The was a part of the
New York Central Railroad system, connecting
Buffalo, New York to
Niagara Falls . It is still used by
CSX for freight and
Amtrak for passenger service.
The was chartered in
1833 and opened in
1834 , operating a
Horse-powered line from downtown Buffalo north to
Black Rock , now the east end of the
International Bridge . The line was mostly built on state land next to the
Erie Canal .
The was incorporated in
1834 to take over the Buffalo and Black Rock and extend it north and northwest to
Niagara Falls . Construction began in August
1836 , and included a replacement of the low-quality rails of the horse-drawn line. By
1837 the extension to
Tonawanda was completed, and around
1840 the rest of the way to Niagara Falls opened.
In or soon after
1852 , the new
Erie Street terminal was built in downtown Buffalo, along with a relocation of the tracks near downtown to the west side of the Erie Canal.
In
1853 the newly-formed
New York Central Railroad leased the Buffalo and Niagara Falls, which at the time did not connect to any other NYC lines. It was merged into the NYC in
1855 .
Tonawanda also served as a junction with several other lines. The
Canandaigua And Niagara Falls Railroad opened to Tonawanda in
1853 , and in
1854 built a connection from the Niagara Falls end of the Buffalo and Niagara Falls to the
Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge into
Canada . The New York Central bought the Canandaigua and Niagara Falls in
1858 . The
Buffalo And Lockport Railroad opened in
1854 , connecting the Buffalo and Niagara Falls at Tonawanda to the NYC's
Lockport And Niagara Falls Railroad at
Lockport .
The
Junction Railroad opened in
1871 , finally connecting the Buffalo and Niagara Falls at
Black Rock to the
New York Central And Hudson River Railroad main line via a bypass of downtown Buffalo. In
1873 a connection was built downtown (partly using a short piece of the
Lake Shore And Michigan Southern Railway ), forming a complete loop, known as the
Buffalo Belt Line . The old Erie Street station was sold to the
Grand Trunk Railway , and NYC trains now used the
Exchange Street station, which had been used since
1842 by the NYC's main line.
The
International Bridge opened in
1874 , connecting the Buffalo and Niagara Falls at
Black Rock to
Ontario, Canada .
Between
1900 and
1943 , a realignment was made in southern
Tonawanda , eliminating a bridge over the
Erie Canal (
Tonawanda Creek ). The new longer alignment turned east south of downtown, and then north parallel to the
Erie Railroad 's
Suspension Bridge And Erie Junction Railroad , merging with the old
Canandaigua And Niagara Falls Railroad south of its bridge over the canal.
Between
1948 and
1962 , a bypass of
Niagara Falls was built. This left the old alignment about halfway from
Tonawanda and headed north to the NYC's old
Rochester, Lockport And Niagara Falls Railroad , where trains turned west to Niagara Falls. The old alignment was abandoned, and part of it was used in
1970 for the
LaSalle Expressway .
The line passed into the hands of
Penn Central in
1968 and
Conrail in
1976 , by then known as the
Niagara Branch . The
1998 Conrail breakup assigned the Buffalo-Niagara Falls line to
New York Central Lines LLC , a subsidiary of
CSX . CSX operates it, along with the old connection to the New York Central main line, and the connection to the
Whirlpool Rapids Bridge and
Michigan Central Railway Bridge (via the old
Rochester, Lockport And Niagara Falls Railroad ), as their
Niagara Subdivision .
Amtrak 's
Empire Service and
Maple Leaf carry passengers along the full line, the latter continuing to
Toronto, Canada .
