I find it funny how McCarthy is going to jump on the I'm gonna get the Eire Blvd project done bandwagon when it was already well underway yet we have Hull almost ten years ago pushing for a project which in my opinion will have more impact if completed.  What is going to happen is the second track is going to get completed but the Schenectady station will be paralized by not being able to handle the demand.  

Union in the News for June 9, 2002


President Hull urges new passenger rail

By Roger Hull - The Times Union

Benjamin Franklin said it, echoing the 17th-century poet George Herbert: For want of a nail, the shoe, horse and rider were lost.

In upstate New York today, for want of a nail, potential train passengers are being lost to a business-government bottleneck. Gov. George Pataki proposed doing something about it two years ago, and the fact that lawmakers have yet to act should concern anyone who cares about the state's economic future. With a new CEO at Amtrak raising hopes for a rail revival, now is the time for action.

The nail in question is 12 miles long the distance between Albany and Schenectady. Between them lies a single railroad track, a situation one would be hard pressed to find in many Third World countries.

People who enjoy the beautiful ride up the Hudson River from New York to Albany may wonder why they often have to sit in Albany for a half hour or more before proceeding to Schenectady and points west. To a considerable extent, the delay is dictated by the need to wait for an eastbound train from Schenectady to reach Albany. Meanwhile, riders going from Schenectady to Albany commonly experience a similar delay as their train pulls onto a side-rail and sits, waiting for a westbound train to pass.

Why does this incredible situation exist? Although it is Amtrak that runs the trains, the tracks are owned by the CSX Corporation, a Virginia-based freight line that took over Conrail's New York routes in 1999. CSX has no need for a second track, and the enhancement of the rail bed would only increase the company's property taxes. However, CSX is doing more than resisting a tax increase; it is using its leverage to try to reduce its taxes either through legislative or court action to cut its tax assessments.

In other words, efforts to advance New York's upstate rail service beyond its current primitive state are being held hostage to a tax squabble.

A second track between the two cities would immediately reduce upstate travel times by at least half an hour. And that could be just the beginning, because adding a second track would open the way to improving the rail bed and move toward higher-speed rail service. By that I do not mean futuristic technology like magnetic levitation but improvement in service comparable to what already exists elsewhere on Amtrak.

A little arithmetic suggests how revolutionary such a change could be. The Acela Express from New York to Washington takes about two hours and 40 minutes, with stops along the way. At that rate, a trip from New York City to Schenectady would take less than two hours, instead of the three hours and 15 minutes it takes today. New York to Syracuse would be a little more than three hours; rather than the five hours and 30 minutes it takes today; New York City to Rochester would be roughly four hours, not the current six hours and 40 minutes.

Such savings were highly desirable a year ago. In view of the questions Sept. 11 has raised about short-hop air travel, they are now all but imperative. Indeed, the governor included funding for a second track in the assistance he sought from Washington in the wake of Sept. 11.

Some people asked then how 12 miles of track between two upstate cities would help New York City. Yet anyone who saw the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibit two years ago about the revolutionary effect the Erie Canal had on the making of the Empire City knows the answer: Speeding transport between the city and upstate yields huge benefits for both. Upstate's rich array of colleges and universities and its growing high-tech sector make this as true today as it has ever been.

Unfortunately, the state budget passed by the Legislature last month did not include a proposed cut in rail taxes that would clear the way for the second track between Albany and Schenectady. Such action is still under discussion, however, and remains a possibility for this session.

The single rail between Albany and Schenectady is hardly the only problem with Amtrak service in New York, but there is no better place to start. It is time for public officials and CSX to put this first nail in place for the rail system New York needs and deserves.

Roger Hull is president of Union College.

By all means get Erie Boulevard done ignore the dead bodies in the streets because you can't see them from Erie anyway. While you're at it, make sureit resembles nothing of the historic canal just shiny new stuff so we won't get any tourists looking for history ever.
My visitors from abroad were appalled at how long the train took to get here from Buffalo because of the delay that we accept as normal. They also were surprised at how bad we let our history get lost. They never mentioned the shiny facades one way or the other, that kind of thing you can see anywhere.

