Buffalo Metro Rail

Metro Rail
Background
Locale	Buffalo, New York
Transit type	Light rail
Number of lines	1
Number of stations	14
Daily ridership	23,200 (avg. weekday, FY 2008)
Website	metro.nfta.com
Operation
Began operation	1985
Operator(s)	Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA)
Technical
System length	6.4 miles (10.3 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge)
Electrification	Overhead lines 650 V DC

[ v t e ] Buffalo Metro Rail

Legend University originally South Campus LaSalle Tonawanda turn-out Amherst Street Humboldt-Hospital Delavan/Canisius College originally Delavan-College Utica Summer-Best Allen/Medical Campus originally Allen-Hospital Theater Demolished February 2013 Fountain Plaza originally Huron Lafayette Square Church Seneca I-190 Erie Canal Harbor originally Auditorium Special Events certain times only Rail Maintenance Yard station with off-street bus loop fare-free section

[ v t e ] Buffalo Metro Rail Original Proposal

Legend Original Proposal Amherst Government Center Audubon ↑ North Campus to Amherst part of Phase 2 North Campus Sweet Home yard and shops I-290 Maple Sheridan South Campus La Salle North Tonawanda Tonawanda East Ives Park I-290 Brighton Ellwood Park Kenilworth ↖ Tonawanda branch part of Phase 2 Tonawanda turn-out Central Park Humboldt Delavan Utica Summer/Best Allen/Hospital Theater Lafayette Square ↓ Cathedral Park to West Hopkins part of Phase 2 Community College Perry West Hopkins

Buffalo Metro Rail is the public transit rail system in Buffalo, New York, USA; it is operated by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA). The system consists of a single, 6.4-mile (10.3 km) long line that runs for most of the length of Main Street (New York State Route 5) in the City of Buffalo, from First Niagara Center in Downtown Buffalo to the south campus of the University at Buffalo in the northeast corner of the city.

Transit type and route

Metro Rail is a light rail transit (LRT) system as characterized by the American Public Transportation Association ^[1] although it shares many characteristics with "heavy rail" metro systems.

Along 80 percent of its track (5.2 miles (8.4 km)), it operates in a high-speed underground subway environment with high-level platforms. This section has eight stations that are spaced fairly widely apart, comparable to many subway stations elsewhere. The line from Allen/Medical Campus to Utica uses cut-and-cover subway construction, while the remainder of the underground portion from Delavan/Canisius College to University on the University of Buffalo South Campus is in deep-bored tunnels.^[2] At some of the deep bore stations, such as Delavan/Canisius College and University, the track platform level is deep enough that escalators are used to reach the surface.

The remaining 20 percent of the alignment (1.2 miles (1.9 km)) is on the surface in a dedicated outdoors transit mall on Main Street in downtown Buffalo, separated from automobile traffic. This section has six closely spaced stations with primarily low-level platforms. Because the trains are all high-level, passengers exit and enter trains using retractable staircases that extend by rotating out from pockets underneath each door of the train. In addition, each downtown station has an approximately 12-foot-long mini-high level platform (connected to wheelchair ramps and stairs) that aligns with the first door of each train to provide handicapped access.^[2] This first door has retractable stairs like all the other doors, but the stairs of this first door fit underneath the mini-platforms when extended at these surface stations. The northbound and southbound portions of these downtown stations (and their respective mini-platforms) appear to be staggered when served by two 2-car trains (the normal service) because they are designed to align correctly when accommodating trains four cars long (the maximum length in this system).^[2] Trains in this downtown transit mall do interact with automobile traffic at cross streets, where movements are governed by non-vital traffic signals. This surface section has catenary poles every 130 feet to support the overhead electrical lines.^[3]

Metro Rail operates electric multiple-unit light rail vehicles (LRVs) in two-to-four car trains with power drawn from an overhead catenary system. Three-car trains are limited to rush hour and special events, and four-car trains to special events.^[2][4] The Buffalo trains and SEPTA in Philadelphia are the only modern rigid-body (non-articulated) LRVs operating in North America.

History

Construction on Metro Rail began in 1979, and the line opened for regular service on May 20, 1985,^[5] following an opening ceremony on May 18.

At the time of the start of construction, the line was intended to be the first line for an extensive system that would spread throughout the city and suburbs. However, during the construction of the line and afterward, Buffalo's population declined significantly (by approximately 55%, from around 580,000 in 1950 to about 261,000 in 2010), and the new line's ridership was much lower than originally anticipated. The cost of the urban section was so high that no funding was available to extend the lines into the suburbs, including the Amherst campus of the University at Buffalo. Efforts to obtain funding for feeder lines have met with little success.

