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The Rochester Subway or Rochester Industrial and Rapid Transit Railway was an underground rapid transit system of the city of Rochester, New York during 1928-1956. 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, even though a large portion of it ran underground. 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. Only two miles of the Rochester Subway were actually located in the tunnel. The rest of the route was located in an open cut. The term "subway" did not refer to the tunnel, but to the fact that the route was grade-separated and operated as rapid transit. Connecting interurban lines were routed into the Subway connection, and off city streets, further helping the surface traffic congestion situation that was developing in Rochester. When the Utica streetcar system was abandoned in the late 1930s, New York State Railways transferred the relatively newer steel cars to Rochester to replace the 2000-series center-door cars that had been in service since the opening of the Subway. The Utica cars served until the end of passenger service on June 30, 1956. Car There are proposals to build a new rapid transit system in Rochester, some of which might use some of the old tunnels. Another proposal is to transform the Broad Street Aqueduct into an underground walkway with a Rochester Transportation Museum. The city may also simply fill in the tunnels with dirt or with water, re-routing the Erie Canal and restoring the Aqueduct to its original purpose. As of June 15th, 2006, the city has promised to form a committee that will investigate all of the proposals and reach a decision by 2008. The subway from Court Street to Rowlands was replaced by the Eastern Expressway in 1956. Limited freight service operated by connecting railroads lasted on the subway route from Court Street to General Motors until 1976, when the City of Rochester elected to fill the cut to eliminate the numerous bridges. Rail freight deliveries in the actual subway tunnel continued until 1996, when Gannett Newspapers moved their printing operations to another location. Stations on subway consisted of:
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