(The following article by Cathy Woodruff was posted on the Albany Times-Union website on December 15.)
ALBANY, N.Y. — A plan for high-speed trains between Albany and New York City was built on so many false assumptions that a contract between the state and Amtrak is worthless, Amtrak officials contend in new court papers.
Amtrak made the allegation in the latest round of filings in a federal lawsuit brought in August by the state, which wants the railroad to put the mothballed trains back in service and make track improvements or pay the state $477.3 million.
Amtrak contends that it had the right to terminate the contract, already has done so and is asking the court to declare it legally dead.
The high-speed rail program, which was to shave 20 minutes from the two-hour, 20-minute travel time from Rensselaer to New York City, was announced in 1998 by Gov. George Pataki. Seven rebuilt 1970s-era Turboliner trains were to be the workhorses of the route, with extensive track work to enable speeds as fast as 125 mph.
The project ran into problems almost from the start.
Refurbishing the Amtrak-owned trains was complicated by the discovery of asbestos in the cars and other mechanical and engineering issues. Only three trains rebuilt at Super Steel Schenectady’s plant in Glenville were delivered to Amtrak. None of the track work was done.
Amtrak idled the trains last summer, citing faulty air conditioning and other concerns. They’re now parked in Delaware.
In papers filed Friday in U.S. District Court, Amtrak argues the contract with New York was so vague and dependent on future developments that it is unenforceable, ill-considered and “illusory.”
“Amtrak further contends that the parties were mistaken about fundamental facts upon which their bargain was based,” including the condition of the Turboliners, the costs and technical feasibility of upgrading them and “the capability of the contractor” hired by the state to rebuild the trains, the papers allege.
State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer K. Post declined to comment, citing continuing litigation.
Bill Carr of Super Steel Schenectady said it would be inappropriate to comment since his company was not specifically named in the papers. He said other contractors also were involved in the project.
In their own filings on Friday, the state’s lawyers repeated their charge that Amtrak failed to complete any of the promised track work, didn’t do its part in rebuilding the trains and misled state officials about their intentions.
Until mid-July, the state’s papers allege, Amtrak “continued to misrepresent to (the state) that it intended to fulfill its contractual obligations.”
As a result, the state, “relying to its detriment on such misrepresentations, was encouraged by (Amtrak) to continue to commit its financial and other resources toward the completion of the contract work,” the state’s papers say.
Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black declined comment on the state’s allegations.
Amtrak does not deny its agreement to the $185 million high-speed rail contract in question, but it now argues that the contract is invalid and unenforceable for a number of reasons.
Among the reasons for the program’s collapse, according to Amtrak, is that sufficient state and federal funding to improve tracks, signals and bridges was not provided.
In addition, the railroad contends, “the state materially breached its obligations under the contract” by failing to properly manage the train upgrades.
A state comptroller’s audit released in June 2003 concluded that state DOT embarked on the high-speed rail project without proper expertise or experience and failed to effectively monitor the design, remanufacturing and financial accounting for the project.
At the time, auditors reported the estimated cost of rebuilding the trains, originally pegged at $53 million, had grown to more than $74 million.