Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Congressman Pat Ryan who represents New York’s 18th Congressional District have joined forces to try to undo the Trump administration’s decision to withhold $28 million in federal funding for the Rhinecliff Train Station Project while, the administration says, the project is being reviewed.
The project has been on the front burner since at least 2020 and is intended to make federally-mandated ADA-compliant infrastructure upgrades and modernization. This includes replacing the existing 520-feet-long low-level platform at the Rhinecliff Station with a new, longer, high-level platform. The project includes track and signal work along with new access to the platform, including stairs, elevators, and a pedestrian bridge. The existing low-level platform requires passengers to use a step stool to transition from the platform, which has created severe accessibility issues and caused many operational delays.
The Trump administration pulled the funding with no explanation for its decision to review the project at this late stage, according to Schumer and Ryan.
The station is 90 miles from New York City and serves 26 Amtrak trains daily with Metro-North adding service at Rhinecliff this spring on trains servicing stops north of Poughkeepsie. In 2024, the station serviced 228,395 Amtrak passengers according to Amtrak.
“This is bureaucratic failure at its worst: eleventh-hour unexplained delays from the Trump administration risk years of progress to repair the Rhinecliff train station – right as this sorely needed upgrade was set to begin construction,” Schumer said. “The Trump administration needs to stop derailing this vital project and get out of the way so it can get back on track.”
Ryan considers the administration’s hold-up of the project “a slap in the face to our Hudson Valley community. The fact that DOT (Department of Transportation) has provided no information or timeline is unacceptable, and risks years of further bureaucratic delays while our community is left in the dark.”
Rhinebeck Town Supervisor Elizabeth Spinzia said she has been working to bring upgrades to the train station since 2015.
“As the fourth busiest station in New York state, many people rely on the Rhinecliff, and it’s literally crumbling due to neglect,” Spinzia said. “To have President Trump abruptly stall the project with no explanation is a mindboggling, callous betrayal.”
Schumer and Ryan in a letter to Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Administrator David Armstrong Fink said he should immediately provide the public and local leaders an explanation of what the review of the project means, he should stop federal delays, and he should release the much-needed funding for the Hudson Valley.
Schumer and Ryan said, in part, “The FRA’s review of the $28 million award at this juncture of the project risks undermining years of planning and investment. The Rhinecliff Station project was awarded through a competitive, merit-based process focused on rehabilitating our nation’s aging rail infrastructure and improving passenger service. Further delay will jeopardize the much-needed repairs for this historic station that Hudson Valley commuters and visitors rely on.”
