Amtrak Hudson Line Improvement Program

Albany, New York

The Hudson Line Improvement project extends between Poughkeepsie, NY, and Schenectady, NY, along the Empire Corridor, a federally designated 460-mile high-speed rail corridor between New York City and Niagara Falls. Michael Baker provided construction management, construction inspection, quality assurance and quality surveillance and CPM scheduling oversight.

The $82 million upgraded Empire Corridor includes the construction of a new track, power, signal and communications cabling, at-grade crossing improvements, extensions to station platforms with new inspection pits below the platforms, rehabilitation of 15 existing bridges and miscellaneous infrastructure improvements.

Major project elements include the construction of a second track between Albany and Schenectady, a fourth loading track at the Rensselaer Station in Albany, improvements to the Hudson Line signal system the entire 100-mile length of the project, upgrade of warning devices at 13 highway grade crossings, culvert improvements, and other capacity improvements.

A total of 18 miles of track, 50 turnouts, 3 double-slip switches and associated signal system distributed over 13 separate interlocking are included as part of the project. Critical to execution is owner fabrication, installation and activation of 32 Control Point and Block Point signal houses in coordination with the track system construction, which had to be executed in a specific sequence under strict schedule constraints related to ARRA funding administered by the FRA and host agency NY State Department of Transportation.

Altogether, these improvements have led to increased capacity, improved reliability and enhanced safety at grade crossings.