NIAGARA FALLS — Hundreds of local residents trekked to Whirlpool Street on Saturday to check out the new $43 million train station and customhouse interpretive center.
While regular trains will not be running through the station immediately, an Amtrak show train was at the station, giving visitors a taste of what will be making regular stops at the station.
Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster says a deal with Amtrak is imminent. “We’re very close with Amtrak. We’re going to get it done. … We’re working the political angles to make sure we get the attention of the appropriate people.”
Dyster said it actually made more sense to have an open house prior to any sort of actual opening. “If you look around there, you can see, if you go to the ticket counter, you don’t see computer terminals yet. SO we realized after a while, it was going to make more sense to have an open house without all of that equipment and without the security services installed upstairs. I mean, they’re not going to let you wander around customs and border patrol once they’re up and operational.”
The new train station is nearly 30 years in the making and it’s something that Dyster himself has been working towards since he was a city councilman in the year 2000.
Listen to the full interview with Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster below.
And check out more photos from the station’s open house.
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