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High-speed Rail Funds Coming on Line

Thursday, January 28, 2010

New York state will get a share of the billions of dollars the federal government plans to earmark for rail line infrastructure improvements, upgrades that should speed the process of getting from Niagara Falls and Buffalo to Albany.

President Obama is to release $151 million in funding for the Empire Corridor, part of an overall $8 billion set aside for rail infrastructure through the federal Recovery Act.

Track, grade-crossing and station improvements highlight the planned improvements for the Empire Corridor, which stretches 285-miles across Upstate New York. It is expected that the projects will take up to 20 years to complete. The hope is to have trains traveling at speeds of up to 110-miles per hour, significantly shortening the time it takes to connect to Upstate cities.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, competition for these federal dollars was extensive. The Federal Railroad Administration received 278 pre-applications requesting more than $102 billion for high speed rail from 40 states and the District of Columbia.