Rochester, NY
Stop on the proposed 17,000-mile maglev network. Next stop: Buffalo, NY (66.8 mi).
About Rochester
Rochester is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the fourth-most populous city in New York, with a population of 206,108 as of the 2025 Census estimate. The Rochester metropolitan area in Western New York has an estimated 1.05 million residents and is the 54th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S.
Source: Wikipedia summary (full article). Population and facts as published there.
Cost breakdown (proposal-scale estimates — see math)
| Item | Basis | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal construction | Large-city terminal (parametric range $2–4B) | $3B |
| Land acquisition | Regional factor 1.0× on $200M base | $200M |
| Track: Rochester → Buffalo | 66.8 mi × $500M/mi | $33.4B |
| Annual operations (share) | Staffing, power, maintenance | $60M/yr |
| Stop total (excl. annual ops) | $36.6B |
Best terminal location (proposed)
The Louise M. Slaughter Rochester Station district. The 2017-built Rochester station already serves Amtrak's Empire Service on the historic New York Central alignment, with RTS buses at the door. The surrounding High Falls and Inner Loop redevelopment parcels offer room for a maglev hall, and the site sits at downtown's northern edge.
Before / after
Aerial mock-up (illustrative, not an engineering rendering). Left: the proposed site today. Right: with the maglev terminal.
- Batavia, NY — Genesee County seat on the I-90 corridor.
- Le Roy, NY — village on the rail line.
- The Bergen corridor — exurban Thruway infill.