NYS DOT awarded nearly $8 million for Hudson Valley passenger rail signal upgrades

The Federal Railroad Administration obligated $7.913 million of the Fiscal Year 2010 funding to the New York State Department of Transportation for its NY Hudson Subdivision Signal Reliability Project.

In September, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer pushed for a deal between CSX, Amtrak, the New York State Department of Transportation and the FRA, in which they reached the necessary agreements to move forward with rail projects across the state, such as this one.

Specifically, this project will bury a stretch of signal system cables that are currently above ground along the Hudson Line between Hyde Park and Red Hook. This route carries 26 Amtrak passenger trains per day and this project will improve signal reliability and train operations and speed the commutes of hundreds of New Yorkers.

“Higher-speed rail travel is a key to New York’s economic future and these upgrades are great news for the passengers traveling along the Hudson Line each day,” said Schumer. “I am thrilled we helped reach an agreement reached between all the major higher-speed rail players last month.”

This project was selected for funding in October 2010.