Section 97. Intercity rail passenger service

1. As used in this section,
  unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context, the term:
    a. "Intercity rail passenger service" shall mean  any  intercity  rail
  passenger  transportation  operation where rail passenger trains operate
  on a regular scheduled basis.
    b. "Intercity rail passenger service corridor" shall mean a continuous
  railroad route which contains one or more segments of railroad track  or
  tracks  where  intercity  rail  passenger service is in operation by the
  national rail passenger corporation.
    c. "Public rail crossing" shall  mean  a  crossing  where  a  highway,
  roadway  or  similar  facility,  which  is owned by a government, either
  federal, state or local, a public authority or a public agency,  crosses
  a  railroad  track  or  tracks,  is  open  to  the  public  and has been
  designated as such by order of the commissioner, or recognized as having
  been a public at-grade crossing prior to eighteen hundred ninety-seven.
    d. "Private rail crossing" shall mean a  crossing  which  traverses  a
  railroad  track  or  tracks  and  may  be  used  by  the  owner  of  the
  right-of-way, the owner's invitees and others, including the public, but
  has not been declared or recognized as a public  rail  crossing  by  the
  commissioner.
    e. "Railroad" shall mean a private or public railroad operating in the
  state  of  New York carrying either freight or passengers or freight and
  passengers  including,  but  not  limited  to,  those  operated  by  the
  metropolitan  transportation  authority  and its subsidiaries, including
  the Long Island Rail Road or operated by any other public  authority  or
  local government.
    2.  No new private rail crossings shall be established in an intercity
  rail passenger service corridor until an application has  been  made  to
  and  approved  by the commissioner. Whenever an application is made, the
  commissioner shall conduct a hearing to  determine  if  a  private  rail
  crossing is justified or if an existing public or private crossing could
  be  used  to  avoid  the creation of a new crossing. If the commissioner
  determines that a crossing is justified and is in the best  interest  of
  the  people  of  the state of New York, the commissioner shall determine
  the  manner  of  the  crossing,  whether  it  is  to  be   at-grade   or
  grade-separated,   the  location,  the  manner  of  protection  and  the
  apportionment  of  responsibility  for  the  maintenance  of  any   such
  crossing, including any warning devices.
    3.  In  order  to insure public safety, the commissioner may, if he or
  she determines  it  appropriate,  require  alterations  in  an  existing
  private rail crossing, including a farm crossing, which is located in an
  intercity  rail  passenger  service corridor and is hereby authorized to
  participate in the cost of  such  alterations.  In  the  event  that  an
  agreement  on  such  alterations  cannot be reached between the railroad
  owning the crossing, property owners who are directly  impacted  by  the
  crossing and the department, the commissioner shall conduct a hearing on
  the  need  for  such  alterations and whether any other alternatives are
  available, including the use of an alternate route or the closure of the
  crossing and shall, where applicable,  determine  the  apportionment  of
  responsibility  for the alteration and maintenance of any such crossing,
  including any warning devices. Public comment shall  be  sought  on  any
  proposed  alteration or closure which will impact public access to lands
  open to the public for recreational  use.  Comments  received  from  the
  public  shall  be  considered  in  any decision to alter or close such a
  crossing. No crossing which  provides  direct  access  to  public  state
  recreational   lands   shall  be  closed  unless  the  commissioner,  in
  consultation with the state agency with jurisdiction  over  such  lands,
  finds  that  there  is  a  reasonable alternate route to such lands that

  maintains public access to and the public  recreational  value  of  such
  lands.
    4.  The  commissioner  shall  prepare  and  promulgate  standards  and
  specifications for the design and protection of private  rail  crossings
  in  an  intercity  rail  passenger service corridor and is authorized to
  adopt and promulgate such rules and regulations to  accomplish  this  as
  shall be deemed necessary.
    5. The commissioner shall have the power to acquire any real property,
  easements, rights-of-way or similar rights necessary for the purposes of
  this  article  in  the  same  manner  as  property is acquired for state
  highway purposes pursuant to the provisions of  section  thirty  of  the
  highway law.