The Genesee Valley Terminal Railroad opened in 1883 to connect the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad to a junction with the New York Central Railroad, all just outside Rochester in the area of Lincoln Park. This connection transferred passengers on the GVCRR to the NYC's tracks and thus the NYC passenger station in Rochester, as GVCRR's station in Rochester was not built at the time.

In 1912, the GVTRR and the GVCRR merged to form the Pennsylvania and Rochester Railroad, which in 1916 was merged into the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad, itself under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The original GVTRR was abandoned under the control of the Penn Central Railroad.