$300M for Sunnyside Railyard

From the Times Ledger:

The federal government has handed out $2 billion with nearly $300 million designated to clear the way for high-speed Amtrak trains through a switching bottleneck in Sunnyside.

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) hailed the announcement. She said the Harold Interlocking, the busiest rail switching center in North America with 783 trains passing through daily, “is a bottleneck that has bedeviled New York train passengers for years.”

The facility, in the Sunnyside Yard in Maloney’s congressional district, has delayed movement of Amtrak, the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit.

The project will provide separate tracks to bypass Harold Interlocking, allowing Amtrak trains a faster route through New York City.

“This project is shovel-ready,” Maloney said.