Impact statement expected Friday

EIS to pick alternative to improve travel from Albany to Buffalo

It could be the slowest highspeed rail study ever undertaken. Federal officials are expected to publish the final version of the Environmental Impact Statement on Friday, nearly a dozen years since the project was launched.

If the Federal Railroad Administration study in fact appears, that would be news to one key player, the New York

State Department of Transportation.

“The State Department of Transportation is not aware of this EIS being released on Friday,” a spokesman said this week. “We continue to work with FRA on the federallyrequired process needed for an environmental determination.”

The FRA didn’t immediately say whether the scheduled publication date would be met.

The EIS is expected to recommend one of a half dozen alternatives for making rail travel across upstate, from Albany to Buffalo, faster and more convenient.

Following a comment period that begins with the EIS publication in the Federal Register, a final decision likely would be issued by the FRA, the lead agency on the project. That decision is expected by June 29.

The timing may be fortuitous. With the change in administrations in Washington, high-speed rail is receiving new attention.

“Infrastructure is very timely at the moment,” said Bruce Becker, communication director for the Empire State Passengers Association, a rail advocacy organization.

Amtrak has outlined a five

year, $25 billion effort to update its nationwide system with new corridors connecting rapidly growing cities that were left out of the original route system.

New services would be introduced in such cities as Phoenix, Denver, Nashville, Atlanta and Charlotte.

The passenger railroad, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, operated four daily round trips between Schenectady and western New York before the pandemic.

There is no scheduled air service connecting the upstate cities along the I-90 corridor. The lack of fast, frequent trains and regular air service are seen as major headwinds to some of the state’s most significant economic development efforts.

There is the Thruway, but winter weather can be a challenge from November through April.

The existing rail line from Schenectady west to Buffalo is owned by CSX, which operates dozens of daily freight trains with which Amtrak must share the tracks. The freight railroad has objected to allowing passenger trains to travel faster than the current 79 mph top speed limit, maintaining they’d pose a danger to crews on its slower-moving freights.

A range of alternatives would boost top train speeds to anywhere from 90 mph (the least expensive upgrade) to 125 mph (most expensive). The latter would include a new corridor, possibly elevated, dedicated to passenger trains.

There’s one other choice: to do nothing.

“We would be shocked if the no-action alternative” were chosen, Becker said. “The funding outlook is far more promising than under the prior (federal) administration.”