(The Associated Press circulated the following article on September 22.)
RENSSELAER, N.Y. — The new era of high-speed rail service between New York City and the Albany area has been derailed.
Three Turboliner trains that the state paid 185 (m) million dollars to refurbish have been towed to a rail yard Delaware, where Amtrak says they’ll be more secure.
The trains were among seven that were to be rebuilt by a Schenectady County factory and operated by Amtrak under a rail contract with the state Department of Transportation.
But the trains were pulled from service in June when their air conditioning systems malfunctioned.
The high-speed trains were supposed to cut the travel time between Manhattan and the Amtrak station in Rensselaer by 20 minutes. But Amtrak never conducted the track upgrades necessary to handle the trains’ top speed of 125 miles an hour.