The downtown business district

The construction of the pedestrian mall along Main Street downtown coincided with the decentralization of the region's population and retail market. Like many other cities in the Northeast U.S., suburban shopping malls were being developed closer to regional population growth and regional wealth. This shift in retail concentration and regional wealth resulted in downtown Buffalo losing many of its long-time anchor department stores and smaller shops to suburban malls and strip plazas. It was these retailers that originally served as some of the major traffic generators for Metro Rail. Overall, the area's economic health declined in the 1980s, reducing the potential passengers and the tax base available to fund the system.

The city of Buffalo is planning to reintroduce cars onto Main Street in a shared trackbed/roadway. Curb parking lanes will be provided for short-term visitors. The project started in 2008 and was expected to be completed by 2011.^[6]

Permanent closure of Theater Station

A major part of the shared trackbed/roadway project is the permanent closure of Theater Station. This station closed on February 18, 2013.^[7] The closure occurred due to safety and design reasons associated with the project. The Buffalo Theater District is now served by the Fountain Plaza station, which is located 546 feet south of the former Theater Station.

Operations and practical information

Metro Rail runs daily; weekdays from approximately 5:10 a.m. to 12:50 a.m., Saturdays from 7:05 a.m. to 12:50 a.m., Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m (although bus service is available until approximately 12:30 a.m. in the same area). Trains run as often as once every ten minutes at rush hour, and generally no less often than once every twenty minutes. A one-way ticket is $2. An all-day pass costs $5, which allows users of the pass unlimited rides covering the entire rail and bus system for the service day. Monthly passes are also available, either by a calendar month, or by a continuous 30-day period.

In September 2008, the NFTA began an earlier starting time to the weekday schedule in response to an 11% increase in ridership over eight months of growth. In July 2008, the authority claimed the passenger count "...eclipsed the July 2007 tally by 23 percent".^[8]

Fares are collected through a proof-of-payment (POP) system (sometimes erroneously referred to as an "honor system"). Tickets are checked periodically by roving NFTA ticket inspectors and occasionally by transit police on trains and in stations. Travel on the above-ground portion of the system is free (zero-fare public transport), though ticket machines are available at outbound above-ground stations for passengers continuing on to stations in the subway portion of the line. If a rider does not possess a valid proof-of-payment, a citation will be issued (similar to a traffic ticket) and a penalty will be imposed when a court finds the passenger guilty of non-payment.

A normal one-way trip takes 22 minutes from end to end, though it may be faster nights, weekends and holidays.

Metro Rail and Metro Bus schedules are posted at the NFTA Metro Website.

Stations and points of interest

Rolling stock

Buffalo Light Rail Vehicle
NFTA Light Rail Vehicle
Manufacturer	Tokyu Car Corporation
Number in service	26
Formation	2- to 4-car trains
Fleet numbers	101-127
Capacity	140 (51 seated), 210 crush load [3]
Specifications
Car length	66 ft 10 in (20,371 mm)
Width	8 ft 6.5 in (2,603 mm)
Weight	35.5 short tons (32.2 t)
Electric system(s)	650 VDC
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (standard gauge)
Notes
Body type: double-ended, non-articulated Control: 4 chopper-controlled Westinghouse motors

The NFTA has a fleet of 26 (originally 27) rigid-bodied (non-articulated) LRVs for the Metro Rail system, numbered sequentially from 101 to 127. They were built by Tokyu Car Corporation of Japan in 1983.^[3] The cars have a maximum service speed of 50 mph, but trains run at 15 mph in the above-ground section of the line.^[3] The LRVs have a maximum service acceleration of 2.7 mph/second and a maximum service deceleration of 3.0 mph/second, with a maximum emergency deceleration of 4.7 mph/second.^[3] There are three sliding doors on each side of each LRV; these doors can be opened by passengers by push buttons on the outside wall of the train when trains are stopped at stations on the above-ground section of the line.^[3] However, in practice, train operators typically open all doors and extend all the retractable staircases at all above-stations.

One car (number 125) was damaged in transit and later purchased by a restaurateur, Bertrand H. Hoak, of Hamburg, as an addition to Hoak's Armor Inn restaurant on Abbott Road, near Armor Duells Road. The car has since been sold.

Twelve President's Conference Cars built by the St. Louis Car Company were purchased from Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's Shaker Heights Rapid Transit in 1990. They were sold to the Brooklyn Historical Railway Association in 2003.^[10]

Rehabilitation

In May 2006 it was announced that all of the LRVs would be rehabilitated by AnsaldoBreda. The rehabilitation will feature many improvements, some of which include enhanced video monitoring of the railcar interiors, an upgraded braking system, rebuilt HVAC systems, rebuilt door systems, a new interior closely representing the agency's new look, upgraded propulsion systems, and repairs to the body shells. In addition, the rail cars will receive new monitoring systems, an automated announcement system calling out stations, new door chimes, and interior/exterior LED signage to replace existing roll signs. The total project cost is an estimated $40 million, for rehabilitation of 26 rail cars.^[11] Because the refurbished cars have new car-to-car communications equipment, they are not compatible with unrefurbished cars and cannot run with them on the same train.^[12]

