(The following article by Cathy Woodruff was posted on the Albany Times-Union website on September 24.)
ALBANY, N.Y. — A $185 million high-speed rail contract between Amtrak and the state should be declared legally dead, the railroad contends in legal papers filed Thursday in federal court.
Amtrak’s response to a lawsuit filed last month by the state Department of Transportation is the strongest statement yet that Amtrak doesn’t believe it is possible to salvage any portion of the ambitious plan that was to cut the trip from Rensselaer to New York City by 20 minutes, to 2 hours. Amtrak officials said in December that they were “unable to participate in the high-speed rail agreement as originally conceived,” and had been warning the DOT of their doubts for more than a year.
The deal with the DOT was to include the reconstruction of seven 1970s-era trains by Super Steel Schenectady and an array of track and signal improvements.
Three of the Turboliners were rebuilt at a cost of tens of millions of dollars but sat idle all summer at Amtrak’s Rensselaer yard because of faulty air conditioning. On Tuesday, Amtrak had the trains towed to Delaware for storage, further dimming hopes that they would ever be put in service.
The move prompted state Transportation Commissioner Joseph Boardman to accuse Amtrak of stealing the state-owned trains.
“Somebody stole my trains and I want them back,” Boardman said earlier this week. He is asking state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to help secure their return.
Since Gov. George Pataki announced the high-speed plan in 1998, the DOT and Amtrak have been at odds over how to deliver faster service to New York City. The cash-strapped railroad has never been enamored of the Turbo trains, citing fuel costs and limited seating capacity.
In addition, Amtrak has failed to complete needed track improvements that would allow the trains to approach their top speeds of 125 mph.
Last month, DOT filed a federal lawsuit asking that Amtrak be forced to carry through on its contract commitments or pay the state $477 million in damages. That is the amount the state estimates would be Amtrak’s full contribution to the program, including the $300 million cost of operating the seven refurbished Turboliners for 15 years.
Amtrak officials declined to comment Thursday beyond their legal response to the DOT’s suit.
A member of the Assembly Transportation Committee chastised state officials Thursday for failing to adequately safeguard New York’s investment in the high-speed rail program.
Assemblyman Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, who is also chairman of the Energy Committee, said the whole program was “so loosely defined” that it’s difficult to determine whether the Turboliners will ever be used.
“Did we have the money to spend, and was the investment safeguarded with sound planning and appropriate decision-making?” Tonko asked. “We may have put the caboose ahead of the train car.”
Tonko said the federal government, which he said has shortchanged funding for Amtrak and Northeast rail service, also deserves a share of the blame.
Tonko said he will look to the attorney general’s office to interpret the terms of the contract and “see how we make the best of what appears to be a losing investment.”
Boardman, however, said Thursday that the plan would have been workable if Amtrak had carried through on its commitments.
“The key was always to have other things done on this corridor,” including new tracks and signals, he said. “Those are all things that Amtrak has walked away from.”