The Town, Village, and private owner of the former New York Central Passenger Depot in Westfield, wishes to resume passenger service to Westfield using their existing historic depot for the following reasons:
- Chautauqua County continues to be a destination for tourists all year long and particularly during the summer months
- Many of the guests at the Chautauqua Institution are from New York, Chicago and Cleveland and could be potential rail passengers should passenger rail be available to them as an alternative to auto and air.
- Westfield still has the privately owned former historic New York Central Passenger depot, which has been restored to reflect its former glory. The owner of the depot is amenable to making the station available for passenger arrival/departure activity
- Trackage adjacent to the station is CSX Transportation. There are two main tracks and one passing siding, of which the existing track configuration is ideal for passenger stops in either direction.
- Ridership analysis indicate that a station would be well supported by the community year round.
- Supports the Sustainable communities approach outlined by the Federal Transit Administration for multimodal, sensible, transportation planning and execution
- Will stimulate local commence creating jobs and make Westfield a more accessible and attractive destination
- Station will showcase Westfield and the surrounding area for travelers disembarking the train
As part of the DRI proposal development process, we have received confirmation from the private owner of the Westfield Passenger Depot of their commitment to restoring Amtrak Passenger Service to Westfield and their commitment to working with local and regional leadership on this project.
The owner, working with the Westfield Development Corporation and with endorsements from numerous Chautauqua County entities including Chautauqua Institution, State University of New York at Fredonia, County, State and Federal elected representatives, applied for and received the go ahead from the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) in 2014 to resume passenger service to Westfield using the existing passenger depot. Conditional in the acceptance letter was that CSX, the host railroad for the Lake Shore Limited, will give Amtrak permission to use the signaled siding adjacent to the station to make two brief stops a day. Secondly, funding will have to be acquired to make improvements to the station to comply with Amtrak Station guidelines for the appropriate category station stop as well as legal and statutory requirements. CSX, the host railroad was approached and agreed to allow Amtrak to stop under the condition that a new passenger siding be built to connect to their track and that they would provide no funding.
Project funding would support the following improvements to the facility to comply with Amtrak, State and Federal statutory and legal requirements:
- Develop a design to meet Amtrak requirements for the shelter, waiting room, platform, landscaping and other related facility changes
- Design of an adjacent parking facility for short and long term parking
- Engineering and Construction services to improve the property to support the facility, acquire material and make construction of improvements to the facility to reflect Amtrak requirements as well showcase the historic nature of the facility
Detailed changes to the property:
- Utility changes to bring the station current with the appropriate standards. This includes electrical service, water, plumbing, and gas
- Design and build of an Amtrak compliant station platform, lighting, ADA complaint ramp(s), waiting room, landscaping and HVAC updates
- Station platform will be between 250-300 feet in length and a minimum of ten (10) feet in width. Station height would be compatible for freight operations as well as Amtrak.
Background of the Facility
The Former Lake Shore and Michigan Southern and New York Central Railroad passenger depot is a historic train station located at Westfield, New York and is listed on the National Historic Register. It was constructed in 1904, for the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway. It is a 1 1⁄2-story brick, terra cotta, and sandstone structure in the Romanesque style with the architects attributed to H.H Richardson, of the Richardson, Rutan and Shepley Architects, of Boston and is still in existence today. It served as the main transfer point for rail passengers destined the Jamestown and the Chautauqua Institution. Passenger service continued until 1967 until the Penn Central bankruptcy and then under Amtrak until 1976. Once passenger service was discontinued in Westfield, the station was used by Conrail Signaling and Track forces for storage. In 1983, the Station was sold by Conrail to the Landmark Society of Chautauqua County, and then to private ownership, who over the years has sought to restore, preserve and maintain the building as it represented a strong part of the cultural fabric of the community. Today the station stands as one of the finest examples of early US 20th century passenger depot architecture in existence and is in excellent condition and not much different than it was built in 1904.