NYS DOT And The Little Engine That Won’t

I recently spent a vacation in Italy, where the trains run more or less on time and the high-speed rail network is extensive and genuinely fast. On a dedicated track, our train reached 250 km/h (155 mph) for lengthy portions of travel.

The Northeast and Southern Canada are uniquely positioned to benefit – and profit – from high-speed rail. The Amtrak Acela service running between Boston, New York, and Washington can, since a recent upgrade, reach speeds of 160 mph on certain portions of the journey. The fastest portion runs from New York to DC, while the portion between Boston and New York averages out at 66 MPH, which is only marginally better than car travel. This is because Acela shares much of its track with freight and regional passenger train services that cannot accommodate higher speeds. This is a huge missed opportunity.

Another missed opportunity is the linkage of other destinations with true high-speed rail, which is generally considered to be anything over 110 mph. New York – Albany – Montreal would work. Albany – Syracuse – Rochester – Buffalo – Niagara – Toronto would work. Toronto – Ottawa would work, as would Toronto – Montreal and Montreal – Quebec City.

So, it is with some amazement (and with kudos to WGRZ’s Nate Benson), I come to find that the New York State DOT has taken 14 years to “study” high speed rail for New York and the best they can come up with is the construction of a dedicated passenger track that would result in a 7 hour and 30 minute journey from Niagara Falls to Penn Station in New York – two hours fasster than it currently takes. The maximum speed? 90 mph. Not even “high speed.” Just “higher speed.” And when you factor in stops, it does not remotely compete with driving. The cost? $6 billion.

Google Maps says a drive from the Niagara Falls train station to Penn Station would take about 6.5 hours driving. It would involve the construction of some upgraded signalling, crossings, and bridges, and only 67 miles of new track would be built.

Because it would be slower than driving, it is anticipated that this would result in a $33 million annual deficit. A plan NYS DOT rejected to implement 380 miles of new track to accommodate 110 mph trains would cost about the same and result in a smaller deficit, but it would still result in a 7 hour and 22 minute ride. Yet another rejected plan would introduce 280 miles of two electrified tracks accommodating speeds of 125 mph. The alternatives are discussed here.

The NYSDOT refused multiple requests for an interview and declined to answer specific questions regarding the over 456-page Environmental Impact Statement that was released in early February.

Yeah? No shit, so would I. I also would be too embarrassed by this to associate my voice and face with it.

State Senator Pat Gallivan is right when he tells WGRZ that it doesn’t make sense. Spending $6 billion to go as fast as a kid in a slammed GTI only to lose a ton of money is ridiculous.

What would make sense is to allow for 160+ mph Acela-type trains to make a trip from the Falls to New York City in 5h and 17 m, including stops. This beats driving and, for most people traveling between WNY and Manhattan, would be at least competitive with flying. (A flight involves security, check-in, (1hr) boarding, taxiing, deboarding, (1h 20 m) walking through the terminal (10 m), and transportation from LGA, JFK, or EWR to Manhattan (1+hr).

The extra capital expenditure to implement a truly modern and rapid rail system would be well-spent. It would enable easier commutes between New York’s upstate cities. It would get people and their cars off the Thruway, which inexplicably runs only 4 lanes in each direction for almost the entire stretch between Williamsville and I-88.

The proposed plan is a boondoggle and a failure. One of the reasons given for not considering ultra high speed rail is the supposed need for reconfiguration of stations and rights-of-way in the Albany – NYC corridor. You cannot tell me that densely populated Italy can figure this out, but New York cannot.

Unfortunately, our cousins to the North haven’t figured this out, either. You’d have thought that social democracy Canada would have implemented high-speed corridors between the cities that make up its megalopolis, but it hasn’t.

Or maybe just open up bidding for a privately run service, such as the Brightline in Florida or Brightline West in California. The latter will run at 180 mph and reduce travel time between downtown LA and Las Vegas to just over 2 hours. The trip from Orlando to Miami will take about 3 hours, saving at least 30 minutes off driving.

The cost to do ultra high-speed right is 27 billion dollars. That’s 188 F-35s. Maybe we should be looking at spending public money on things that benefit our public at-large.