ALBANY, N.Y. — Sen. Charles Schumer is asking the president of Amtrak to help cement a still unsigned lease with the Capital District Transportation Authority and clear the way for the railroad to occupy a new $53.1 million Rensselaer train station as soon as it is complete, reports the Albany Times Union.
The senator also plans to meet with Amtrak President David Gunn today.
While CDTA officials still refuse to set an opening date, they acknowledge that the station — under construction for more than three years — finally is “very close” to completion after missing a June target for opening. Yet Amtrak, for whom the station was built, still has not signed a lease.
The local topic also has been added to the agenda of a previously scheduled meeting today with Gunn at the senator’s office.
“When Congress appropriated public funds to this project, it did so to help Amtrak improve rail service to the Capital Region,” Schumer wrote. “If the opening of the station is delayed because Amtrak and the CDTA cannot agree on the terms of a lease, that goal will be undermined. I am sure you will agree that this is not the message that Amtrak should be sending to the traveling public, especially at this time.”
Amtrak’s regional spokeswoman declined to comment on the likely impact of Schumer’s appeal except to say staff from CDTA and Amtrak continue their negotiations.
“We appreciate the senator’s interest and his urging that we come to some kind of agreement,” said Cecilia Cummings.
“We are very grateful for any help Senator Schumer can bring to this situation,” said CDTA spokesman Carm Basile.
The Rensselaer Amtrak station, which is a key stop within the railroad’s busy Northeast corridor, is the 13th-busiest in the nation. Some 630,630 arrivals and departures were recorded last year.
But Amtrak’s ability to sustain any contract commitments is clouded because of its extreme financial problems and public debate over its future.
The federal government loaned Amtrak $100 million last month to prevent a shutdown and keep trains running until early August, and members of Congress and the Bush administration are weighing a number of longer-range options for restructuring or increasing subsidies for the national passenger rail service.
The railroad lost a record $1.17 billion in fiscal 2001, Gunn has said. Earlier this year, Amtrak eliminated 1,000 of its 24,600 jobs, including hundreds through layoffs.
In the absence of a lease for the new Rensselaer station, it’s unclear whether Amtrak could realistically expect to continue train service at its old station a few yards away, which it owns. Cummings declined to say whether the railroad would consider continuing operations there instead of moving.
Meanwhile, at another area train station on Monday, U.S. Rep. John E. Sweeney, R-Clifton Park, expressed confidence that Amtrak service will survive somehow.
“I don’t expect Amtrak to go away,” Sweeney said after a program formally launching a $5.9 million rehabilitation project for the Saratoga Springs rail station, where Amtrak also provides service.
Sweeney, who sits on the transportation subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, also left the door open to supporting increased federal subsidies and even new state support for Amtrak’s operation, which he said may need to be rebuilt almost from scratch.
“The Northeast corridor and it’s feeder lines, I believe, need to be at the core of that redevelopment,” Sweeney said.
While aviation operations are gaining federal subsidies in the interest of national security and economic vitality, he said, “I think the same can be said for freight rail service and passenger service.”