WESPORT, N.Y. (WCAX) – Amtrak is working to make train travel across New York safer, including upgrades to key train stations across the North Country.
The Amtrak station in Westport, New York, as part of an effort to upgrade facilities on the Adirondack Train route.
“Our hope is more riders that have a disability will now realize the ease of traveling by train,” said Amtrak’s Dave Handera. He says $3 million from the Infrastructure Jobs Act was put into the new upgrades, including a 120-foot platform, heated walkway, a new accessible wheelchair and handicapped parking spots.
They are enhancements that benefit passengers and audience members at the station’s Depot Theatre. “It’s great. They completed the project this spring before our main stage season. Our patrons as well as the Amtrak passengers really have a much safer access to the building, as well as the platform of course,” said the theater’s Kim Rielly.
It’s an investment Westport Town Supervisor Ike Tyler says shows that the North Country is still a vital corridor for Amtrak. “For several years there has been a big disconnect I think with Amtrak and people up in the North Country,” he said. “Seeing them invest this kind of money into the infrastructure makes you want to feel like you know maybe they are going to have a little more dedication.”
Amtrak officials say upgrades at other platforms are in the works. “Saratoga Springs is in the planning stage, we have Plattsburgh under construction right now. We have a number of other projects that have been completed when we follow this line up to the Canadian border,” Handera said. “We have a responsibility to make 380 stations compliant and our goal is to make them all compliant to drive ridership.”
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