International Railway (New York–Ontario)

International Railway Co.

Reporting mark	IRC
Locale	Buffalo and Niagara Frontier
Dates of operation	1902–1950
Successor	Niagara Frontier Transit System
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	600v DC
Headquarters	Buffalo, New York

The International Railway Company (IRC) was a transportation company formed in a 1902 merger between several Buffalo-area interurban and street railways. The city railways that merged were the West Side Street Railway, the Crosstown Street Railway and the Buffalo Traction Company. The suburban railroads that merged included the Buffalo & Niagara Electric Street Railway, and its subsidiary the Buffalo, Lockport & Olcott Beach Railway; the Buffalo, Depew & Lancaster Railway; and the Niagara Falls Park & River Railway. Later the IRC acquired the Niagara Gorge Railroad (NGRR) as a subsidiary, which was sold in 1924 to the Niagara Falls Power Company. The NGRR also leased the Lewiston & Youngstown Frontier Railroad.

The IRC maintained streetcar networks throughout Western New York: in Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Lockport, and a single line in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Besides the city streetcars, the IRC network extended throughout Erie and Niagara counties. Most lines radiated out from Buffalo.

In 1937 the IRC discontinued all interurban rail service, and replaced much of it with buses. On July 1, 1950, the remaining streetcar lines in both Buffalo and Niagara Falls, NY, ended, also replaced by buses. Within the same year, the Niagara Frontier Transit (NFT) took over all remaining IRC operations. In 1974, NFT and Grand Island Rapid Transit were merged into a public Corporation, named the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA).

The NFTA opened the subsidiary light rail rapid transit line known as Metro Rail along Main Street in Buffalo, from the Lackawanna Terminal to the University of Buffalo's South Campus. Much of this same route followed the previous 8-Main streetcar line only 35 years earlier.

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