Tri-State Airport Fastest Growing Airport in the East (Charleston, Huntington: train, Amtrak)

[tbailey1138]

Originally Posted by Chriscross309

Yeager alone has a chance to become a "healthy" size airport! It too is growing with added flights, new carriers, and runway and hanger expansion.

Yeager and Tri-State are very limited in their growth by being on top of hills. The massive earth works they had to do at Yeager to lengthen the runway is proof of this. Hopefully Tri-State and Yeager can both continue recent growth though and help the economic growth of the area.

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by tbailey1138

Yeager and Tri-State are very limited in their growth by being on top of hills. The massive earth works they had to do at Yeager to lengthen the runway is proof of this. Hopefully Tri-State and Yeager can both continue recent growth though and help the economic growth of the area.

I think you are right. Yeager nearly lost their Air National Guard base due to limited runway potential, but Byrd managed to save it before he died. Your notion of a combined airport in Putnam would largely solve the problem since they have more flat land there.

[Chriscross309]

I've always had another idea in mind when it comes to making an airport in Putnam County.

It would be located south of Scott Depot near the rail line. That way a train could run between Charleston and Huntington and have a station at the airport!

[CTMountaineer]

They already have bus service between the two towns and I
think there is a stop in Hurricane. I'm sure they could stop
at a new airport on the way.

That said, I think train transport should be an emphasis in
the future. We used to have great train transportation in
this country but improved roads really diminished use and
availability. They should make an effort to reverse that trend.
I think rail lines between Charleston and Huntington as well
as from Clarksburg to Pittsburgh via Fairmont, Morgantown,
and Uniontown are absolute naturals. Maybe our new Senator
could make himself useful for a change by getting funding for
projects like that here.

[Chriscross309]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

They already have bus service between the two towns and I
think there is a stop in Hurricane. I'm sure they could stop
at a new airport on the way.

That said, I think train transport should be an emphasis in
the future. We used to have great train transportation in
this country but improved roads really diminished use and
availability. They should make an effort to reverse that trend.
I think rail lines between Charleston and Huntington as well
as from Clarksburg to Pittsburgh via Fairmont, Morgantown,
and Uniontown are absolute naturals. Maybe our new Senator
could make himself useful for a change by getting funding for
projects like that here.

There already is an Amtract that runs in both cities! But It doesn't stop in Putnam County. I think a smaller train system that makes around 6-8 stops between Charl/Hunt would be a great idea for the not so distant future!

-Downtown Charleston
-South Charleston/St Albans---maybe one each
-Scott Depot---maybe airport????
-Hurricane
-Barboursville
-Downtown Huntington

of course I doubt that this will ever happen!

[tbailey1138]

I agree that such a rail system would be very beneficial to the area but it would have to be mostly funded by Huntington, Charleston and the state with few Federal dollars likely to be involved. I think that what Huntington and Charleston need to do is start by beefing up their Amtrack Stations and making them more central to the Downtown areas of each city. Make the stations more visible and more people locally would likely use them. Amtrak is talking about making the Cardinal a daily run and if they did, you have your daily service right there.

But how can you take advantage of increased service? By making it more visible, easier for people to board and easier for people to patronize local businesses if the train makes an extended stop. In Huntington, I think that the new River Place development or the renovation of the Riverfront park would be a great opportunity to build a new Amtrak station closer to things in Huntington rather than off to itself with nothing else around like the current station is here. At Riverplace, if they build all that they intend to, you will have a great opportunity for a new station right next to an extended stay hotel where people will be coming yearly for transit training and maritime law enforcement training. Then add to this people who could ride the train in for a MU football, basketball or baseball game and you really see your numbers go up. Plus with the TTA shuttle that does the loop in that area, it would be really convenient.

But this requires having a vision and a plan to execute it, something most policians lack unless it conveniently lines their pockets.

[Chriscross309]

Originally Posted by tbailey1138

I agree that such a rail system would be very beneficial to the area but it would have to be mostly funded by Huntington, Charleston and the state with few Federal dollars likely to be involved. I think that what Huntington and Charleston need to do is start by beefing up their Amtrack Stations and making them more central to the Downtown areas of each city. Make the stations more visible and more people locally would likely use them. Amtrak is talking about making the Cardinal a daily run and if they did, you have your daily service right there.

But how can you take advantage of increased service? By making it more visible, easier for people to board and easier for people to patronize local businesses if the train makes an extended stop. In Huntington, I think that the new River Place development or the renovation of the Riverfront park would be a great opportunity to build a new Amtrak station closer to things in Huntington rather than off to itself with nothing else around like the current station is here. At Riverplace, if they build all that they intend to, you will have a great opportunity for a new station right next to an extended stay hotel where people will be coming yearly for transit training and maritime law enforcement training. Then add to this people who could ride the train in for a MU football, basketball or baseball game and you really see your numbers go up. Plus with the TTA shuttle that does the loop in that area, it would be really convenient.

But this requires having a vision and a plan to execute it, something most policians lack unless it conveniently lines their pockets.

I think this is a great idea, but as you stated it would take local money and that is something we are short of!

[tbailey1138]

If this is done by beefing up the Amtrak stations, there would be more federal funds available and it would be staffed and maintained by Amtrak rather than Huntington and Charleston picking up most of the tab. This would just be taking advantage of something already being done elsewhere around the country. Take Wilmington, DE with a population of about 73,000 and look at their Amtrak Station due to new renovations:



Amtrak - Inside Amtrak - ARRA Project Information - Wilmington Station Renovation Project


This station is much busier than anything in WV but is part of this because we don't have good access, high visibility, better travel packages, etc? With a new push for increased passenger rail use, we need to be ahead of the curve rather than way behind it, as usual.

[NOVAmtneer82]

Originally Posted by tbailey1138

If this is done by beefing up the Amtrak stations, there would be more federal funds available and it would be staffed and maintained by Amtrak rather than Huntington and Charleston picking up most of the tab. This would just be taking advantage of something already being done elsewhere around the country. Take Wilmington, DE with a population of about 73,000 and look at their Amtrak Station due to new renovations:



Amtrak - Inside Amtrak - ARRA Project Information - Wilmington Station Renovation Project


This station is much busier than anything in WV but is part of this because we don't have good access, high visibility, better travel packages, etc? With a new push for increased passenger rail use, we need to be ahead of the curve rather than way behind it, as usual.

I agree that Charleston and Huntington could benefit from higher rail usage but Wilmington DE kind of lucked out in this regard. The city happens to be a stop along the Amtrak's busy Northeast Corridor rail line that runs multiple trains a day from DC to New York. There are even some people in Wilmington who take the train several times a week from Wilmington to the DC area, Philadelphia or New York for work. Our current Vice President was one of them during his Capitol Hill days. That might account for some of their huge ridership numbers.

Either way though continued investment in rail transit does not hurt in the slightest.

[tbailey1138]

Believe me, I know passenger numbers from Charleston and Huntington won't reach anywhere near 700,000/year, but being on the Cardinal Line with plans to make this line daily rather than 3x/week, you have the potenital to at the very least double current numbers. With increased visibility and the potential to market rail usage in ways not currently used right now (i.e. training centers, MU games, etc) the numbers could approach 40,000-50,000 per year.