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Albany, NY – Several upstate areas are getting a chunk of the federal funding for improving New York's rail system after Florida rejected plans for high-speed train service. WAMC's Ian Pickus reports...
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that New York state is receiving more than $354 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The bulk of the state's funding will go toward upgrading critical segments of the rail system in the New York City metro region.
But several upstate rail projects will be getting a share of the federal funding. Cuomo says $58 million will be spent to improve the Amtrak's Empire Corridor connecting Manhattan and Niagara Falls. The projects include a new Amtrak station in Schenectady and a fourth track at the Albany station in Rensselaer.
New York representative Paul Tonko, a Democrat, applauded the funding.
"We have pushed very hard for a lot of these projects. We've been doing it incrementally," Tonko said. "And here's yet another installment of good news and resources to make it all happen."
Another $1.4 million is going toward a new station in Rochester.
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