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Senator on New York fast-train project: Hurry up
What world does that CSX 90 mph limit come from?
That belief derides the railroaders who shared their freight track with 100 mph psgr trains 60 years ago.
Milwaukee Road, Santa Fe, SP, Burlington, UP—and the list goes on.
Seventy years ago a progenitor of CSX had a 7000 hp, 6 driving axle, fast-freight speed capable engine that used the fleet of them on 160 car coal drags.
I guess that we don’t have to, as is said, go figure.
This whole matter is pointless. CSX has them here. NYS has no money to pay its unfunded federal mandates, let alone live up to it’s contracts with it’s employees, both active and retired.
Ask Gov. “Andy-the-Panderer” (D-NY). He holds Sen. “Chuck-the-Schmuck’s” (D-NY) strings. Nothing new here.
Thinking about proposals to upgrade the old New York Central between Albany and Buffalo reminds me of a trip when I was in high school on old NYC train #44. A deadheading NYC employee sitting next to me was describing all the curtailments taking place on the railroad. As we slowed for the Rochester stop he pointed out the Kodak headquarters building just to the west of the station. I can recall morosely saying to myself, “Gee, why can’t the railroad be as prosperous and as successful as Kodak?”
Here we are now, 53 years and a career later. The New York Central has been gone for almost 44 years and what does one think when passing through Rochester today on Amtrak’s Lake Shore. “My god! Kodak is contemplating bankruptcy and the railroad, now something called CSX, is as prosperous as it has ever been with traffic passing the Kodak headquarters as heavy as it has been in 60 or more years.”
I guess things are, as they say, dynamic, only in this case even more so. I’m giving my 17 years old mind credit for its faith in the inherent economies of the steel wheel on the steel rail. It isn’t obsolete after all, as everyone around me was saying at the time. I’d bet money the route through Rochester will eventually see 100+ mph rail service. CSX will have to be dragged kicking and screaming and a third main track will have to be reinstated in places but it will happen because it is in everyone’s interest that it be done. The only question is when. Have faith my friends!
The last laugh is the best one by far.
Improving speed incrementally may be the best way to go until the market for dedicated tracks is proven.
too bad the West Shore line wasn’t fully intact between these two cities… It would have provided a dedicated high-speed passenger line…
CSX killed the 3C corridor proposal by encouraging the newly elected Governor to return the funding from the feds (Allegedly). I wouldn’t expect them to be very willing to play ball in the State of New York.
Instead of arguing about 90mph vs. 100 mph lets get the fourth track in at the A-R station. Get some panel track, attach one end to the Boston track, and the other end to the “main” track and put in a couple of dwarf signals. The reason for this fourth track is to accomodate The Lake Shore, and the only real need for this track is to get #448 and #449 out of the way. Is it too much to get this done this coming constructionseason
NYState officials who are insisting on 110mph are doing a tremendous disservice to the cause of expanding Amtrak service west of ALB. Attempting to bully CSX will get them nowhere. If NYState wants 110mph then it should make CSX an offer to buy their property and then they can do what they want.
There is nothing shameful about achieving reliable 90mph running and if that’s all CSX is willing to allow, then go with it. It would be great improvement over what we have today. Frankly, I’d be happy if infrastructure expansions and improvements were done so the passengers could reliably do 79 all the way across. And start with the bridge across the dry bed of Seneca River out around MP320. That bridge has been bulletined for 40mph for decades.
If NYState officials continue with their boneheaded ways and unrealistic demands we’re sure to end up with nothing. Maybe that’s their plan. They’ve already shown their cards in this regard by cutting the transit component from a new Tappan Zee Bridge.
There is talk of putting a third track back in between Albany and Buffalo for Amtrak’s use. Conrail wanted nothing to do with this. Whenever a highway overpass was replaced, it was only made wide enough to have 2 tracks underneath it instead of the 4 that used to be there. Therefore the cost will be much higher.
It’s going to take everyone to push their representatives and remind them about the importance of high speed rail.
This is nothing more than more government pork barrel spending looking for new and improved ways to be completely wasted. At taxpayer expense. I mean at China’s expense, because we are borrowing from them to fund this, with no intentions of paying it back.
You want to fund it properly and get this project going really fast? Raise the ticket prices for Amtrak to the point where the tickets cover the cost of building it. Then see how much demand there is. Amtrak is nothing more than a 1:1 scale model railroad for Congress at best. It is unconstitutional. If it is constitutional, somebody show me which article or amendment covers having the government move people from Point A to Point B at taxpayer expense. Come to think of it, Amtrak sounds more like slavery. My income is taken without my consent to pay for it.
And Senator Schumer is frustrated, how about us citizens and tax-payers ! It’s up-state N.Y. we’re talking about here, not the metro. areas on the N.E. corrider. Hey Schumer, we’re broke. We don’t have the money !
As far as I can tell, most of us up-state folks are pretty content with the current Amtrak service and the NYS. Thruway. We’re not in great need of higher-speed rail. Why do politicians have to misrepresent things ? The second track between Schenectady and Albany is going to be constucted. The fourth platform track at Albany-Rennsellaer Station is going to be installed this year also. I live very close to the CSX “water-level” route, and they are constantly working on and up-grading the entire infrastructure. Is this not progress, and by the private sector ?
The only thing we need to be in a hurry at is voting all the "liberal elites "out of office as soon as possible while there is still some chance of saving OUR country from permanent destruction.
Stop borrowing money to spend before you even know how it’s going to be spent !!!
I’d love to see trains on my part of the Long Island Rail Road average more then 30 MPH. I’d consider 60 MPH from my station to Penn to be ultra high speed rail!