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Taking the train to the airport - the other airport
By adamg on Thu, 09/10/2009 - 10:30am
The Globe reports the MBTA board of directors is expected to vote today on whether to approve an extension of the Providence Line to T.F. Green Airport. Rhode Island's spending a boatload of money getting the rail line and airport ready for the extension (which would actually continue onto North Kingstown).
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Comments
That could make URI a
That could make URI a commuter school, right?
No
URI is located in the village of Kingston in the town of South Kingstown. The article states the expansion would end in North Kingstown -- a very long, long, long walk away.
This would put train stops
This would put train stops close to what seems to be a pretty large part of RI's population. Could it eventually lead to a rapid-transit system being developed for providence?
If the MBTA votes
If the MBTA votes no....Rhode Island, the feds and Amtrak will be very angry
MBTA says full steam ahead
Providence Business News reports.
This is a no-brainer, and
This is a no-brainer, and hopefully will put some more competition into the airline industry.
Southwest hates life
One of the only reasons to go to Providence/TF Green was because Southwest didn't fly out of Logan. They do now...and now TF Green is put on the rail map. They must be hating life. Not sure why else you'd want to fly out of Providence instead of Logan now.
Another reason
You've waited too long to book Xmas flights to Chicago and all the flights out of Boston are too expensive, but they're still somewhat decently priced out of TF Green (served by airlines other than Southwest).
I think the airport is
I think the airport is really just the excuse to get rail transit moving in RI. It starts there, with MBTA providing the service, and then it expands a bit further west, and maybe a new Pawtucket station, too. Then maybe RIDOT adds some of it's own trains to provide more frequent local service only. It could become a vibrant transit corridor 15 to 20 years from now.
Convenience
I live in Roslindale and we usually fly out of Providence when we're traveling as a family. Cheaper parking, smaller airport (not so far to your gate), less congestion, often cheaper flights. When I travel for business, I usually use Logan because I'm using the T to get there and back. Having the option to take the commuter rail gives me a lot more flights to choose from.
expansion
All this expansion on the commuter rail while the core T lines still age and fall apart...suburbs win again.
This sounds great, and begs the question....
.....why the poop don't they expand the Worcester airport?!?! Out of all the revenue lost to Manchester and Providence, you'd think we'd have look to Worcester instead of expanding Logan's runways and expensive parking garages.
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who and the what now?
Worcester Airport
I believe one of the biggest problems for the Worcester Airport as far as airlines are concerned is weather. In the winter time, due to it's elevation there is often pretty bad weather resulting in significant delays.
The other issue with the Worcester airport is accessibility from the Pike (not easy). Yes public transportation would be a help, but it still needs to be accessible by cars before it can really be viable.