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Warren County officials weigh study of county rail line; legal and lifecycle costs flagged
Summary
Officials introduced a potential $100,000 planning study (50/50 match) to assess alternate uses for the county rail line — including multi‑use trail options — but committee members urged thorough legal review and lifecycle cost estimates before committing to next steps.
Warren County officials presented a proposal to study future uses for the county‑owned rail line, and committee members said any study must include legal status, infrastructure lifecycle costs and funding pathways before policy decisions follow.
A parks and recreation staff member told the committee that Empire State Development offered a 50/50 match for a planning study and that the county’s share would be about $50,000. “Empire State Development will offer a $50.50 match to do a study of the rail line. And it'd be about $50,000 for us,” the staff member said. The presenter characterized the study as a broad look at possible options — keeping rail service, running tourist or freight trains, or converting the corridor to a multi‑use trail — and noted that other counties have sought funding from groups such as the Open Space Institute for trail conversions.
Several committee members urged caution. A committee member with knowledge of federal and state procedures said any study should examine the rail line’s legal status because “Warren County has no authority to pull up any tracks because that is still the railway has not been abandoned by the federal oversight board.” The speaker noted that the DEC filed an abandonment application in 2018 for roughly 30 miles of the Tahawus line but withdrew that application in 2023, leaving unresolved regulatory and federal processes.
Committee members pressed for realistic cost estimates for owning and maintaining the corridor, citing recent repairs and equipment purchases. Parks and recreation and public works staff told the committee that repairs completed last year for washouts totaled roughly $683,000 and that the county purchased equipment to support rail inspections. Several members said long‑term bridge, culvert and crossing maintenance could drive large, recurring costs and asked that the study provide lifecycle‑cost estimates and scenarios to support budgeting and future grant applications.
Staff said the planning department would likely apply for the study grant and manage the consultant if funded, working with public works staff on technical details. Committee members suggested the study should also identify grant and funding pathways if conversion to a trail or expensive repairs were recommended.
No formal vote was taken to commission the study during the meeting; the topic was introduced for further consideration and committee members agreed to continue the discussion at a future meeting.
