WASHINGTON &#8212 New York State won a tiny fraction of the federal high-speed rail money

that Florida and California will receive &#8212 all because federal officials think the state

is far behind its big-state competition in planning for the service.

New York was awarded $151 million in rail funding last week, with $2.3 billion allocated to

California and $1.25 billion to Florida.

&#8220I think the money we gave New York reflects what we thought about their

application,&#8221 Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told reporters Wednesday.

And an official close to the high-speed rail program said the state&#8217s plan for the

service &#8212 which eventually would connect metro Buffalo with Albany, and New York City

with Montreal &#8212 &#8220needs to be fleshed out.&#8221

Other sources said the state might not have gotten a dime if not for the persistence of

Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, D-Fairport, and other federal lawmakers.

Of the 11 high-speed rail plans that received at least $100 million in the fight for $8

billion in stimulus money, New York finished 10th, just ahead of the already-developed

Washington, D.C.-to-Boston route &#8212 and just behind a route that links New Haven, Conn.,

to Springfield, Mass., and St. Albans, Vt.

LaHood refused to get into details of why the Buffalo-to-Albany, New York-to-Montreal

proposal fared as it did, receiving only $151 million.

But he did say: &#8220This is not complicated. If people get their act together, if they

have a good plan, if people are working together, they&#8217re going to benefit.&#8221

Both Florida and California have completed environmental impact statements for their

high-speed rail plans, while New York has not. In addition, California has set aside $10

billion in bond funding for its project.

In contrast, New York has lagged for years on comparatively minor projects such as building

a second track between Albany and Schenectady, said Ross B. Capon, president and chief

executive officer of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. The state only now is

undertaking such projects with its new high-speed rail money.

&#8220They&#8217ve been screwing around for years,&#8221 Capon said of New York State

officials. &#8220There was just not a level of action commensurate with the potential. Their

plan was not equal to that of other states.&#8221

A call to Deborah Sturm Rausch, top spokeswoman for the state Transportation Department,

went unreturned.

Slaughter said she was perfectly happy with the $151 million.

&#8220This is all the money we could possibly use this first year,&#8221 she said, adding

that other federal allocations would be forthcoming.

Slaughter put together an upstate congressional caucus to fight for the high-speed funding.

Sources said that effort &#8212 and especially Slaughter&#8217s argument that the upstate

route could succeed and provide a big economic boost &#8212 paid off in the money the state

got.

Speaking at the U.S. Conference of Mayors last week, LaHood said: &#8220There is no bigger

advocate than Louise Slaughter, who I talked to every day &#8212 not every day, but at least

once a week anyway. She is on this. She has been a big promoter. She has gotten the delegation

from New York together, and she has been a strong advocate.&#8221

Slaughter said the state has had to cope with personnel changes, but in the end, &#8220New

York did a credible job. They were starting from scratch.&#8221

Early on, though, New York did go a bit too far when it applied for nearly $12 billion in

high-speed rail funding when only $8 billion was to be available under the stimulus bill,

Slaughter acknowledged.