
Most people have no idea that Rochester, NY even had a subway. But from 1927 until 1956, red and cream
colored trolley cars and four-car commuter trains rushed thru tunnels beneath downtown Rochester above
ground from the General Motors plant all the way to Elmwood Avenue and Rowlands. Known to most
simply as the Subway, it was built to ease interurban traffic from the streets of Rochester.
It also served as an interchange for the five railroads that entered the city and as a link to
interurban lines serving the east and west.
There were several proposals in its final years that would have significantly expanded the line
from downtown to Pittsford, Charlotte Beach, and the airport. The Subway was never really meant
to die. This map shows how the system might have looked today had it survived.
For a closer look at this map
rollover the image to the left.
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