» NYS Seeks New Rail Grants For 8 Projects

Meeting the April 4th deadline, New York State today applied for a total of $517 million in new Federal Rail Grants, to fund eight specific projects.

The new grant applications submitted to the FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) seek to obtain a portion of the $2.4 billion in federal funds which Florida Governor Rick Scott recently returned.

The eight projects, and their costs, are:

• Rebuilding Harold Interlocking - $294.7 m - The project would construct dedicated tracks for Amtrak use in this busy area. Currently Amtrak trains between New York and points north towards New England must share tracks with Long Island RR commuter trains.

• Moynihan Station Development - Phase 2 - $49.8 m - Final design for the continuing project to expand current capacity at New York’s Penn Station.

• Upper Hudson High-Capacity Signal System - $112.0m - This project would replace the current outdated signal system between Croton-Harmon and Poughkeepsie on the Metro North Railroad. Both Amtrak and Metro North trains would greatly benefit from the added capacity and reliability a new system would provide.

• Hudson Line Signal System Improvements - $18.6m - Funds the work to complete the upgrading of the signal system on the remaining 48 miles of between Poughkeepsie and Rensselaer not previously funded. The current pole-mounted signal lines would be replaced with buried cables, greatly improving the reliability of the system, particularly in bad weather.

• Rensselaer Station 4th Track And Platforms - $35.4m - Would fund the construction of the long-sought fourth boarding track at the Rensselaer Station (the ninth busiest in the Amtrak system); extend the length of the two current platforms from 500 feet to 1,000 feet; re-configure the track lay-out and signal systems allowing for higher train speeds when approaching and leaving the station.

• New Schenectady Station - $4.1m - Would provide the last necessary funding to allow this project to construct a new Schenectady Station at the current Erie Blvd. site to proceed.

• New Rochester Station - $1.4m - Would complete the necessary preliminary engineering and enviromental review for the proposed new Rochester Intermodal Station, to be located at the current site.

• New Niagara Falls Maintenance Base - $1.75m - Would complete the necessary preliminary engineering and enviromental work for a new in-door maintenance base in Niagara Falls, NY. Currently all lay-over servicing and repairs are done outdoors, even in the coldest winter weather. The facility would be designed to handle future higher-speed train equipment also.

More details on these projects will be posted as they become available.

April 4, 2011