Thousands of Cayuga County residents commute every day to the Syracuse area. It is probably not a stretch to assume visions of a quick, reliable commuter train have entered their minds, especially while racking up bills at the gas pump or sitting in traffic caused by a morning collision.
Photo by Sam Tenney / The Citizen
With market experts predicting that gas prices will exceed $4 a gallon this summer, and rising environmental concerns over greenhouse gasses, those thoughts might not be so fleeting.
The idea of a passenger rail system serving the region is not a new one. In 2005, a federally funded study was supposed to determine the feasibility of such a line between Auburn and Syracuse. The study never happened, lost in the sea of promises that seems to flow from Washington.
But it seems the concept has not been abandoned. Local and national officials say that there is still interest in such a system, though a specific train line is not in the works any time soon.
“If market forces come together and create a demand from the commuter patterns between Cayuga and Onondaga counties, it would be a provocative and intriguing study to do,” said Stephen Lynch, director of the Cayuga County Department of Planning and Economic Development.
The rail study was supposed to be included in a $9.4 million transportation bill. Former Congressman Sherwood Boehlert tried to secure $150,000 for the project, which would have investigated the possibilities of adding a passenger service to the Finger Lakes Railway and extending the Route 5 bypass.
According to Lynch, who was not planning director at the time, the county was working with one of Boehlert's staff members on the plans for the study. However, that contact person left the office, and Boehlert retired not long after. The county never heard another word about the project, Lynch said.
At the time of the proposed study, the county was investigating financial impact of the Syracuse mega mall project, Destiny USA. Officials were looking for ways to entice employees to live and spend money in Cayuga County. But as the plans and outlook for the project changed, so did the plans for any sort of commuter rail, Lynch said.
“That is when (people thought) Destiny USA was going to bring thousands of jobs,” Lynch said. “At this time, those market forces aren't in play.”
According to Pete Bartolotta of the state Department of Transportation, it is not rare for federal funds to come and go. Sometimes they get cut out of the legislation. Other times, they are never claimed. A January 2006 transportation bill known as the Safetea-Lu bill earmarked $120,000 for a separate study to investigate extending Route 5. No one has contacted the department to undertake the study, Bartolotta said.
“It does happen, occasionally,” Bartolotta said. “Priorities shift. Administrations change.”
But Rep. Michael Arcuri, who holds the congressional seat formerly occupied by Boehlert, said commuter issues and passenger rails are still a priority. In an e-mail, Arcuri stated that last week he met with short-line rail representatives to discuss opportunities in upstate New York.
“With gas prices increasing daily and local families struggling to afford sky-rocketing commuter costs, rail expansion is one of my top priorities,” Arcuri said.
If there was to be any rail expansion in Cayuga County, it would certainly involve the short-line company Finger Lakes Railway. Based in Geneva, the railway runs almost 18,000 cars a year on tracks that extend from Canandaigua to Watkins Glen. The company also runs the rail lines that connect Auburn and Solvay
The majority of the railway's business is freight, but the company runs various tourism-related passenger services like wine tours and dinner cars, said Deb Najarro, a spokesperson for the company. Finger Lakes Railway is always looking at areas that would sustain economic development, and full-time passenger lines is one of those areas, she said.
“If you look at a small business like us, we have to focus so much effort on freight movement because that is where the dollars are,” Najarro said. “But the commuter service has a lot of potential, especially with gas prices and the desire for people to find more direct routes.”
However, starting a commuter line is not so simple, especially for a shot-track company. If the railway wanted to start a full-time passenger line, it would have to lay down more track so that the freight service is not interrupted. There would also have to be stations and parking lots for the passengers. Right now, that infrastructure does not exist, Najarro said.
Because of these needs, talk of passenger trains for commuters usually involves state and federal funding. That sort of project requires cooperation from the business world as well as the different layers of government, she said.
Finger Lakes Railway is always open to discussions about such projects, Najarro said.
“We are still developing, and that means upgrading our infrastructure and applying to grants,” Najarro said. “We will always support initiatives that sustain economic development and involve expansion for us,”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net
The idea of a passenger rail system serving the region is not a new one. In 2005, a federally funded study was supposed to determine the feasibility of such a line between Auburn and Syracuse. The study never happened, lost in the sea of promises that seems to flow from Washington.
But it seems the concept has not been abandoned. Local and national officials say that there is still interest in such a system, though a specific train line is not in the works any time soon.
“If market forces come together and create a demand from the commuter patterns between Cayuga and Onondaga counties, it would be a provocative and intriguing study to do,” said Stephen Lynch, director of the Cayuga County Department of Planning and Economic Development.
The rail study was supposed to be included in a $9.4 million transportation bill. Former Congressman Sherwood Boehlert tried to secure $150,000 for the project, which would have investigated the possibilities of adding a passenger service to the Finger Lakes Railway and extending the Route 5 bypass.
According to Lynch, who was not planning director at the time, the county was working with one of Boehlert's staff members on the plans for the study. However, that contact person left the office, and Boehlert retired not long after. The county never heard another word about the project, Lynch said.
At the time of the proposed study, the county was investigating financial impact of the Syracuse mega mall project, Destiny USA. Officials were looking for ways to entice employees to live and spend money in Cayuga County. But as the plans and outlook for the project changed, so did the plans for any sort of commuter rail, Lynch said.
“That is when (people thought) Destiny USA was going to bring thousands of jobs,” Lynch said. “At this time, those market forces aren't in play.”
According to Pete Bartolotta of the state Department of Transportation, it is not rare for federal funds to come and go. Sometimes they get cut out of the legislation. Other times, they are never claimed. A January 2006 transportation bill known as the Safetea-Lu bill earmarked $120,000 for a separate study to investigate extending Route 5. No one has contacted the department to undertake the study, Bartolotta said.
“It does happen, occasionally,” Bartolotta said. “Priorities shift. Administrations change.”
But Rep. Michael Arcuri, who holds the congressional seat formerly occupied by Boehlert, said commuter issues and passenger rails are still a priority. In an e-mail, Arcuri stated that last week he met with short-line rail representatives to discuss opportunities in upstate New York.
“With gas prices increasing daily and local families struggling to afford sky-rocketing commuter costs, rail expansion is one of my top priorities,” Arcuri said.
If there was to be any rail expansion in Cayuga County, it would certainly involve the short-line company Finger Lakes Railway. Based in Geneva, the railway runs almost 18,000 cars a year on tracks that extend from Canandaigua to Watkins Glen. The company also runs the rail lines that connect Auburn and Solvay
The majority of the railway's business is freight, but the company runs various tourism-related passenger services like wine tours and dinner cars, said Deb Najarro, a spokesperson for the company. Finger Lakes Railway is always looking at areas that would sustain economic development, and full-time passenger lines is one of those areas, she said.
“If you look at a small business like us, we have to focus so much effort on freight movement because that is where the dollars are,” Najarro said. “But the commuter service has a lot of potential, especially with gas prices and the desire for people to find more direct routes.”
However, starting a commuter line is not so simple, especially for a shot-track company. If the railway wanted to start a full-time passenger line, it would have to lay down more track so that the freight service is not interrupted. There would also have to be stations and parking lots for the passengers. Right now, that infrastructure does not exist, Najarro said.
Because of these needs, talk of passenger trains for commuters usually involves state and federal funding. That sort of project requires cooperation from the business world as well as the different layers of government, she said.
Finger Lakes Railway is always open to discussions about such projects, Najarro said.
“We are still developing, and that means upgrading our infrastructure and applying to grants,” Najarro said. “We will always support initiatives that sustain economic development and involve expansion for us,”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net
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