Buffalo Exchange St.

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Sep 18, 2009
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Sure wish they would restore the old Buffalo Central Terminal, instead....then no back up move necessary...
 
It might help the once a day LSL, but as far as the City of Buffalo, BFX/downtown/Harborcenter area makes more economic sense. Central Terminal might be able to be restored to beauty, but you'd have to spend lots of money on a project that in reality would be more about trying to spur redevelopment of an area, than about where train service makes the most sense.
 
I think extending the LSL up to Exchange Street is unneccessary, considering it requires a back up move and would likely lengthen the schedule noticeably. It already serves Depew, which really is not far at all from Exchange, so I just don’t think it’s worth the trouble.
 
My last run through there was for a NYSAHA meeting downtown. Empire Service to BFX small cab fare to hotel located in the business end of town.  Left on the LSL from Depew towards Chicago. easy because a colleague lives in Depew about 5 mins from the station and he dropped me on the way home (long boring wait). It isn't terribly far from downtown, but not that close either. Depew is pretty close to the airport, so it isn't off the beaten path either.
 
Depew is too far from Exchange Street if you don't have a car.  Taxis are at least readily available.

The long-term solution has been known for a long time: extend NFTA Buffalo Metro Rail to the airport along a right-of-way *which they already own* which runs right past Buffalo Central Terminal.  Then move Amtrak's "out of town" station to Central Terminal where it meets that route.  But nobody's been willing or able to fund Metro Rail to the Airport.
 
2 hours.  It is not practical with the current track layout.
Yeah, that definitely seems like too much of an increase. I do think something that perhaps should be looked into, might be to fiddle with the Empire Service or Maple Leaf shedules to offer some kind of quick and easy transfer to/from the LSL, maybe even with through cars, as I do think direct service between TOR/NFL and CHI would have a big market.
 
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Yeah, that definitely seems like too much of an increase. I do think something that perhaps should be looked into, might be to fiddle with the Empire Service or Maple Leaf shedules to offer some kind of quick and easy transfer to/from the LSL, maybe even with through cars, as I do think direct service between TOR/NFL and CHI would have a big market.
Really? Something that can be handled by taxi or Uber in a jiffy for the less than a dozen people involved? I don't think so.

You can already change at Depew for TOR/NFL to Chicago.

Proper Toronto to Chicago service should go through Michigan, like it used to.
 
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When you wait for the Lake at Depew,  you see a steady stream of freight traffic going by. Last time I was there it was summer, so the platform had a fair number of railfans watching them go by. When thinking about the market, keep in mind that TOR-NFL operates uniquely, it transitions to a VIA train.
 
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Proper Toronto to Chicago service should go through Michigan, like it used to.
Since Toronto to Windsor (and Toronto to Niagara Falls) service exists, the problem is getting from Windsor to Detroit.  The VIA Windsor station is not on the line to the tunnel, unfortunately, and neither is the Detroit Amtrak station.  The hostilities between the US and Canada mean that the border problems are only getting worse.

The nine-mile NFTA extension to the airport is what's needed, but NFTA is focused on a different extension and has no money.  :sigh:
 
  The hostilities between the US and Canada mean that the border problems are only getting worse.
Huh?  Preclearance in Montreal was recently approved by both countries.  It’s even coming to Billy Bishop airport, which I never thought would happen.  

I cross the border regularly (by land and air) and I have not noticed any changes for the worse at all.
 
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