There is growing support from Council President Franczyk and other local politicians to have the Central Terminal become the terminus for high speed rail in Buffalo.
Take a look at the WKBW news piece that aired last night.
Here is the story text from WKBW’s website:
The Buffalo Central Terminal was built in 1929 for high speed rail, away from downtown Buffalo. Now that piece of Buffalo’s past presently has the strong possibility for the future as the hub for high speed rail once again. Mark Lewandowski is a terminal board member and says this is a dream come true. “It’s a wish that we all had in the current vision of our board is to always consider rail as part of this project,” said Lewandowski.
Just a week ago Governor Paterson was touting a plan to use billions of federal stimulus dollars to connect New York City to Albany to Buffalo. Now some on Buffalo’s common council want to make sure the final stop is at a refurbished central terminal. “It could be used as an engine of restimulation for entire (area). It’s good for the City of Buffalo. It’s good for the East Side. It’s good for the neighborhood. This could be a spin-off affect.There could be restaurants open and people servicing the new hub thats there,” said Franczyk.
If it happens, it would be a rebirth of history for Lewandowski and those who have worked for more than 11 years to protect and preserve a part of buffalo’s history. “The goal was, it’s not about Central Terminal. It’s about the community surrounding the Central Terminal be it the Broadway Market, St. Stans, Corpus Christy and all the residents that still live here that still believe in the area. How Central Terminal goes so goes the neighborhood,” said Lewandowski.
What exciting news for the Central Terminal and for Buffalo. A revitalized mass transit system is good for Buffalo, the U.S., and the entire environment. I would love to be able to hop a fast cross-state train, especially as I am currently looking at job opportunities in N.Y.C. but want to stay in close contact with all my friends and family in Buffalo. Kudos to the Restoration Corporation folks for getting the Terminal in good enough shape for such a proposal to merit serious consideration!
I think most of us share the vision. Before the trains come back we need to make it clear that we will need a new pedestrian bridge to the platforms and Amtrak will have to do something with the train concourse to make it suitable for use again. Thanks for the support Tom!
“Built for high-speed rail” lol
For this to be feasible an easy (and fast) connection to both the airport and downtown need to be inplace.
Once the business park at the terminal starts becoming a reality. the transportation aspect of it will be soon to follow. Trains, buses and the like will be an added bonus. It also has to be a destination, not just a pass through point, and a gateway for Amtrak passengers to Western New York as well.
The light rail must be extended along the beltway to the central terminal and out to the airport, its perfect for a park n ride
the downtown bus station should move to the terminal
an office/lt industrial park should take root where there is housing, this shouls be marketed as Buffalos Logistics & World Trade Center