation on the Hudson Line (Phase 1), without the need for either project to tie into the antiquated existing signal system. This Section may also be mobilized at the same time as Phase 1, to be implemented under a separate FRA cooperative agreement.

Section 3 - Schenectady Station Platform and Track Improvements -- Section 3 of this project provides a new platform and new track layout at Schenectady Station, located at 332 Erie Boulevard, Schenectady NY. The construction includes: track and platform replacement, waterproofing track deck and platform under track, construction of the northern stairwell, and the infrastructure for the south stairwell and elevator associated with the platform. This Project element will improve structural integrity of the track platforms over the viaduct.

This Project element will play into a larger scope of the revitalization of Schenectady Station and downtown Schenectady, while promoting ridership for Amtrak's intercity passenger rail service, and providing key linkages to other cities within the Empire Corridor and beyond. The revitalized station will support high speed rail service within the Empire Corridor, improve Amtrak on-time performance, increase ridership, and allow for future frequency increases of Amtrak service.

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