Niagara Falls, New York (Amtrak station)
Encyclopedia
Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

's Niagara Falls, New York
Niagara Falls, New York
Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 50,193, down from the 55,593 recorded in the 2000 census. It is across the Niagara River from Niagara Falls, Ontario , both named after the famed Niagara Falls which they...

 station
is located at the corner of 27th Street and Lockport Road. It serves as an enclosed waiting area and ticket-selling location on the western terminus of the Empire Corridor
Empire Corridor
The Empire Corridor is a term used to refer to the approximately corridor between Niagara Falls and New York City, including the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Schenectady and Albany. The Empire Service and Maple Leaf serve the entire length of this corridor, and the Maple Leaf...

. There is no platform, however, so trains are boarded in the open air of the much larger CSX yard on whose northwestern border it is sited. The station was originally built as a freight depot in 1959 by the Lehigh Valley Railroad
Lehigh Valley Railroad
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad...

.

Service

The station is served by six trains daily:
  • Empire Service (Amtrak)
    Empire Service (Amtrak)
    The Empire Service is a train service operated by Amtrak within the state of New York in the United States. Trains on the line provide frequent daily service along the 460-mile Empire Corridor between New York City and Niagara Falls, New York...

    , two eastbounds to Pennsylvania Station (New York City)
    Pennsylvania Station (New York City)
    Pennsylvania Station—commonly known as Penn Station—is the major intercity train station and a major commuter rail hub in New York City. It is one of the busiest rail stations in the world, and a hub for inbound and outbound railroad traffic in New York City. The New York City Subway system also...

     and two westbound terminations.
  • Maple Leaf (Amtrak/VIA)
    Maple Leaf (Amtrak/VIA)
    The Maple Leaf is a 875-kilometre passenger train route operated jointly by Via Rail and Amtrak from New York City's Pennsylvania Station to Toronto's Union Station via Albany, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo. The train travels during the day and takes approximately 12 hours for the 875-kilometre ...

    , one eastbound to Pennsylvania Station (New York City)
    Pennsylvania Station (New York City)
    Pennsylvania Station—commonly known as Penn Station—is the major intercity train station and a major commuter rail hub in New York City. It is one of the busiest rail stations in the world, and a hub for inbound and outbound railroad traffic in New York City. The New York City Subway system also...

     and one westbound to Union Station (Toronto)
    Union Station (Toronto)
    Union Station is the major inter-city rail station and a major commuter rail hub in Toronto, located on Front Street West and occupying the south side of the block bounded by Bay Street and York Street in the central business district. The station building is owned by the City of Toronto, while the...

    .

The future

State and local governments plan on building a new multi-million dollar
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

 intermodal transportation center out of the U.S. Customhouse
U.S. Customhouse (Niagara Falls)
The former U.S. Customhouse in Niagara Falls, New York was a Custom House for the United States' side of the Niagara River. It was built in 1863 and served served inspectors for the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge, Niagara Cantilever Bridge, Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, and Michigan Central Railway...

 to replace the current station. This work is to be part of a three phase project titled the Niagara Falls International Railway Station. It calls for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is a federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security charged with regulating and facilitating international trade, collecting import duties, and enforcing U.S. regulations, including trade, customs and immigration. CBP is the...

 to share with Amtrak a complex consisting of the old customhouse and modern additions.

The project consists of three phases, with a total estimated cost of $44 million. Construction on the project began in August 2010, with funding only for the first two phases.

In October 2010, the US Department of Transportation released $16.5 million in funds from the TIGER
Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery
Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery is a supplementary discretionary grant program included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009...

program for work on the final phase of the International Station project.

External links

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