Research


Scope and Content Note

This series contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, and other records documenting the regulation and promotion of rail service in New York State.

13586-86, 1974-1984, 5 cubic feet: These files came from the office of the director of the Rail Operations Bureau, Louis Rossi. The files contain correspondence, memoranda, published and unpublished reports and studies, drafts, notes, and other documents concerning the regulation and promotion of rail service in New York State. Most of the files pertain to improvements in freight service. The last two boxes contain reports on the "Hojack Line" between Rochester and Niagara Falls, and the proposed new "Somerset Line" in Orleans County.

13586-86A, 1954-1978, 24 cubic feet: These are rail subject files maintained by the Planning and Development Division between ca. 1970 and 1978. Some reports and documents date as far back as 1954, but the correspondence begins ca. 1970. The records include letters and memoranda of state, federal, and local officials; unpublished reports and hearing documents; and printed material, including press releases, clippings, brochures, maps, etc. The subjects include every aspect of rail transportation in New York State: freight service, inter-city and commuter passenger service, branch line subsidies and abandonment, standards of service, railroad bankruptcies, and the transfer of regulatory functions from the Public Service Commission to the Department of Transportation. Files on broad subjects such as branch lines; standards of service, Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road, etc., are roughly grouped together. The records do not include routine case files relating to regulation of service and rates. These are maintained by the Regulation Division.

13586-11: This accretion consists of petitions, applications, reports, and proceedings related to specific cases. Cases involve railroad companies and bus lines.