(rshsdepot) Rensselaer, NY

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Amtrak inks Rensselaer station deal

By ERIC ANDERSON
Gazette Business Editor

ALBANY - Amtrak late Tuesday afternoon signed an agreement with the Capital
District Transportation Authority, clearing the way for the opening of the
new $53.1 million Rensselaer train station.
"We have put pen to paper," Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Van Veen said.

The signed occupancy agreement was then sent by express mail back to Albany,
another Amtrak official said. The CDTA board plans a special meeting this
morning at its headquarters in Albany, although it's not clear whether the
agreement will arrive in time.

"We don't have a signed agreement," CDTA spokesman Carm Basile had said
earlier Tuesday afternoon.

Still, just knowing Amtrak had signed would allow CDTA to move ahead with
plans to open the station.

Under the agreement, Amtrak has agreed to pay $50,000 a year for the 17,000
square feet it will occupy in the new station. CDTA is expected to begin
charging for surface parking to raise additional funds to operate the
station.

The agreement was worked out over a series of days after U.S. Rep. John
Sweeney, R-Clifton Park, and Amtrak President David Gunn got involved.

The station is virtually complete, and CDTA officials have been testing
elevators, escalators and backup power supplies as they prepare for its
opening.

Work started on the 78,000-square-foot, four-story brick station in November
1998, when CDTA awarded the first contract. At the time, the project's cost
was estimated to be $41 million, with completion set for late 2000.

At the groundbreaking in June 1999, the cost had increased to $43 million,
rising to $52.2 million by January 2001, as changes were made to the
original plans.

Among the most costly were $3 million worth of changes to make the parking
garage earthquake resistant and to add another ramp to the garage to ease
traffic on nearby streets.

A wider pedestrian bridge to the boarding platforms added $1 million, while
platform escalators, aditional track work, and a change in roof contractors
added another $1.2 million.

The opening date was pushed back to June of this year. But Amtrak and the
CDTA had never actually signed a lease agreement, and now the passenger
railroad was in deep financial trouble.

After Gunn, Amtrak's new president, balked at spending scarce dollars on the
new station, Sweeney, who serves on the subcommittee on transportation of
the House Appropriations Committee, talked with the railroad chief to get
lease negotiations moving. The agreement, which Amtrak signed late Tuesday,
was reached within days.

Contact Eric Anderson at 395-3119 or bizeditor1_@_yahoo.com.



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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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