Michael Baker Jr., Inc., an engineering unit of Michael Baker International, LLC, has been awarded a three-year, $4.2 million contract by Amtrak to provide construction management and inspection services for five major projects on the New York Hudson Line.
The projects are part of the New York State Department of Transportation and Amtrak Hudson Line Improvements Program that focuses on implementing a State High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program (NYSDOT–HSIPR) for the Empire Corridor in the State of New York. The program will preserve and improve certain rail facilities and upgrade rail service by increasing track speeds and improving systems reliability and operational flexibility.
Under the contract, Baker will be responsible for the addition of a second track from Rensselaer Station to Schenectady and a fourth track and platform extensions at Rensselaer Station. Communications and signals upgrades as well as grade crossing improvements to handle the increase in railway traffic are also included in the contract.
“We are extremely pleased to be performing this construction services contract for our longstanding client, Amtrak, in close coordination with NYSDOT and Capital District Transit Authority,” said Michael Brescia, P.E., Baker’s principal-in-charge. “This program, comprised of five projects, is vital to Albany’s regional mobility and represents the most significant capital rail improvement in over 20 years.”
Baker has completed construction projects for Amtrak in Wilmington, Del., Trenton, N.J., Elizabethtown, Pa., and Seattle, Wash. Baker also serves as PennDOT’s program manager for Amtrak's Keystone Corridor from Philadelphia to Harrisburg.