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CN seeks to abandon Niagara Falls Bridge
With the CP bridge facing the wrecking ball the only hope for the CN bridge is the Bridge Commission since it’s also a road bridge for NEXUS only crossings. It’s obvious that CN is actively avoiding using the bridge since the yard west of the Niagara Falls, ON station is derelict. The connection through Buffalo is overloaded with freight. Seems to me to one of those shortsighted capacity decisions.
With the CP bridge facing the wrecking ball the only hope for the CN bridge is the Bridge Commission since it’s also a road bridge for NEXUS only crossings. It’s obvious that CN is actively avoiding using the bridge since the yard west of the Niagara Falls, ON station is derelict. The connection through Buffalo is overloaded with freight. Seems to me to one of those shortsighted capacity decisions.
What are the alternate routes if this bridge is closed?
LOVE THE NEWSWIRE ITEMS–WITH TRAINS VAST LIBRARY OF IMAGES, PLACING A PHOTO OR TWO WITH THE ITEM WOULD GREATLY ENHANCE THE INFO/READING–AS AN EXAMPLE–THE NIAGARA BRIDGE ABANDONMENT BRIEF–
There is a major issue left out of this item: US customs and immigration are understaffed at the Niagara Falls/Lewiston-Queenston crossings. Diversion of staff to work Amtrak 64 is a major problem for Amtrak and the Department of Homeland Security. The desired solution for them is to end Amtrak service to Toronto. Likely, a bus service will replace the “Maple Leaf” and connect not just with this one service, but all of the trains in and out of the Falls.
The bridge that carries the Maple Leaf is called the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge and was opened on August 27, 1897, not November 3, 1873. A former name is the Lower Arch Bridge. Another Niagara Falls area rail bridge was opened on 11/03/1873 and it too is still in use: The International Railway bridge, between Buffalo, New York and Fort Eire, Ontario. This bridge was repaired in 1993 and supports train traffic for both the Canadian Pacific and the Canadian National.
CN is at it again.
How does CN deliver to Buffalo then?
bridge naming rights.
Closing this bridge while it is used by two passenger trains daily is absurd. Via and Amtrak will be forced to pick it up, yet CN will end maintaining it for a fee!
This is too bad–another international passenger train link at risk. I rode one of the last trips of the International from Chicago to Toronto through the Port Huron-Sarnia tunnel. I remember we had to wait for customs on the U.S. side, and then waited for a crew change at Sarnia station.
At least at Niagara Falls one could theoretically walk a couple of miles to cross the border at the bridge open to pedestrians.
CN short sighted? Never!
Amtrak just spent money building a new facility for U.S. customs a few years ago. With the prospect of GOtrans possibly bringing commuter rail to Niagra Falls, is there any way that the bridge could be converted to pedestrian use so passengers could still have decent connections?
On the other hand, if busing passengers to Canda is the answer, then the Maple leaf or one of the other Empire State corridor trains ought to be diverted to Cleveland.
once again cn is showing it’s true colours… ripe up and through away. passenger service,track, true railroading for what. all mighty dollar and go on to corp. take over of all competition.
There’s a bridge at Fort Erie, so I can see their point. But the changed route will be very circuitous and much slower.
Yes, this article refers to the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge which carries vehicular traffic on the lower deck and a single CN track in the upper deck. The U.S. end of the bridge, after a span over Whirlpool Street, is CP Suspension Bridge and is also the location of the old U.S. Customs House now being renovated and expanded to serve as the new Amtrak Station for Niagara Falls, NY. The tracks are CSX from CP Suspension Bridge eastward. CP Suspension Bridge is so named for Roebling’s Niagara Suspension Bridge, replaced by the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge in the exact same location. The Whirlpool Rapids Bridge is owned and operated by the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, which was created by acts passed by the Canadian and U.S. governments. Pictures and history of the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge and the other Niagara Falls Bridge Commission bridges may be found on their website www.niagarafallsbridges.com . The Whirlpool Rapids Bridge is an arch bridge spanning the Niagara River Gorge between the cities of Niagara Falls Ontario and Niagara Falls, NY, north and down river from Niagara Falls; thus it is aka the Lower Bridge as in lower down the river from the Rainbow Bridge built in 1941 (which had replaced the Upper or Honeymoon Bridge).
The second paragraph of the article actually refers to the International Railway Bridge, a single track bridge between Fort Erie, Ontario and the section of Buffalo, NY known as Black Rock. It is used by CN and CP, the latter having gained usage in return for its ROW through the tourist area of Niagara Falls Ontario to the now abandoned Michigan Central arch bridge immediately adjacent to the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge.
Removing the CN tracks on the upper deck of the Whirlpool Bridge would leave the International Railway Bridge as the only tracks across the entire Niagara River.
The third paragraph of the article hints at a solution: Have the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission take possession of the CN ROW on the upper deck of the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge.
CN stopped using the Niagara Falls bridge a while ago. They now use the International Railroad Bridge between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, N.Y. They have traffic rights on the CSX through Buffalo to CSX’s Frontier Classification Yard in Cheektowaga, N.Y.
Thanks Anton S. for giving us the info on bridge crossing over the Niagra River.
As an afterthought, Amtrak did use the Blackrock connection when the former “Niagra Rainbow” train ran between Grand Central in New York and Detroit. Michigan withdrew its state support and the train was truncated west of Buffalo on February 1, 1979. The train made stops at Windsor, St. Thomas, and Fort Erie in the province of Ontario. Shortly afterwards, Amtrak brought its Empire Corridor service trains to Niagra Falls.
Eventually, a few years later, when TH&B quit running its Buffalo-Toronto trains, Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada picked up the mantle to convert the former “Niagra Rainbow” into the New York-Toronto “Maple Leaf” to preserve through service between both Canada’s and the United States’ largest cities.