I will say this as kindly as possible considering I come from nearby, but Buffalo's light rail barely even meets the definition of a "network". Here's hoping for a brighter, more extensive future.
From what I understand, one of the long-term goals is to connect it to the airport. It was also envisioned to reach Buffalo Central Terminal if it had become the replacement for Exchange Street Station for Amtrak. It would have used the streetcar loop that was built but never used after the station opened. Unfortunately political B-S happened (and people with no transit experience sticking their nose into the process that should have butted out) and the station stayed downtown at the waterfront. BCT had the parking infrastructure in place, a large waiting lobby, and lots of room for business office space rentals. It would have revitalized the entire neighbourhood and brought new jobs to an area that really needs it. It would have been cheaper than building the new station.
@@TrainMike2013 The immediate goal is to connect to UB North via the turnout at the University station. Originally it was supposed to run under Bailey Ave, but a couple years ago they changed this to running on Niagara Falls Boulevard (which I think is silly).
The interesting thing about this system is the underground stations are level boarding. Above ground the doors fold down from the side. Actually I believe they always fold down, but you don’t see them under the platforms. There have been proposed extensions, but I don’t think any have gotten off the drawing board.
Would love to see a video like this about an English network! Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Newcastle... I'd even be okay with a London one, although the video might be an hour long!
I’m focused on finishing all the US cities first, but I’ll consider doing some international ones next year. MetroLiner did a good video on the London Underground in the meantime though
@@VanishingUnderground I asked the same thing, good to know but May I ask when the Next Viarail video will be out and also if you could do the amtrak or CN passenger networks
If he did one on London he'd better only do the rail lines and not include decicated bus lanes otherwise the network would become a big cluttered mess with hundreds of stops each a few hundred metres apart
@@n1thmusic229 I think he'd have to do four videos for London: Underground, Overground and tram, regional rail network, and dedicated bus lane network.
Has a commuter rail service ever been contemplated between Niagara Falls (starting east of the very same international bridge where Toronto’s GO services end) and Downtown Buffalo? Seems like at bare minimum, it could become a decent sized tourist boost for the entire area, as well as an option for I-190 between Niagara & Downtown Buffalo, to which is mostly 4 thru lanes wide and presumably already over capacity?
Good luck! Niagara New York and Buffalo are both negative thinking towns . Buffalo Airport missed out on so much business years ago , from people flying to Europe in the Niagara area.Most people that went to Europe in the Buffalo and Niagara Canada area , had to use the airport in Toronto .
It’s because Buffalo used to be one of the fastest growing cities in the country, and there were plans to have the subway be much more extensive than it ended up being. Unfortunately the city never fully modernized and its growth ended up stagnating, as did the metro/subway
@@ALuimesYea there were plans to expand it, but they never came to fruition. There are some plans to extend it in the next 10 years, but it’ll probably take closer to 15 to 20, if it happens at all
To me, Buffalo's LRT system would of expand to the Buffalo Niagara airport back in the 90s in Cheekatowaga 1 line, Towanda and to Amherst. It was the city's politicians that delay things and the population moved to it's suburbs. I heard that they're extending into Amherst to it's north university campus and to I 990 in the next decade. But the ridership is good in its underground section.
The system has been a lifesaver a few times. It is rare for Buffalo and the northern suburbs to get hit by extremely heavy snow at the same time. They can run the underground section even in heavy snow and it runs up to the area with less snow. It's because Buffalo and the southern suburbs are along the lake while the north side is opposite Canada's Niagara Peninsula
How about doing the Minneapolis-Saint Paul light rail? I like your St Louis one. How about the Detroit people mover hahaha! Milwaukee has a little streetcar thing that they built and it opened up about two or three years ago I think. And of course you know the Chicago Transit authority that would be a real challenging one for you but I know you would do it.
@@VanishingUnderground How about not just cities with existing rail, but maybe another series on old, discontinued passenger rail lines? Rochester NY used to have a 'subway' but was removed decades ago. I'm sure many other cities did too.
When I was there for UB, the subway line was a joke to us. They've been talking about extending to north campus forever. Amherst people don't want from the urban section. That's two decades ago. I hope that's changed now.
It would have been great if this line was as big as other places that sports light rail transit: where located only, there ARE [some] singular routes that have branches, even heavy rail routes have branches; these days it's still a play on words on what rapid transit really is.
@@VanishingUnderground It has a lot of defunct lines and branches. For colors(before 1993, when the lines got their color names) here’s what I’d use Red for all trains going through the state street subway, and prior to its opening northwestern elevated trains that did not go to ravenswood Orange for the orange line only Yellow for shuttle trains between Howard and Skokie Green for all trains over the lake street elevated (except the pink line) Blue for the metropolitan west side elevated, and all trains that went through the Milwaukee Dearborn subway Purple for all trains in Evanston that didn’t run through the state street subway after 1949 Brown for all trains that run on the ravenswood line that don’t go through the state street subway Pink for the Pink line, and maybe Douglas trains that went through the loop in general
I lived in Buffalo for 4 years and used the rail once to go to a Sabres game. You cannot get anywhere with that thing. The UB North extension will bring so much cash flow but I have always been told that the suburbians do not want downtown homeless.
What I don't get is why did they decide to run their light rail in the streets downtown but in a subway outside of downtown, especially in New York State's snowbelt? I think stage 3 would be to correct the anamoly.
the cold has no real effect on ridership and the stations and trains are heated. no different than taking a car somewhere, but it's faster and cheaper. the above-ground lines are also fare-free which has come in incredibly clutch over the decades. you only have to pay when you go underground.
Isn't the fleet similar to the Boeing Vertol: US Standard Light Rail Vehicle For transit systems MUNI; San Francisco,, California and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority; Boston, Massachusetts Green Line. 1976-2001 (MUNI) 1976-2007 (MBTA)
It was a good idea in theory, but pretty wasteful in practice. A busway would have been just as effective and more expansive at lower cost. The City of Buffalo probably thought that a rapid transit system would give the city some more respect and prominence. After all, it's the only other city in New York State with a rapid transit system, which is sort of cool.
