Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence, has also added bi-partisan support in an Oct. 12 letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

"The project is also notable because it will not only improve public infrastructure and restore commercial activity to a commercial asset," he wrote, "but will return existing aspects of the Metro Rail line to a state of good repair, implement safety improvements to prevent fatalities and serious injuries in the districts, connect people to jobs, and add to the economic revitalization and job growth occurring around the site."

The once-abandoned terminal has long been eyed as a Metro Rail station serving KeyBank Center and for its retail potential. Built 100 years ago, it served freight and passenger rail as well as lake vessels until successor railroad Erie-Lackawanna left in 1963.

The NFTA acquired the building for its ground floor Metro Rail maintenance facility in the 1970s. But the 80,000-square-foot passenger shed that once served DL&W passenger trains on the second floor has been cited by some developers as space for commercial development.