Louise M. Slaughter Rochester Station

Rochester has a long history of train stations. The first major Rochester station was built in 1845 by the New York Central Railroad on Mill Street by High Falls.

The 1882 New York Central Railroad station

In the 1880s, the railroad tracks were elevated (having previously been at grade) and in 1882 the station was relocated to the east side of the Genesee River, close to the modern station site on Central Avenue at St. Paul Street. This station was notable for its large train shed. Not long after the 1882 station was established, the city of Rochester had four major train stations: The New York Central station; the since demolished Erie Railroad Depot; the Lehigh Valley Railroad Station that houses Dinosaur Bar-B-Que; and the Rochester terminal of the Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburgh Railway that houses Nick Tahou Hots.[2]

The 1914 New York Central Station known as Bragdon Station

The 1882 station would be demolished and replaced in 1914 at the modern site by the more famous New York Central station designed by Claude Fayette Bragdon. The station, often referred to as Bragdon Station, was four stories with three high arching windows reminiscent of train driving wheels and a main room that was reminiscent of New York's Grand Central Terminal complete with arched ceilings and a lunch counter. The station at its height had 6 island platforms connected to the main station building by two tunnels, one for passengers and one for baggage and mail that went all the way to the Cumberland St. Central Post Office. The station was seen as one of Bragdon's greatest architectural accomplishments. As was the case with several large union stations of the era, with falling revenues and the high maintenance costs and taxes of such a large facility the station was sold by the New York Central Railroad in 1959 to a private owner.

Station in 1978

The 1978 "Amshack" style station in 2009. Note the low-level platform

In a move that is largely considered today to have been a mistake, the famed 1914 station was mostly demolished in 1965 after its sale to private owners except for the then run down westernmost portion which served as the station in the interim (with the ticket sales at the entrance to the passenger tunnel). That section was demolished in 1977 to make way for a smaller Amtrak facility in 1978. The passenger, baggage tunnels and one of the platform canopies of the original 1914 building were the last remaining remnants of the previous 1914 station to survive. The long-forgotten tunnels were re-discovered during initial surveying work for the current station.[3] During the construction of the station in 2015, the tunnels were filled in as part of the construction of a new tunnel for the station; the westernmost part of the canopy remains.

The 1978 structure was an Amshack style station similar to other stations Amtrak was building at the time as part of their Standard Stations Program. It opened on July 12, 1978.[4] Its single track platform was shared by eastbound and westbound trains, which caused conflicts between passenger and freight trains and led to delays. In addition, its low-level platforms forced passengers to use steps when boarding and alighting. The 1978 station was intended to be temporary and was long outdated by the time it was demolished in late 2015 to make way for the current station.[5]

Ground was broken for the current station and multimodal transit center on October 28, 2014. It opened on October 6, 2017, in a ceremony attended by Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, Mayor Lovely Warren and Governor Andrew Cuomo.[6] The station's construction cost of $29.5 million (originally $26.5 million) was funded by the City of Rochester, State of New York, and Amtrak.[7][8] Its construction occurred around the same time of two other Empire Corridor stations: Niagara Falls (2016) and Schenectady (2018).

On March 17, 2018, a day after Slaughter's death, Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand along with former Mayor and Lieutenant Governor Bob Duffy requested that Amtrak rename the station for Slaughter, who played a significant part in securing the funding for the rebuilt station.[9] Four days later, Amtrak announced that it would rename the station, and officially unveiled the new name on March 25, 2019.[10][11][12]

Rochester station interior looking west

The two floor station is 9,500 square feet (880 m²). Designed to look like the original 1914 Bragdon station, it includes the 1914 station's original clock and plaques from both the 1914 station and 1882 station.[13][14] Trains call at a single high-level center island platform serving one track in each direction for Amtrak, with two others on either side in each direction for freight traffic to pass by. The platform is connected to the station building via a tunnel underneath the tracks that is accessed by stairs, escalator and elevator.[8] The station also contains two retail stands and many display boards.

To the side of the station is future parking allocation for Greyhound and Trailways buses, which currently stop at a temporary facility across the street as part of a phase 2 plan to directly incorporate buses into the station. It was also built to accommodate proposed high-speed rail service.[7]

Rochester station platform

P Platform level	Track 3	← Freight service →
	Track 1	←      Lake Shore Limited toward Chicago (Buffalo–Depew) ←      Maple Leaf toward Toronto (Buffalo–Depew) ←      Empire Service toward Niagara Falls (Buffalo–Depew)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left or right
	Track 2	←      Empire Service, Maple Leaf toward New York (Syracuse) → ←      Lake Shore Limited toward New York or Boston (Syracuse) →
	Track 4	← Freight service →
	Side platform, not in service
G	Street level	Exit/entrance and station building

The station is across the street from the Greyhound Lines/New York Trailways station and phase 2 of the new station is to include the buses.

RTS service includes the 2 North Clinton and the 3 Joseph, both of which go to the nearby RTS Transit Center.

In 2010 U.S. Border Patrol agents [15] boarded the trains at Rochester station and asked passengers for details of their citizenship. At that time passengers who were not able to suitably prove their right to be in the U.S. could have been removed from the train and taken into custody.

Media related to Louise M. Slaughter Rochester Station at Wikimedia Commons

• Rochester, NY – Amtrak
• Rochester, NY – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• New York Central Railroad Station, Rochester
• Rochester Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide – Train Web)
• Intermodel Transportation Center DOT Project
• Intermodel Transportation Center DOT preliminary Project
• Article from The Brickbuilder about 1914 station with floor plans