Buffalo's Metro Rail stations rebounding after years of wear and tear

By Robert J. McCarthy, Buffalo News

After more than 35 years, Metro Rail's Delavan/Canisius College Station had experienced its share of wear and tear.

Thousands of commuters traversed its escalators, water and salt seeped through its walls, and one time a car even crashed through its front window. Like other stations a few years ago along the 6.4-mile line, Delavan/Canisius College was looking downright shabby.

"The panel liners needed replacement, they were stained and rusting, and the paint was peeling off," acknowledged Kimberley A. Minkel, executive director of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority. "It was obviously in need of repair."

But now the busy station serving Canisius College and the surrounding neighborhood looks anything but shabby. Gleaming new panels and ceramic tiles line the walls and new escalators are ferrying commuters to and from the subway below.

"We spent about $1.1 million on that station alone," Minkel said of the project completed in 2020 — aside from escalator work — that required extensive scaffolding and "really improved its aesthetics and durability."

Other Metro Rail stations still need attention. LaSalle, a busy stop served by an adjoining park and ride lot, is also marked by peeling paint and deteriorating wall panels. But it and others will all get their makeover chance as part of the five-year, $100 million rehabilitation fund established by New York State. Pushed by State Sen. Timothy M. Kennedy, D-Buffalo, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, Minkel says the authority now has a pot of money to fund the ongoing needs of upstate's only commuter rail system.

"That was a game changer," Minkel said. "Some of the improvements are very visible and noticeable and some not to the naked eye.

"We've been prioritizing the stations based on conditions and greatest need," she added.

Also encouraged by then-Assemblyman Sean M. Ryan, D-Buffalo — now a state senator — the new funds were obtained by Kennedy in 2019. Since then, escalator maintenance has emerged as one of the systems' major expenses, Minkel said, prompting the authority to dedicate $18.5 million to their replacement or rehabilitation throughout the system.

"It's interesting that we spend almost as much moving people up and down as we do moving people across," she said, calling escalator maintenance a "never-ending" program.

Other projects include $11 million for new pads and fasteners on tracks, $3 million on the overhead catenary wires that deliver electricity to rail cars, $1.1 million on new elevator controls throughout the system, and a $1 million loop to provide better bus connections at Utica Station. Allen/Medical Campus received upgrades a few years ago as part of the construction of the University at Buffalo's Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences above.

Minkel said about $1.3 million is slated for replacing panel liners at University Station in 2022, and $4 million is earmarked for a revamped Canalside Station. In addition, the new station at the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Terminal at the foot of Main Street is slated for completion in 2023, which will replace the temporary special events station now serving KeyBank Center.

"Some of this is not very exciting, but it's all necessary, and really goes to improve reliability, the customer experience and safety," she said, noting that clean and inviting stations rank as the first element toward inviting commuters into the system.

"No one wants to go into a dark and dingy station," Minkel said. "They need to be warm and inviting, but they need to be functional as well."

NFTA planners have always viewed Metro Rail stations as "public spaces" and "places to congregate," and public art was included in most stations. The artwork at Delavan/Canisius is "cataloged for the time being," Minkel said, and officials are investigating what art will eventually be incorporated into the station.

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