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2/4/2022
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul yesterday announced the award of $76.4 million in grants for 38 projects designed to renew and modernize freight-rail infrastructure.
The 100% state-funded grants complement the more than $100 million in private dollars that freight railroads invest annually to upgrade their infrastructure in New York.
The Passenger and Freight Rail Assistance Program, administered by the New York State Department of Transportation, supports investments that enhance the safe movement of freight goods, improves service reliability to retain and grow manufacturing jobs, and supports economic development, especially upstate, state officials said in a press release.
The grants announced yesterday provide funding for track and bridge rehabilitation, capacity expansion, procurement of cleaner rail equipment, and the modernization and expansion of rail infrastructure in freight yards and at seaport facilities.
The funding will also support the state’s climate goals.
"The infrastructure projects funded with these grants will further fuel our economic comeback with new construction jobs, while making regional economies more competitive in the long term and enhancing the movement of commodities in an environmentally sustainable way," Hochul said.
Grant awards include:• $5 million to Norfolk Southern Railway to use for safety and service reliability enhancements, including the rehabilitation of 15 miles of track along the Voorheesville corridor, grade crossing resurfacing and the installation of welded rail;• $4.95 million to the Rochester & Southern Railroad to enhance safety and service reliability, including the repair of 21 bridges on the Rochester Southern mainline, the replacement of more than 3 miles of track and the rehabilitation of Brooks Avenue Yard;• $4.67 million to the MTA Long Island Rail Road to use for the rehabilitation of the Remsen Avenue Bridge to accommodate industry standard 286,000-load rail cars;• $4.6 million to Pan Am Southern toward rehabilitation of an 8-mile section of the Rotterdam Branch, including the replacement of ties and ballast, and bridge and concrete repairs;• $3.14 million to the Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad to use toward safety enhancements, including the deployment of technology to detect axle and signal issues, upgrades to at-grade public crossings and the installation of new ties and ballast;• $2.2 million to the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway Corp. for safety and service reliability enhancements, including the replacement of nearly 5 miles of jointed rail on the Syracuse mainline with continuous welded rail. The railway also received an additional $2.1 million to install 4,100 feet of new yard track in Cortland County; and• $2.1 million to the Ontario Midland Railroad Corp. toward the replacement of an older switch locomotive with new equipment that will significantly reduce nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide emissions. For the full list of grant awards, click here.