State DOT Conducts Open House About Passenger Rail Service

ALBANY, NY (11/10/2010)(readMedia)-- The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), in partnership with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), today held a public meeting at Monroe County Community College in Rochester to discuss plans to improve passenger rail service.

The meeting is the sixth and final one of a series of initial scoping events called for as part of a detailed environmental review being conducted for the High Speed Rail Empire Corridor Project (HSR Project). These meetings are a way for the public and other project stakeholders to provide input to the project team. This input will help create the type of high speed passenger rail service that is right for residents, businesses and travelers in New York State.

"Expanding high speed intercity passenger rail service will give New Yorkers and others who visit our great State additional travel options, increase mobility, create jobs along the corridor, enhance tourism and spur economic growth," NYSDOT Acting Commissioner Stanley Gee said. "We encourage the public to attend this initial round of public meetings because active community involvement is essential to developing passenger rail improvements that will serve us effectively now and for decades to come."

This project is examining how to introduce passenger train speeds of at least 110 mile per hour between Schenectady and Niagara Falls and adding to the areas between Schenectady and New York City where passenger trains can travel at least 110 miles per hour. The project also seeks to improve reliability, travel times, and the frequency (number of trains) of passenger rail service.

"Today's meeting is one of the ways we can get the public's input on how to plan out and build the kind of high speed rail service that is right for residents, businesses and travelers," said Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, founder and chairwoman of the Upstate Congressional Caucus. "These scoping meetings that have taken place across the state also give us the opportunity to explain to New Yorkers our vision for high speed rail: the establishment of reliable 110 mph high speed rail passenger service in Upstate New York that will ultimately link into Canada, the Midwest and East Coast. Millions of people are currently riding Amtrak in New York State and millions more will want to ride when service is improved. Today we want to hear from these people and gain the benefit of their experience."

State Senator James Alesi said, "I commend State DOT for holding a series of public meetings across Upstate New York, concluding today in Rochester, to hear from area residents on the long-term environmental impacts of high-speed rail in New York State. With a portion of the 463-mile proposed corridor running through my district, I am just as interested as my neighbors as to the feasibility of building a high-speed rail line between Buffalo and New York City, and the potential positive and negative impacts such a line would have on taxpayers in Monroe County."

State Senator Joe Robach said, "The federal dollars specifically to be used for a high-speed rail will be helpful not only in transportation, but also in regards to short-and long-term job creation and economic development."

Assemblyman David Gantt said, "In providing significant improvement to our transportation infrastructure, high speed rail could serve as a strong catalyst in our effort to revitalize the economy of Upstate New York. I support the efforts of those who are working to make high speed rail happen, and I look forward to continuing to work with them in the future."

Assemblyman Joseph D. Morelle said, "High-speed rail service represents a potential leap forward for our state on many levels. It would make New York an even more attractive tourism destination and generate short-term and long-term job creation along the entire rail corridor. Upstate in particular would benefit from faster and more efficient intercity train service, and I'm grateful to the state and federal officials who are working with such diligence on this project."

The 463-mile Empire Corridor runs north from New York City through Albany, turns west to Schenectady and then passes through Utica, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo before terminating at Niagara Falls. Most of the corridor is owned by CSX Transportation (CSX) and it is one of their busiest freight lines in the nation. Passenger service on the corridor is provided by Amtrak. Partners working with NYSDOT on this project include: CSX, Amtrak, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Metro North Railroad, Canadian Pacific Railways and many interested groups.

At each meeting, attendees played an important role in helping make the project team aware of factors critical to them for consideration in assessing the potential needs and benefits associated with improving Empire Corridor passenger rail.

Interested parties also can view an online public briefing covering the same information available at the scoping meeting by visiting www.nysdot.gov/empire-corridor. Comments can be made online.

Public scoping meetings are an essential element of the first tier of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which will help decide what is right for the Empire Corridor. This is the first step of the two-tiered environmental process being conducted for the High Speed Rail Empire Corridor Project. An EIS is a method of providing a strategic plan and assuring appropriate environmental documentation, project costs and benefits have been made available to public officials and citizens before major public investments are made or actions are taken.

In the current phase of this EIS, the public can help NYSDOT and the FRA evaluate potential improvements to intercity passenger rail service within the corridor by attending the public scoping meetings and other events, visiting the project website, and sharing their comments with the project team. Based on the findings of this project, NYSDOT will then refine this corridor-wide strategic plan into an implementation plan that sets forth specific programs and projects to improve passenger rail service on the Empire Corridor and meet current FRA requirements to compete for additional federal funding for corridor-wide service improvements.

To learn more about the project, or to provide the project team with written comments, please visit the project website at www.nysdot.gov/empire-corridor.