The project originally planned to use SuperSteel's manufacturing facilities in Schenectady, New York for the overhaul of the rail cars. However, due to the loss of orders and a dip in the economy, SuperSteel closed the facility in April 2009. The closure cost 175 jobs and delayed the rehabilitation.^[13] The project later was moved to Gray Manufacturing Industries, located in Hornell, New York.^[14] The first two cars were due back in revenue service in July 2010.^[15] After a lengthy delay, which was figured to put the project years behind the originally planned schedule, the first two units cars (numbered 114 and 123) have returned to full revenue service on March 9, 2012. The cost of refurbishment per car has gone up, however, and is now averaged at $1.7 million per car with an cost of $45 million to complete all cars in the fleet. Three more cars (fleet numbers 110, 111 and 126), have been sent out and were planned to be completed before the end of the 2012.^[16]

Plans for expansion

In December 2012 the NFTA announced it had secured funding of $1.6 million to commission a study in 2013 of bus and rail access to University at Buffalo's North Campus. If a rail project were to be approved, the system would be running in seven to ten years.

On February 28, 2013 it was announced that a group consisting of representatives from the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, planners from the City of Buffalo, the Buffalo Sabres, and NFTA are working on a plan to extend the southern terminus of the rail line just beyond the NFTA rail yard at the DL&W Terminal to a new parking garage being built near the medical campus.^[17]

Because of poor traffic patterns on Downtown Buffalo's Main Street, some business groups occasionally call for the removal of the transit system so that they can return to normal vehicle traffic and curbside parking, hoping that this measure might recreate the prosperous days of the past. However, the city is developing and implementing a plan to return automobile traffic to the blocks of Main Street.

Without extended branches in the suburbs, the truncated system serves 23,000 passengers daily. As a useful transportation asset, Buffalo Metro Rail is ranked 19th in the nation in light rail daily ridership service.

One group, the Citizens Regional Transit Corporation (CRTC), advocates for expansion.^[18] As indicated in its statement, the CRTC seeks to educate the public, public officials, their authorities and agencies in the Buffalo-Niagara region about the benefits of a comprehensive transportation system including an expanded Metro Rail. In April 2011, the group stated that the 600 block of Main Street, which has Shea's Performing Arts Center along with hotels and bars, should be converted into a mixed automobile and rail system.^[19]

University line extension

On Monday, December 4, 2006, in The Spectrum, a publication of the University at Buffalo (UB), it was announced that former UB President John B. Simpson is planning to get a project underway that would connect UB's three campuses via a transportation system. The proposed systems included a subway, trolley or light rail.

Airport corridor

The Airport corridor would begin in Downtown Buffalo, near Metro Rail's Church station, and continue in an easterly direction in/out Division Sts., diagonally in a northeastern direction near Jefferson toward the Buffalo Central Terminal, cross Broadway, and then continue eastbound in its private right-of-way to the Thruway Plaza, Walden Galleria and Buffalo Airport.

Tonawandas corridor

The Tonawandas corridor would operate from LaSalle Station northwesterly to the City of Tonawanda using the abandoned Erie Railroad tracks.

The NFTA purchased twelve Presidents' Conference Committee (PCC) streetcars in the 1980s to serve the Tonawanda turn-out, a proposed Metro Rail extension to Tonawanda and North Tonawanda. These cars were built by the St. Louis Car Company and acquired by Cleveland, Ohio's Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority second-hand in 1953. It was determined after initial trial runs that the PCCs were too wide for existing station platforms and the plan was abandoned. The PCCs were subsequently sold to the Brooklyn Historical Railway Association (BHRA). They were scrapped in 2003 when the BHRA folded.

Annual ridership

Numbers are from the Federal Transit Administration's National Transit Database^[20] (1996–2011)

Gallery

• 

  Buffalo's Metro Rail network

• 

  Inside the Tokyu Car

• 

  Artwork on the walls of Amherst Station

• 

  Public Art at Summer Best Station

• 

  Allen-Medical Campus station

• 

  Shea's Performing Arts Center in front of the former Theater Station

• 

  Metro Rail leaving Lafayette Square station at the Main Court Building across from Lafayette Square in the Free Fare Zone

• 

  Metro Rail train entering University station

See also

• Citizens Regional Transit Corporation
• List of tram and light-rail transit systems

References

External links

• Official website
• Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, the agency that runs Metro Rail
• Urbanrail.net's page on Metro Rail
• More details at nycsubway.org
• Citizens Regional Transportation Corporation (Citizens for Regional Transit/CRTC), an advocacy group supporting expansion of Metro Rail
• Buffalo Metro Rail
• History of design and construction of Metro Rail
• Buffalo Metro Rail map