HSR in New York? CSX says no

[spuwho]

Per Trains News Wire:

CSX opposes higher speed passenger trains in New York without separate line

ALBANY, N.Y. – In a preliminary environmental impact statement considering possible upgrades to the Empire Corridor to allow higher passenger train speeds between Schenectady and Buffalo, CSX Transportation filed comments essentially opposing the project without a separate new railroad being constructed. The Albany Times Union newspaper obtained a copy of the railroad's filing.

In the filing, the railroad opposes alternatives that would use its property to boost top speeds from the current 79 mph to either 90 or 110 mph. Instead, it favors an alternative that would see top speeds reach 125 mph, but only because it would require an entirely new rail line separate from CSX's existing corridor.

The line between Schenectady and Buffalo is one of CSX's busiest, handling 70 to 75 trains daily. CSX calls the corridor the company's "most important line" in its entire network. The railroad says additional passenger trains will only add to congestion, causing delays and hindering access to freight customers on sidings along the main line. Without adequate separation between the freight tracks and a newly constructed passenger track, high-speed trains also would pose increased danger to CSX track crews, it says.

In the filing, CSX criticizes the methods used to compile the draft statement, pointing out that projected costs don't include payments for use of CSX property, which it says is worth "billions."

The railroad says it also doesn't reflect the detrimental environmental impact that would result from shifting more freight traffic from trains to less fuel-efficient trucks as shippers facing delays from the added rail congestion move to the highways. That increase in truck traffic also would lead to additional road and bridge maintenance costs, CSX says.

The company also says the statement doesn't consider other, more cost-effective, ways to improve passenger mobility from upstate cities such as Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo that are along the route, including improved bus service and air service. The Times Union says the CSX comments don't acknowledge that scheduled air service along the Albany-Buffalo corridor is nonexistent because air carriers have been unable to serve the route profitably. The comments do point out the relative lack of population density and transit connections around existing stations in Buffalo, Syracuse, Utica, Rome, and the Capital Region, factors that could affect demand for the service.

The railroad also says the study should have considered the Albany-New York City and Albany-Niagara Falls segments as two different corridors, allowing policy makers to proceed with improvements on the first and choosing the "no-build" alternative for the second. East of Albany CSX freight trains use a line on the west side of the Hudson River, while passenger trains use another line on the east side.

The New York State Department of Transportation collected comments from the public during several meetings across the state and through written submissions. On March 21, it extended the deadline for comments to April 30. CSX filed its comments that day.

Those comments, and others submitted by the public, will be included in a final draft environmental impact statement to be released six months to a year after the comment period ended. Another environmental impact statement on the alternative selected will then be produced.

[carpnter]

70-75 trains a day averages out to about 3 trains per hour at each crossing, that is a significant amount of traffic.

[chrsjrcj]

The line between Schenectady and Buffalo is one of CSX's busiest, handling 70 to 75 trains daily.

I know some Treasure Coast folks who would have an aneurysm just thinking about that.