It’s full speed ahead, as more than $100 million in improvements were announced Friday for NFTA's Metro Rail.
- Plans for $100M in upgrades to Metro Rail announced
- Upgrades include new rails and escalators
- Work expected to wrap up by 2014
In addition, another $6 million will be dedicated to design the extension project between the University at Buffalo North Campus in Amherst and South Campus in Buffalo.
"Increasing the ridership, improving the infrastructure that has been aging for over 30 years. And putting in place a system we can all be proud of," said Tim Kennedy, (D) Senate-Buffalo.
"And for too long the repair needs at the NFTA Metro were unfunded. That has ended to a substantial degree," said Byron Brown, (D) Buffalo mayor.
Plans call for new tracks, electrical lines above the trains, and escalators, as well as video surveillance, station and train control upgrades.
The renovations are designed to minimize breakdowns, as well as fix the crumbling and peeling infrastructure.
"Focusing our infrastructure resources on public transportation. That is the method that people of the future are more interested in using and there are literally tons of people who right now use it and that's only going to grow," said Crystal People-Stokes, (D) Assembly-Buffalo.
"This investment will be transformational. While you may not see or notice the improvements directly, you will see them on the smile of our riders’ faces," said Kim Minkel, NFTA executive director.
Those riders include Robin Tashjian of Buffalo who, like thousands of others, count on dependable and reliable transportation.
"This impacts quality of life for a large part of our population. So anything you can do to make this system more reliable is a huge win for riders, but it's an even bigger win for the region," said Tashjian.
The work is expected to wrap up in 2024.