William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center

Syracuse, NY
Syracuse, NY
	Walsh Regional Transportation Center in May 2009
General information
Location	1 Walsh Circle; Syracuse, New York; United States
Coordinates	43°04′36″N 76°10′09″W / 43.0767°N 76.1691°W
Owned by	Intermodal Transportation Center, Inc.
Line(s)	Empire Corridor (Syracuse Terminal Subdivision)
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	3
Bus operators	Greyhound Lines; Megabus; Trailways
Connections	Centro: 16, 40, 46, 50, 246
Construction
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	Amtrak: SYR
IATA code	ZXS
Website	Official website
History
Opened	1998
Passengers
FY 2023	138,686 (Amtrak)
Services
New York State Fair services
Former services
Location
Location

The William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center (RTC) is an Amtrak intermodal transit station serving the Syracuse area. It is owned and operated by Intermodal Transportation Center, Inc, a subsidiary of Centro,^[2] and is also served by Greyhound Lines, Megabus, and Trailways. Local and regional bus transportation is provided by Centro. Various taxi firms provide service to the Center, as well.

The Regional Transportation Center is located at 1 Walsh Circle, near the Central New York Regional Market, NBT Bank Stadium and Destiny USA. The station is named for William F. Walsh, a former mayor of Syracuse and representative in the U.S. Congress.

Syracuse is served by the daily round trip of the Lake Shore Limited, two daily Empire Service round trips, and the daily Maple Leaf round trip.

History

When the financially desperate New York Central Railroad sold off its elevated right-of-way through downtown Syracuse to the State of New York in 1962, all rail service was re-routed onto a former freight bypass to the north of the city center. The elevated line and train station had been in service for less than 30 years, having replaced tracks that ran at-grade through the center of Washington Street.

With the former train route converted into Interstate 690, rail passengers were forced to use a "temporary" structure near the freight yards in East Syracuse, opened on August 29, 1962.^[3] The East Syracuse station remained in use well into the Amtrak era, long after the end of its useful life. Bus service remained at the former train station until a 1996 fire. Both options proved decidedly unpopular, with the train station in particular becoming synonymous with Amtrak's many woes.

Opened in 1998, the Regional Transportation Center replaced both venues, re-integrating bus and rail service for the first time since the early 1960s. There were provisions built for OnTrack, Syracuse's commuter train line built on the former Lackawanna right-of-way through Armory Square, to call at the station. However, a bridge that was intended to connect the two lines was never built after CSX claimed construction could destabilize its freight rail bridge, and the OnTrack program was axed due to low ridership.^[4]

Station layout

The station is built at ground level, with bus loading/unloading areas in front of the main entrance, and stairs and an elevator leading up to the tracks, which are on an embankment. A central concourse with Subway and a waiting room links the two areas. Trains call at a single high-level island platform serving one (nominally eastbound) track; provisions were made for cross-platform transfers with OnTrack on the other side, but the program was canceled before service ever reached the station.

Bus service

Centro bus routes serve the Regional Transportation Center from Fulton, Liverpool, Oswego, Phoenix and Syracuse.^[5] The station is served by routes 16, 40, 46, 50, and 246.

It is also served by intercity bus service:

Greyhound:
- Syracuse – New York-Port Authority via Cortland, Binghamton, and Scranton
- Syracuse – Cleveland via Rochester, Batavia, Buffalo, and Erie
- Syracuse – Boston via Utica, Schenectady, Albany, Springfield, Worcester
Megabus:
- Syracuse – New York-33rd Street
- Syracuse – Rochester
Trailways of New York
- Syracuse – New York-Port Authority via Cortland, Binghamton, and Scranton
- Syracuse – Buffalo via Rochester

References

^ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2023: State of New York" (PDF). Amtrak. March 2024. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ Billmyer, Eleanor (August 30, 1962). "NY Central Station Greets Last Passengers". The Post-Standard. Syracuse, New York. p. 6. Archived from the original on August 18, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Kenyon, Jim (November 7, 2013). "OnTrack: a derailed promise for Syracuse". CNYCentral. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
^ "William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center". www.centro.org. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.