I'm not. Like it or not a new station is being built. All I am talking about is the correct location.
Have you been on a train recently?
There is a lot of bad with Amtrak. They can snatch failure from the jaw of success. That said, there are some very good things to rail.
1 - The seats are comfortable. They each have power and most trains have wifi and continuous cell service.
2 - You are allowed to bring on your own food and booze.
3 - While some routes are better (e.g. the surfliner has amazing views) by and large riding on the train is a very comfortable and scenic experience.
So with the above facts...if people actually knew them...it would be a pretty easy sale if you had competent people marketing. In North Carolina the Panthers actually market the 'Panther train'. It's on the news from Charlotte to Raleigh. Because they marketed something that was good...wait for it...people actually used it.
Bars close at 4am. The casino does not close. Downtown Buffalo is better than Downtown Rochester. Downtown Rochester does not have a Casino. Rochester does not have professional sports. These are facts.
Amtrak runs a 5pm train on Saturdays that puts you into Buffalo around 6:30. Amtrak runs a 3:30pm train that puts you into Rochester around 5pm. That just about 24 hours.
How in the hell the local board of tourism is not doing a 24 hours in Buffalo Campaign specifically targeted to Rochester is beyond me. Bring together Amtrak, Hotels, Bars, the Casino and events at CanalSide and other venues. It's not that hard to come up with enough to get both old and young people from Rochester to say let's go spend a night in Buffalo and do X, Y and Z.
Buffalo may be a decaying area like other parts in the rust belt. It might not be attractive for someone to move to for good. But it is a pretty great city if you compress it into a weekend or 24hrs.
Is this going to bring traffic up to top 20 Amtrak stations? No. But the station is going to get built anyways and this is how with very little money you make a downtown station bring a signifiant boost to the downtown economy.