Tagged: high-speed rail

Update: Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) has announced that New York is netting $7.3 million out of what Ohio and Wisconsin rejected.  From a statement:

“I’ve been advocating for this extra money for New York for months and today’s news that an additional $7.3 million is coming to our state is superb,” said Slaughter. “I’m delighted that New York is able to take advantage of this additional stimulus money to build high-speed passenger rail stretching across the state.”When Republicans were elected to governorships in Ohio and Wisconsin last month, they vowed to reject federal rail stimulus money. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that money would be redistributed among 13 other states that applied for rail funds.

You can see the full results of the redistribution from the Department of Transportation here.

Rochester is having its high-speed rail hearing tonight. It's the latest in a series of public meetings that the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has been putting on around the state.

The content of the meeting will probably be the same. It's the context that's changed.

Since last week's midterm elections, high-speed rail funding has become a point of political contention.

Rep. Louise Slaughter was in Rochester today to announce that the local Amtrak station was getting some federal money for upgrades ($1.5 million, to be precise). But the bigger news out of today's press conference was that more than $28 million in federal grants will be going to three upstate projects. Today's big rail winner: the Syracuse area. Say hello to $18 million for track and signal improvements.

Albany and Poughkeepsie also got in on this batch of Federal Rail Administration (FRA) funding. Almost $8 million is pegged for signal improvements around Poughkeepsie. In Albany, $2 million is going toward the early stages of replacing a 144-year-old bridge that spans the Hudson. 

Members of Congress from upstate are very forthright about bringing high-speed rail to the region and frequently mention a third track as a selling point. However, the state Department of Transportation says there’s no blue print for a third track spanning the entire corridor at this point.

In an effort to move forward with high-speed rail across New York, the state Department of Transportation is seeking public input at a series of meetings across the state beginning this week.

Earlier this year, New York applied for a piece of $2.5 billion in federal stimulus money for high-speed rail. Winners of that second round of money are expected to be announced in October.