advertisement

---

The state of New York recently announced it will provide a total of $60 million to help railroads fund infrastructure improvements. The grants will fund the final three years of the five-year, $100 million Rail Freight and Passenger Rail Assistance Program, which is administered by the New York State Department of Transportation.

The state will provide $5 million to the Adirondack Scenic Railway during fiscal-years 2007-08 and 2008-09 to upgrade 28 miles of track between Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake. Operator of a 118-mile corridor, the railroad currently uses 45 track miles to provide tourist-rail service.

For FY2007-08, the state also will provide $5 million to Amtrak to subsidize operating costs; $4.5 million to CSX Transportation to improve track and build sidings; $3 million to Canadian Pacific Railway and the Delaware & Hudson Railroad to establish an intermodal facility; and $1.5 million to CPR, Norfolk Southern Railway Co. and New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway to improve Binghamton Yard.

For FY2008-09, the state will grant $5.7 million to CSXT to improve track and build sidings; another $5 million to Amtrak; another $4 million to CPR and the Delaware & Hudson; $2 million to NS to replace a bridge over the Genesee River; and $1.3 million to New York & Atlantic Railway Co. to restore track.

Finally, as part of FY2009-10 grants, the state will provide another $5 million to Amtrak; $2 million to Middletown & New Jersey Railway Co. Inc. to replace rail; $1.68 million to New York & Atlantic to build an industrial rail terminal and restore a yard; $1.65 million to Central New York Railroad Corp. to rehabilitate track; $1.5 million to Owego & Harford Railway Inc. to improve track; $1.5 million to Mohawk Adirondack & Northern Railroad Corp. to rehab track; and $1.1 million to Arcade & Attica Railroad Corp. to rehab rail.