ALBANY – A top Republican said yesterday it’s time the state prepares for life without Amtrak and proposed a high-speed rail plan that would take passengers from Buffalo to New York City in three hours.

“The bottom line is we have to cut ourselves loose” from Amtrak’s uncertain future, state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said.

President Bush has proposed ending Amtrak’s $1.2 billion federal subsidy, a move that could kill its passenger service, and an effort in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday to increase Amtrak’s federal subsidies failed. In Amtrak’s place, Mr. Bush envisions regional rail service compacts, run either individually or by a collection of states.

Mr. Bruno’s plan would spend $5 million on a study to determine the feasibility and cost of creating high-speed rail in New York. The money would come from the 2005-2006 state budget.

“We can’t rely on Amtrak,” Mr. Bruno said. “We have to a plan in place that provides fast reliable service.”

Amtrak has reported losing nearly $35 million last year in New York state, $30 million of that on its Empire Line that runs from Buffalo to New York City and takes eight hours one way.

In justifying the study’s expense, Mr. Bruno said a high-speed rail system would not necessarily have to follow Amtrak’s money-losing Empire Line corridor and could be developed parallel to the state Thruway.

“What we want to do is put the money out there and say, This is the objective, give us the feasibility, give us the plan, show us how to get there in the most expeditious way,'” Mr. Bruno said.

The senator did not rule out creating a partnership with Amtrak if it is eventually funded. He also said if Amtrak goes bankrupt, the state could enter a public-private partnership with another corporation. Mr. Bruno said he envisions an entity similar to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to operate the service, featuring trains that travel at speeds of 200 mph.

“There are private companies ready to step up,” said Mr. Bruno, who unveiled his plan just hours before the White House selected state Department of Transportation Commissioner Joseph Boardman to head the Federal Rail Administration.

Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, a Democrat of Buffalo who is chairman of the Assembly task force on high-speed rail, called Mr. Bruno’s plan “extremely ambitious.” Mr. Hoyt applauded the senator for “thinking big” and added, “They originally laughed when they talked about building the Erie Canal.”

“We need to recognize as we plan for the future that you cannot continue adding lanes to highways,” said Mr. Hoyt, who wants to see a high-speed rail commission created independent of the state DOT. “We have to think outside the box.”

Mr. Hoyt said any high-speed rail plan would cost several billion dollars, but is doable.

“It would take a monumental consensus-building effort in the Legislature and the general public because it will require bonding, and ultimately the public has to buy into it,” Mr. Hoyt said. “But there isn’t anyone in the state of New York who is satisfied with the status quo.”

The president of the Empire State Passengers Association, Bruce Becker, said his group is happy with Bruno’s plan, but it wants to see more details. Mr. Becker also said the state’s immediate need must be to keep Amtrak funded and improve it. “It’s difficult to start from scratch,” he said.

In 1998, Governor Pataki unveiled a $185 million plan to create a high-speed rail corridor. The state, Amtrak and a private company were to rebuild seven 1970s-era Turboliner trains with jet fuel powered engines, capable of shaving 20 minutes off the travel time between the state capital and New York City.

Ultimately, though, the project went bust due to a series of missed deadlines, engineering problems and disagreements about who should pay the extra costs. A judge is now left sorting through the shambles of the contractual train wreck, as the state DOT seeks a legal judgment against Amtrak for some $477.3 million.

A Pataki spokesman, Todd Alhart, said that while the governor supports high-speed rail, he has not seen the details of Bruno’s plan.