Obama lists Buffalo as high-speed rail candidate
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced Thursday that it is proceeding with plans to allow 10 rail corridors — including one linking Buffalo and Albany —to compete for up to $13 billion in federal high-speed rail funding.
The announcement gives the new administration’s stamp of approval to rail corridors that were designated as eligible funding candidates as far back as 1991. The Empire Corridor, linking Buffalo and Albany, won its designation in 1998.
While only six of the 10 corridors are expected to receive funding, local lawmakers touted the Obama announcement as a hopeful sign.
And perhaps most hopefully of all, the White House invited Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, the Fairport Democrat who is spearheading the upstate New York high-speed rail effort, to attend Thursday’s White House announcement.
Other commitments prevented Slaughter from being able to attend, but both she and Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand, D-N. Y., said they were excited about the president’s announcement.
“The development of high-speed rail will create an economic development engine in upstate New York for decades,” Gillibrand said.
While competition for the funding is expected to be fierce, local lawmakers believe the upstate route has an advantage because it could be built on a third track along an existing right of way.
That means it could be built more quickly than other highspeed rail corridors — which is important because the first $8 billion in federal funding will come under the economic stimulus bill, which aims to fund projects that are “shovel-ready.” The Obama administration aims to announce that first round of funding by the end of summer.
“The ‘third track initiative’ is deserving of federal support and I intend to fight tooth and nail to make high-speed rail in upstate New York a reality,” Slaughter said.
Obama likened his highspeed rail plan to the unveiling of the interstate highway system in the 1950s.
“My high-speed rail proposal will lead to innovations that change the way we travel in America,” he said. “We must start developing clean, energy-efficient transportation that will define our regions for centuries to come.”
The Buffalo-to-Albany rail proposal will compete with proposals linking Chicago with several Midwestern cities, a link between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and other proposals in New England, the Southeast and Pacific Northwest.
Both Gillibrand and Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N. Y., have been pushing the upstate rail proposal, and Slaughter has formed an upstate caucus to push for the plan on a bipartisan basis.
“I’m glad we got to the next step,” said Rep. Chris Lee, RClarence, who also has been pushing the upstate route. “I know they will take a close look at the economic feasibility of this, and I hope that gets us to the final gate.”
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