New York City to Albany in 45 minutes. To Boston in 84 minutes. To Washington in 96 minutes. All by a comfortable, convenient, and reliable train with stops at New Rochelle, Westchester County Airport, Danbury and Waterbury.
If this all seems futuristic, or as ethereal as visions of sugarplums, well, for now it is. But the Westchester or Fairfield businessperson of, say, the 2030s could very well be working within a much smaller region, figuratively speaking, if funding and political will for a high-speed rail system hold up.
New York State Senate President Malcolm A. Smith, who co-hosted an international conference around the issue in November, is providing the political will. As co-chair of the High Speed Rail Working Group of the National Conference of State Legislatures, he has been championing the possibility, saying a high-speed rail system along the Northeast corridor (Boston-New York City-Washington) and the Empire corridor (New York City-Albany-Buffalo) would “redefine our statewide economy and open upstate markets to consumers across the country.”
As a politician, though, he is realistic about the obstacles. “Funding will be a burden shared by every sector,” he said. “In order for high-speed rail to work, we”™ll need support from the public and private sectors, and from local governments.” A High Speed Rail Planning Board was created earlier this year. The board, Smith said, will “explore the most efficient and creative ways to construct, operate and maintain high-speed rail in New York.”
Federal funding will be an integral part of any plan in the Northeast, and New York could benefit from national developments, such as newly elected governors in Ohio and Wisconsin suggesting they will reject federal rail money. Smith said a better sense of funding will emerge as this unfolds, and as the next six-year transportation authorization bill progresses in Congress.
Asked about how much new track, if any, would be needed, Smith said that New York State is currently putting together an environmental impact statement to analyze “potential ridership and benefits associated with exploring different ways of reaching 110-mph passenger service on the Empire corridor, that could involve creation of a dedicated passenger rail corridor or continued use of the line that Amtrak currently shares with CSX.”
Amtrak proposed in September the creation of a new 426-mile, two-track corridor connecting Boston and Washington, with local stops after New York City including New Rochelle and Westchester County Airport. The project would need nearly $120 billion in funding over 25 years, Amtrak said.
Andy Kunz, president and CEO of the US High Speed Rail Association, a Washington-based trade association that co-hosted the November conference, said we are in “an exciting time for this country and a beginning of a whole new transportation system. We have been missing out on the great benefits (high-speed rail) offers while the rest of the world enjoys easy mobility. Our current transportation system is like a hardening artery and choking our economic development on a national, regional and local level.”
Kunz said that USHSR will use a planned conference in Washington in February to “get the new members of Congress on board and up to speed about the benefits of high-speed rail.”
