Buffalo–Exchange Street station

Buffalo–Exchange Street is an Amtrak station in Buffalo, New York. Local and regional bus transportation is provided by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA). Various taxi firms service the station, as well. The station is located approximately two blocks away from the Erie Canal Harbor and Seneca stations on the Buffalo Metro Rail light rail line. It is also close to the KeyBank Center and Sahlen Field.

Buffalo, NY
The new Exchange Street station nearing the end of construction in November 2020.
Location	75 Exchange Street, Buffalo, New York United States
Coordinates	42.8783°N 78.8738°W
Owned by	City of Buffalo
Line(s)	Empire Corridor (Buffalo Terminal Subdivision)
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	2
Connections	Metro Rail at Seneca and Erie Canal Harbor Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach NFTA routes 14 Abbott, 16 South Park, 42 Lackawanna, and 74 Hamburg
Construction
Parking	10 long term and 10 short term
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	Amtrak code: BFX
History
Opened	1848, 1952
Closed	1935, 1961
Rebuilt	1978, August 2019–November 8, 2020[1][2]
Passengers
2018	38,739[3]  9.04%
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Niagara Falls, New York Terminus Empire Service Buffalo–Depew toward New York Niagara Falls, New York toward Toronto via Niagara Falls, Ontario Maple Leaf
Former services Preceding station Amtrak Following station Niagara Falls, New York toward Detroit (Michigan Central) Niagara Rainbow (1978–1979) Buffalo toward New York (Grand Central) Preceding station New York Central Railroad Following station Buffalo–Terrace toward Chicago Michigan Central Railroad Main Line Buffalo Terminus Buffalo–Terrace toward Welland Fort Erie Branch Lackawanna toward Chicago Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Main Line (before 1929) Terminus Terminus Main Line (before 1929) East Buffalo toward New York West Shore Railroad Main Line East Buffalo toward Weehawken

The station serves six Amtrak trains daily: two daily Empire Service round trips between Niagara Falls and New York City and one Maple Leaf round trip between Toronto and New York City. There is also daily Coach USA/Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach bus service at the station, operating between the Buffalo Metropolitan Transportation Center and Jamestown station in Jamestown, New York, via Dunkirk and Fredonia, and serving the communities along the southeast shore of Lake Erie.[4]

The station has one high-level side platform on the north side of two tracks. It is one of two stations in the Buffalo area, the other being Buffalo–Depew station which serves the Lake Shore Limited. The current station is the fifth train station to be built at the current site, it was opened in 2020.

History

There have been four previous New York Central Railroad stations on Exchange Street in Buffalo. Buffalo's first true railroad passenger station was built in 1848 on Exchange Street. It was a small brick building that was added to or changed at least 5 times during its use. It was built by the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad.[5] The first attempt to direct rail traffic out of downtown Buffalo came in 1874, when a Union Depot (East Buffalo) opened on William Street. The new station proved unpopular, and as such Exchange Street station remained open.[6] The third station on the site was built in 1880. The biggest issue with the Exchange Street site at the time aside from the station's small size for being the main station in Buffalo was that it was plagued with downtown congestion as the crossings in and out of the area were at grade and therefore had to contend with busy city streets.[7] The station's importance declined after Buffalo Central Terminal which was built to solve the issues at the Exchange Street site opened in 1929. The third Exchange Street station was closed on November 13, 1935, and demolished shortly after.[8]

Fourth station building

The fourth Buffalo–Exchange Street station in 2011

Planning for the fourth and final New York Central structure began in 1949. New York heavily funded the station as being part of the Skyway construction. The total cost was $7 million. The station opened on August 2, 1952 as a secondary station to the Buffalo Central Terminal.[9] The station originally served 21 New York Central and Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway trains daily. The double track station had two side platforms connected by an overhead walkway.

Soon after the station was built passenger rail service began a steep decline that would eventually lead to the end of private passenger rail service in the United States. As part of the decline and problems within the railroad, in 1961, the New York Central Railroad ceased passenger operations to Niagara Falls, and the station building was closed, though some trains continued to stop at the platforms for a brief time.[9][10] During this time the overhead walkway that connected the station's two platforms was demolished.

The station in November 1980 before reduction to single track

On October 29, 1978, Amtrak routed the Niagara Rainbow through Niagara Falls, restoring service to downtown Buffalo and to the station. One old platform was reused immediately; a temporary structure was used for Niagara Rainbow and Empire State Express passengers while the station building was renovated.[10] Exchange Street became one of the two main Buffalo train stations alongside the then-new Buffalo–Depew station when Buffalo Central Terminal closed in 1979. The line was later reduced to single track in the 1980s and the second platform was abandoned.

