Buffalo–Exchange Street station

Buffalo–Exchange Street is an Amtrak station in Buffalo, New York. A temporary station building is currently in place while a new station is constructed.

This article is about a passenger rail station. For the fashion resale retailer, see Buffalo Exchange.
Buffalo, NY
The temporary station at Exchange Street in August 2019.
Location75 Exchange Street, Buffalo, New York
United States
Coordinates42.8783°N 78.8738°W / 42.8783; -78.8738
Owned byCity of Buffalo
Line(s)Empire Corridor (Buffalo Terminal Subdivision)
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks1
Connections
  Metro Rail at Seneca and Erie Canal Harbor
Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach
Construction
Parking10 long term and 10 short term
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Station codeAmtrak code: BFX
History
Opened1848, 1952
Closed1935
Rebuilt1978, 2020
Traffic
Passengers (2018)38,739[1]  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

The station serves six Amtrak trains daily: two daily Empire Service round trips and one Maple Leaf round trip. The station is 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. There is also daily Coach USA bus service at the station, operating between Buffalo Metropolitan Transportation Center and Jamestown, New York, via Dunkirk and Fredonia, and serving the communities along the southeast shore of Lake Erie.[2]

The temporary station has one low-level side platform on the north side of the single track.

History

There have been four 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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6] 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.[6][7] 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.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9] Demolition of the 1952 station began on August 22, 2019, to make way for the new station.[10]

Replacement station

Beginning in 2016, there were proposals to replace the station with either a station at Canalside or at Buffalo Central Terminal as part of that building's restoration. The downtown location - close to the current Exchange Street location - 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.[11] On April 17, 2017, a panel including Buffalo mayor Byron Brown approved the downtown location.[12]

The new station under construction in December 2019

The New York State Department of Transportation awarded a $27.7 million design-build contract in December 2018, with completion expected in Fall 2020.[13] Construction of a temporary station began in June 2019.[14]

The new station will be 4,800 square feet (450 m2) and be closer to Exchange Street and higher in elevation so the building is not shadowed by the nearby Interstate 190 viaduct. In addition there will be a lit, covered pedestrian walkway under I-190 to connect the train station to Metro Rail on Main Street. The station will also have a high-level platform, space for a waiting room on the east side of the building, and 14 canopied parking spaces for Greyhound, Trailways and NFTA buses if they are later added.[15] The new Buffalo–Exchange Street station in 2020 comes as part of upgrades being made to the Empire Corridor which also included new stations in Niagara Falls in 2016, Rochester in 2017 and Schenectady in 2018.

References
  1. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2018, State of New York" (PDF). Amtrak. June 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  2. Coach Usa Western New York: Jamestown – Buffalo Line Run
  3. "Buffalo Central Terminal History". central.terminal.railfan.net. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
  4. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form" (PDF).
  5. "Can't You Hear the Whistle Blowing on Exchange Street?". Discovering Buffalo, One Street at a Time. 2016-12-23. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
  6. "Buffalo, NY (BFX)". Great American Stations. Amtrak.
  7. "Train Service Begins To Niagara Falls, Downtown Buffalo". Amtrak NEWS. Vol. 5 no. 11. Amtrak. November 1978. pp. 1–2.
  8. Vielkind, Jimmy. "The great Buffalo train station debate". Politico PRO. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
  9. Sommer, Mark (September 20, 2016). "Buffalo's Amtrak station closed as ceiling collapses". Buffalo News. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  10. 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.
  11. "Central Terminal Loses As Choice For New Amtrak Station". Artvoice. April 27, 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  12. "Downtown Buffalo recommended for train station". WGRZ. April 20, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  13. "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.
  14. Desmond, Mike (July 1, 2019). "Construction begins on temporary downtown Amtrak station". WBFO.
  15. "Plans unveiled for new downtown Buffalo train station". The Buffalo News. 2018-04-16. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
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