Buffalo–Depew station

Buffalo–Depew is an Amtrak train station in Depew, New York, a suburb of Buffalo. It was built in 1979 to replace the Buffalo Central Terminal as Buffalo's main Amtrak station. (Buffalo–Exchange Street station, located near downtown Buffalo, has limited parking and less service than Buffalo–Depew.) It is located 10 miles east of downtown Buffalo.

Buffalo–Depew, NY
Buffalo–Depew station in 2014
Location55 Dick Road, Depew, New York
Coordinates42°54′26″N 78°43′36″W
Owned byState of New York
Line(s)Empire Corridor (Rochester Subdivision)
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks4
Bus operators NFTA: 46[1]
Construction
ParkingYes; free
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Station codeBUF
History
OpenedOctober 28, 1979
Traffic
Passengers (2018)107,251[2]  0.41%
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Buffalo–Exchange Street
toward Niagara Falls, New York
 Empire Service Rochester
toward New York
Buffalo–Exchange Street
toward Toronto via Niagara Falls, Ontario
 Maple Leaf
Erie
toward Chicago
 Lake Shore Limited Rochester
toward New York or Boston South

The station was built to a standard design common for most Amtrak stations that were built from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Standard featured present at Depew include concrete block walls, floor-to-ceiling windows and a cantilevered black roof.[3]

The station is served by eight trains per day: two Empire Service round trips, one Lake Shore Limited round trip, and one Maple Leaf round trip. It has a single side platform adjacent to the southernmost of the four tracks of the Rochester Subdivision. The Lake Shore Subdivision, used by the Lake Shore Limited, diverges to the south between Buffalo–Depew and downtown Buffalo.

History
Front of station

By the late 1970s, the once-thriving Central Terminal had been cut back to only four daily trains, nowhere near enough to justify such a large station. Believing it would be prohibitive to rehabilitate the 50-year-old terminal, Amtrak decided to build a new station. Service to Depew began on October 28, 1979; hours after the last train pulled out of Central Terminal. The Empire State Express (now part of the Empire Service) and Niagara Rainbow were routed through the new station on the day it opened; previously, the only Buffalo stop for both trains had been Buffalo-Exchange Street.[4] They were joined in 1981 by the Maple Leaf, which offered a one-seat ride from New York to Toronto. Previously, one train per day that connected with Via Rail Canada/Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway service to Toronto stopped at Exchange Street.

The original building was a trailer which had previously served as the temporary station building in Dearborn, Michigan (Dearborn opened on October 1, 1979). The permanent building, which opened in 1980, was financed by the New York Department of Transportation.[4] The station is near the site where in 1893, Empire State Express Locomotive #999 attained its alleged top speed of 112.5 miles per hour (181 km/h), making it the fastest locomotive of its time.

On September 23, 2014, a bison statue was dedicated on the lawn in front of the depot. It recalls two similar pieces that once occupied prominent spots inside Buffalo Central Terminal. Funding for the fiberglass statue was raised by railroad heritage and advocacy groups within the state.[5] A new bison statue has also been placed in Buffalo Central Terminal by the Buffalo Central Terminal Restoration Corporation.

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References
  1. NFTA-METRO bus route 46 Lancaster
  2. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2018, State of New York" (PDF). Amtrak. June 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  3. "The Amtrak Standard Stations Program". Amtrak History & Archives. 4 March 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  4. "New Buffalo Station". Amtrak NEWS. 6 (12): 6–7. November 1979. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  5. "Buffalo-Depew Station". Amtrak's Great American Stations. Retrieved 14 November 2014.

Media related to Buffalo–Depew station at Wikimedia Commons

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