By the 2000s, the Buffalo–Exchange Street station had gained a reputation for being long outdated and in a such a deteriorating condition that it got dubbed as one of the saddest Amtrak stations in America by CityLab in 2015.[11] In September 2016, the station building was temporarily closed due to a partial collapse during heavy rains, further highlighting the need for a new station. The platforms remained open for passengers.[12] Demolition of the 1952 station began on August 22, 2019, to make way for the new station.[13]

Current station

Beginning in 2016, there were proposals to replace the delapadated station with either a station at Canalside or at Buffalo Central Terminal as part of that building's restoration. The Exchange Street site where the previous station sat was chosen because of its proximity to the central business district, though public opinion strongly favored the Buffalo Central Terminal site. Supporters of the latter site alleged that the selection was made for political favors rather than on the merits of the downtown site.[14] On April 17, 2017, a panel including Buffalo mayor Byron Brown approved the downtown location.[15]

The first train, Maple Leaf, arriving at the new platform on November 8, 2020

The New York State Department of Transportation awarded a $27.7 million design-build contract in December 2018.[16] Construction of a temporary station began in June 2019 and the 1952 station was demolished shortly after.[17] The new station opened on November 8, 2020. The first train to stop at the station was the eastbound Maple Leaf arriving at 12:55 p.m. Assemblywomen Crystal Peoples-Stokes, Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Byron Brown, and State Senator Tim Kennedy attended the ribbon cutting.[2] The new Buffalo–Exchange Street station in 2020 came as part of upgrades made to the Empire Corridor which also included new stations in Niagara Falls in 2016, Rochester in 2017 and Schenectady in 2018.

Station layout

The station is 4,800 square feet (450 m²) and is closer to Exchange Street and higher in elevation then the previous station so the building is not shadowed by the nearby Interstate 190 viaduct. There is a lit, covered pedestrian walkway under I-190 to connect the train station to Metro Rail on Main Street. Trains call at a single high-level covered side platform serving one track with a second track in place for freight traffic to pass by. There is a waiting room on the east side of the building, designated drop-off and pick-up zones, and an area for 14 canopied parking spaces for Greyhound, Trailways and NFTA buses if they are later added.[18]

References

1. Sommer, Mark (August 25, 2019). "Work to Begin on New Amtrak Station Now That Old One Has Been Razed". The Buffalo News. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
2. Prohaska, Thomas J. (November 8, 2020). "New Amtrak Station Opens Downtown handling Curtailed Runs Amid Pandemic". The Buffalo News. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
3. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2018, State of New York" (PDF). Amtrak. June 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
4. Coach Usa Western New York: Jamestown – Buffalo Line Run
5. "Buffalo Central Terminal History". central.terminal.railfan.net. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
6. Cichon, Steve. "From 1880 to Today: The Union Depot on William Street". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
7. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form" (PDF).
8. "Can't You Hear the Whistle Blowing on Exchange Street?". Discovering Buffalo, One Street at a Time. 2016-12-23. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
9. "Buffalo, NY (BFX)". Great American Stations. Amtrak.
10. "Train Service Begins To Niagara Falls, Downtown Buffalo". Amtrak NEWS. Vol. 5 no. 11. Amtrak. November 1978. pp. 1–2.
11. Vielkind, Jimmy. "The great Buffalo train station debate". Politico PRO. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
12. Sommer, Mark (September 20, 2016). "Buffalo's Amtrak station closed as ceiling collapses". Buffalo News. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
13. Sommer, Mark (August 25, 2019). "Work to Begin on new Amtrak Station Now That Old One Has Been Razed". The Buffalo News. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
14. "Central Terminal Loses As Choice For New Amtrak Station". Artvoice. April 27, 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
15. "Downtown Buffalo recommended for train station". WGRZ. April 20, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
16. "NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ANNOUNCES CONTRACT AWARDED TO CONSTRUCT NEW INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION HUB FOR DOWNTOWN BUFFALO" (Press release). New York State Department of Transportation. December 5, 2018.
17. Desmond, Mike (July 1, 2019). "Construction begins on temporary downtown Amtrak station". WBFO.
18. "Plans unveiled for new downtown Buffalo train station". The Buffalo News. 2018-04-16. Retrieved 2019-08-18.

External links

• Buffalo-Exchange Street – Amtrak
• Buffalo – Exchange Street Amtrak Station (USA RailGuide – TrainWeb)
• Buffalo-Exchange Street (BFX) (Amtrak's Great American Stations)