(rshsdepot) Rochester, NY

["Bernie Wagenblast" <brwagenblast_@_home.com>]

New rail station may rise
Study will develop plans for possible high-speed Amtrak stop

By Jeffrey Blackwell
Democrat and Chronicle

(Thursday, November 1, 2001) -- The next chapter in the history of
Rochester's train stations may be a bit more exciting than the last.

The Genesee Transportation Council is launching a study that will look at
the possibility of replacing the city's tired, 1970s-era rail stop with a
modern facility that looks toward the past for inspiration.

"We have a history of gorgeous stations in Rochester, architecturally," said
the council's executive director, Steve Gleason. "The current station really
does not communicate a good message about this community -- where it's been,
where it's at today and where it wants to go."

The Amtrak station, on Central Avenue, was built in 1978.

It replaced Union Station, a grand building with domed ceilings that was
closed in 1959 and demolished six years later to make way for a parking lot.

The current facility is small and offers few or no services for riders.

"This is not a very good representation of Rochester," said Tammy Anderson
of Rochester, who took her 3-year-old grandson, Saijon Swain, also of
Rochester, to the station last night to see a train.

The push behind the study is the possibility of high-speed rail service
reaching Rochester.

Amtrak launched the service between New York City and Washington, D.C., last
year. The Rochester station is not designed to accommodate those trains,
which reach speeds of 150 mph.

The study is intended to develop a station design that meets the specific
needs of high-speed rail service, provides better access and services for
passengers and enhances downtown. It will also look for funding sources.

The $75,000 study will be funded by the transportation council and a $40,000
state grant secured by Assemblyman David Gantt, D-Rochester. Completion is
scheduled for February.

Eight trains stop at the Rochester station each day. About 122,000 people
passed through the station gates last year.

Local officials say high-speed service should increase ridership and at the
same time make the city more attractive.

"One of the issues is how do you retain young people," said Sean Phelan, a
project manager with Rochester Downtown Development Corp.

"This is a physical conduit for young people into the community," including
students at the University of Rochester and the State University colleges at
Brockport and Geneseo, Phelan said.

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