High Speed Rail: Money Sent Our Way

Does anyone know how long the trip would be from Buffalo to Rochester on this high speed train?

NYS got a very small piece of the pie on this compared to some other states (CA, FL, MO).

Why are they investing in the Depew station. Wouldn't it make more sense to invest in a downtown station close to canal side? Connection to light-rail. Move the bus station over there and then you have what people call a transportation center. A station in the middle of nowhere is pointless.

Why spend money on the Depew facility? I've seen rest stops that look nicer. Use the Central Terminal, it's only 6.1 miles away. It would make one heck of a first impression for out of town travelers and making it a stop on the corridor should help to find funds to restore it.
Fencing, lights and cameras should alieve any security issues about the neighborhood.

Depew??? It's called Depew for a reason. Overall a great idea, but settling on the current station....horribleness.

Theses monies will do little to speed up trips on the Empire Corridor in the near term. No fancy new trains. No additional departures. Although there is money for another study *sigh*.

What they will do is make the existing service more reliable.

Some of these improvements, like the second track at west of Albany and upgrades for the Depew station, have been on the books for decades. These bottlenecks are relatively inexpensive upgrades that will greatly enhance on-time performance. Hopefully the funding will ensure these improvements get completed.

What should be noted is that the corridors that did receive money were pretty valid routes - nothing sticks out as too far out there. If anything, the Florida route could have gone, that plan hadnt really made any headway in years.

But then again, it is a swing state.

The important thing to understand is that $8 billion spread all over the US is too small a sum to make a large impact. If more money wasnt available, I would have personally preferred it if less recipients had received sums large enough to make a real impact. If the traveling public perceives no real improvements, half measures could be as bad as no action at all.

I guess 151 million aint what it used to be...20-something miles of track?

Id also like to offer an alternative that has been used overseas for major infrastructure improvements: Build - Operate - Transfer (and its close cousins)

Basically, its a PPP. In this case, NYS would solicit a bid for a private company to build the route, operate the franchise for a certain amount of time to recoup construction costs, and finally transferring the whole thing back to the government.

My guess is a true European HSR from NYC to Montreal would be a whole lot more appealing to a franchisee, considering the size of the population centers, the fact that the state already runs pretty quick along the Hudson, and there is a lot of unoccupied state owned land north of Albany. But its all in how the package is put together.

Or, maybe, there will be another couple of billion for HSR right around the corner.

The rail industry would probably me healthier today with less help from the government. The airline industry has been around for over 100 years and has yet to make a single dollar in profit. If the government wants to help the rail industry, they should exert less influence on the airline industry. Propping up weak airlines has resulted in in too much air capacity and artificially cheap air flights. If air travel cost what it really should cost, then train travel would be relevant again and it operate successfully and privately the way it did before the government takeover. Market pricing in air, trains, buses, taxi, has been completely perverted by government interference. More tampering with this mess will only result in more unintended consequences. Hey government, you want to help? Don't! Let the people who own and operate these services do what they do best. I'll bet in return, these private sector people would agree to reciprocate and promise that they won't be intellectuals.

This is much bigger than many people think. First, there were a lot of proposals for HSR that simply didn't cross the finish line so we're in, which is a great first step. Secondly, it's just that, a first step. This $8 billion investment was never intended nor large enough to deliver completed systems. It is a down payment on what will be a multi-phased, long term HSR development program. To complete all of the approved projects will cost in the HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS, not to mention the many additional projects that didn't get any money this time around. Thirdly, the Amshak in Depew is obviously in need of improvement while the region and the state figure out how to come up with the $500+ million it will cost to fully renovate and retrofit the BCT for HSR service. ( then again, if you have enough money, you can build a terminal floating above Niagara Sq.)

Something tells me we are going to wind up with several large parking lots for trains.

Use the Depew Station? I think we should restore the Buffalo Central Terminal. The Central Terminal is perfect for High Speed Rail. I think we should get rid of that Amshack Station that everyone calls Buffalo's Train Station and use a real station. I rather get off at a station that is that is classly and and art deco. Not a little shack. Mike Miller (rip) said something like if you save the Central Terminal, the neighborhood would be saved. I agree with this.

TEAR DOWN DEWPEW AND RESTORE THE THE CENTRAL TERMINAL

The Buffalo Central Terminal needs to be used.Like Ozzy said the Terminal is better Amshack.If the Terminal gets better the neighborhood will too.The Depew Station is total garbage.It is so small and has little room.The Terminal is huge.So the Heck with Depew lets work on the Buffalo Central Terminal!!!!

Newcomer here but I've been lurking for awhile. Finally decided to reply to one of these interesting articles.

Anyways. I agree with sonyactivision: this $8 billion is only the down payment. Honestly, that sum would probably be the total bill for our HSR corridor, connecting from Buffalo to NYC. Though, I'm speculating there.

From what I've read (history, current events, and activist-wise) the BCT is a great place. However, to have a HSR, think of the location with regards to construction, engineering, and the like. One would have to take out a couple to several tracks already there, and then install the new HSR tracks. And if we want to connect to, say, Cleveland, or even Toronto, there's more problems.

With Toronto, there are only two, possibly three lines that I can see that would be viable for use as HSR. However, knowing that freight companies would rather keep these than lose them, it would take a lot of money to do. Mind you, these lines are ones that already exist and do not cross many streets. The next problem lays with going across the border, not only with Customs, but also with bridges. We all know how long the Peace Bridge design has taken (as long as I have been alive -- 21 years, give or take), so to add an HSR-dedicated bridge could be a nightmare, politically and geographically.

With Cleveland, the problem lies more in the current system. The only possible track I can see being used is the Amtrak one. Like Buffalo-Toronto, the rail would have to be updated, and inter-city & inter-state politics are involved. However, I can see people switching between the lines and going from Toronto to Cleveland, as well as Toronto-NYC.

Now onto BCT: I've been there a few times, and I agree that it is a very austere place, and has an awe-inspiring, and yet welcoming feel to it. I do believe that it needs to get restored ASAP (I'm thinking cutting all State Senators' and Representatives' pay by 10 to 25% for two months should do the trick) so it doesn't fall into further disrepair. The only problem with it (that I can think of) is location, and if NYS/the Feds cannot use old trackways, where would the new HSR tracks be? One theory is to actually have the tracks along Lake Erie, and then enter into the city, near BCT. However, most of the waterfront is already built up. Therefore, we can do something interesting: build somewhat of an elevated track, and at the same time, take down that damn Skyway (which I have an intense loathing of, seeing as I've almost died on it 2-3 times already). Something similar to this: http://tinyurl.com/y86gmxs. The blog entry is a good read, but the picture is at the end in teh comments. Try this if you're too impatient: http://tinyurl.com/yazl9h5. It would work out, and would be an interesting sight to see with the city as a backdrop.

One last note: The Depew Station, true, it does suck, it needs a lot of improvement, as does that entire suburb. However, I do believe that it is needed, for those that are not capable of getting downtown or are afraid of downtown. I know from personal experience that it was more convenient for me and my mom to go to this station, rather than to the Buffalo Station.