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GOV’S MONEY TRAIN WILL TAKE YEARS TO ENGINEER

RENSSELAER, NY – Expect a long wait for the high-speed train Gov. Paterson pitched yesterday to be built with federal stimulus funds – and almost as long a delay for the jobs it’s supposed to create.

Even if the feds accept Paterson’s application for federal money to improve upstate rail speeds, New Yorkers won’t see three-hour trips to Buffalo until 2017 at the earliest.

The state is plowing ahead with the $10.7 billion plan anyway – thanks to $8 billion tucked into the federal stimulus act to jump-start high-rail projects across the country.

That’s caused some to question why cash-strapped New York would choose now to dust off the decades-old rail plan.

“That’s crazy,” said Chris Edwards, an economist with the Cato Institute. “Using stimulus money to start big, high-speed rail projects could be very dangerous.”

The lengthy approval process would dampen the project’s job-creating potential, Edwards said. Moreover, the state could get stuck with the maintenance tab if Washington doesn’t commit, he added.

The state already faces tens of billions of dollars in budget deficits over the next three years.

Paterson – who did not provide any estimate of how many jobs would be created by the project – compared the rail effort to great public-works projects of New York’s past, like the Erie Canal.

“Today, we are here to take a first step to revitalize our rail system for our new century,” Paterson said at a news conference at the Amtrak train station in Rensselaer.

The stretch of track between Albany and Buffalo is one of five corridors nationwide competing for a share of the $8 billion pot, which President Obama has touted as proof of a new federal commitment to rail service.

The president’s budget included another $5 billion for high-speed rail over the next five years.

But even a $10.7 billion rail plan wouldn’t give New York bullet trains like the ones in Europe and Asia that regularly reach speeds of more than 200 mph. At full development, Paterson envisions a train system that peaks out at 150 mph.

Currently, the top speed on most tracks is 70 mph.

Achieving the higher speeds would require crossing improvements, station renovations and new sections of track.

Sen. Charles Schumer said even those small changes would go a long way toward connecting upstate communities.

“You have to walk before you can run,” Schumer said. “Right now, when it comes to rail, upstate New York is crawling.”

brendan.scott@nypost.com