Buffalo–Exchange Street station

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Buffalo–Exchange Street station is an Amtrak station in Buffalo, New York. It serves six Amtrak trains each day: two Empire Service round trips between Niagara Falls and New York City, one Maple Leaf round trip between Toronto and New York City, and a daily Amtrak Thruway bus connection operated by Coach USA between the Buffalo Metropolitan Transportation Center and Jamestown (via Dunkirk and Fredonia) serving communities along Lake Erie. The station area is also connected to local transit, with NFTA buses and the Buffalo Metro Rail nearby. An elevated pedestrian walkway under Interstate 190 links the station area to Canalside, and the site is close to the KeyBank Center and Sahlen Field.

The current station building is about 4,800 square feet. It sits on one high-level side platform that serves a single passenger track, while a second track allows freight trains to pass. There is a waiting room on the east side of the building, drop-off and pickup zones, and space for 14 canopied parking spots in case future bus connections are added. The station is near Canalside and is part of the Empire Corridor improvements that also included upgrades at other nearby cities.

History in brief:
- The Buffalo area has had several Exchange Street stations since 1848. The first was on Exchange Street, built by the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad.
- In the late 1800s, downtown Buffalo traffic prompted new stations, and by 1929 Buffalo Central Terminal opened to relieve downtown congestion. Exchange Street remained important for a time, but other facilities grew in prominence.
- A fourth Buffalo Exchange Street station opened on August 2, 1952, as a secondary station to Buffalo Central Terminal. It had two side platforms connected by an overhead walkway.
- Passenger service declined mid-century. In 1959, New York Central ceased Niagara Falls service, and the Exchange Street building was closed for a period. The overhead walkway was later removed.
- Amtrak revived service through the station in 1978 with the Niagara Rainbow, and Exchange Street became one of Buffalo’s main stations again alongside Buffalo–Depew when Central Terminal closed in 1979. The second platform was eventually abandoned as traffic declined.
- By the 2000s, the station was widely regarded as outdated and deteriorating. In 2016, heavy rains caused a partial collapse of the building, further highlighting the need for a new facility.
- Demolition of the old 1952 station began in 2019, and a new station opened on November 8, 2020. The Maple Leaf’s eastbound arrival at 12:55 p.m. marked the first train to stop at the new station, with local officials attending the ribbon-cutting. The 2020 opening was part of broader Empire Corridor upgrades that included newer stations in Niagara Falls (2016), Rochester (2017), and Schenectady (2018).