These are separate projects --- equally important --- Last time I checked, it was the Republicans in Congress who were holding up the funding for the new railroad station in Schenectady.   But  the Repblican/Nayboobs in Schenectady don't want THAT truth to come out.

Of course it is more important for the DEM machine to take care of its Friends and Family Club. Nothing is more important to these frauds than the sacred deal. BTW, Erie Boulevard is going to be a high tech corridor- ROTFLMAO!! The second rail line is far more important for the future. That's why the no minds want the Erie "improvements" which is traffic choking and job destroying.

There were double rail tracks on the D&HRR and the NYCCRR but due to the high taxes they were being charged for every mile of rail they owned they removed the extra rail road track in to lower use areas to save money.

Quoted from Shadow

There were double rail tracks on the D&HRR and the NYCCRR but due to the high taxes they were being charged for every mile of rail they owned they removed the extra rail road track in to lower use areas to save money.

You are correct.  Same thing happened to GE and every other company that left this area and downsized.  Look at all the historical buildings GE ripped down because the city just wouldnt let up on the assessment.  Lots of green grass and pine trees now.  

The city has reaped what it sowed.

Yall got what you voted for

So far the only people slowing down a new train station in Schenectady or the improved rail service from NYC thru our region to Buffalo and points west ---- ARE THE REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS.

The nayboobs are just using a tactic that they learned when they were members of that extreme right wing youth group  while growing up  -- repeat a lie often enough and maybe people will believe it.

THE FACT IS THAT DEMOCRATS ARE PUSHING FOR THE NEW TRAIN SERVICE AND THE NEW TRAIN STATION AND IMPROVEMENTS TO ERIE BLVD.    

The DEM morons have been pushing this insane Erie Blvd project for years with no results. This will not cost the local taxpayers a PENNY. Over a million-YES? Every business is against it. They continue to beat a dead jack a** to help contributors. GE workers need to quickly exit the County. They don't want narrowed lanes and boulevards.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

So far the only people slowing down a new train station in Schenectady or the improved rail service from NYC thru our region to Buffalo and points west ---- ARE THE REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS.

The nayboobs are just using a tactic that they learned when they were members of that extreme right wing youth group  while growing up  -- repeat a lie often enough and maybe people will believe it.

THE FACT IS THAT DEMOCRATS ARE PUSHING FOR THE NEW TRAIN SERVICE AND THE NEW TRAIN STATION AND IMPROVEMENTS TO ERIE BLVD.    

Erie Blvd does not NEED to be re-done, there are far more important things that are needed in the city---the money NEEDS to be spent IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS -- WHERE PEOPLE LIVE.

As far as the train, let the railroad companies foot the bill, NOT the taxpayers

Hopefully, the much needed and greatly anticipated  Erie Blvd project will get underway in 2012 --- and the new improved rail lines and train station sometime soon after the November 2012  Elections when the Democrats regain control of the US House and improve their majority in the US Senate.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

Hopefully, the much needed and greatly anticipated  Erie Blvd project will get underway in 2012 --- and the new improved rail lines and train station sometime soon after the November 2012  Elections when the Democrats regain control of the US House and improve their majority in the US Senate.

DV, when do the neighborhoods - where the PEOPLE live--get attention?

When do the homeowners in the neighborhoods get some relief from paying the highest almost the highest taxes in the country, huh?

Take a slow boat to China DVOR....sure you can find your nitch there...

The only obstacle to Schenectady getting a much needed new train station --- are the TeaParty/NNTP Republicans in Congress --- We need to "blast" a hole through that obstacle in the next Election by voting out of office as many Republican Congressmen and Congresswomen as possible --- and the "dynamite" to "blast" that hole will be donations of money and volunteer time  to Democratic challengers in every district where there is current a GOP Representative.