Rochester Subway

The city of Rochester New York once had an underground rapid transit system, called the Rochester Subway. Contemporary photos show, however, that like Boston's Green Line, it used single streetcar vehicles, and so using today's terms would likely be described as a light rail system.

In 1900 the Erie Canal was re-routed to by-pass downtown Rochester, and in 1919 the abandoned canal was bought to serve as the core of the subway. The subway was built below, and the subway's roof was turned into Broad Street.

There are proposals to build a new rapid transit system in Rochester, which would use some of the old tunnels.

Another proposal that has received Federal funding is to transform the Broad Street Aqueduct into an underground walkway with a Rochester Transportation Museum.

External links

• Preview of a documentary on the Rochester Subway.
• Railroad.net's page devoted to the Rochester Subway.
• A slideshow from Urban infiltrators who explored the Rochester Subway.
• 1928 map of the Rochester Subway.
• 1955 map of the Rochester Subway.
• Site of the Rochester Rail Transit Committee.
• Pictures from the construction of the tunnels.