SWF: Sending Fliers Up the River To Ease Traffic

[Matt Molnar]

Wall Street Journal:

Sending Fliers Up the River To Ease Traffic
March 4, 2008; Page D1

THE MIDDLE SEAT
By SCOTT MCCARTNEY

Deer graze beside the main access road here in Newburgh, N.Y. Boarded up buildings dot a hillside. A single skycap stands in the cold outside the airport terminal, longing for a customer.

It is hard to picture this little-used rural airport as a key to congestion relief for New York and the nation's air-transport system, but that is the $600 million hope of many.

Stewart Airport, an abandoned Air Force base 60 miles up the Hudson River from Manhattan, is being transformed into a fourth airport for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, New York's airport operator.

[snip]

The plan starts with making Stewart a discounter destination for New York, much as London developed Stansted Airport and Luton Airport as bases for discounters so they didn't clog Gatwick and Heathrow. Already, Skybus Airlines Inc., a bare-bones operation based in Columbus, Ohio, flies to Columbus and Greensboro, N.C., from Stewart. AirTran Airways Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp., along with regional partners of Delta Air Lines Inc., Northwest Airlines Corp. and US Airways Group Inc., fly to Stewart. And Port Authority officials recently went to Europe to entice discount operators there to use Stewart for trans-Atlantic flights. Full Article

All well and good, but he doesn't mention the key to the success of Gatwick and Stansted and Luton which Stewart doesn't have: direct rail service to London.

[adam613]

All well and good, but he doesn't mention the key to the success of Gatwick and Stansted and Luton which Stewart doesn't have: direct rail service to London.

The Metro-North really isn't far from SWF...they're going to need to build another AirTrain.

[PhilDernerJr]

You're right, but do we really need to wait 5 years and $1.9 billion for another AirTrain?

[T-Bird76]

What's needed is not another AirTrain to Metro North but direct high speed rail link at the airport directly to the heart of Manhattan. yeah I know I'm smoking weed but its the best possible solution for SWF.

[Matt Molnar]

The Metro-North really isn't far from SWF...they're going to need to build another AirTrain.

It will require more than an Airtrain since the Port Jervis branch of MNR doesn't actually serve Manhattan: you have to take a train to New Jersey and then transfer. And to make this equation more ridiculous, while funded by the MTA, it's actually operated by NJ Transit. I'm not sure if the tracks exist to connect Penn Station with the Port Jervis branch directly. Even if they do, building a new spur to the airport will be a daunting task.

[adam613]

The Metro-North really isn't far from SWF...they're going to need to build another AirTrain.

It will require more than an Airtrain since the Port Jervis branch of MNR doesn't actually serve Manhattan: you have to take a train to New Jersey and then transfer. And to make this equation more ridiculous, while funded by the MTA, it's actually operated by NJ Transit. I'm not sure if the tracks exist to connect Penn Station with the Port Jervis branch directly. Even if they do, building a new spur to the airport will be a daunting task.

SWF is closer to the Hudson line than the Port Jervis line. That line is operated by the MTA, and has tracks to both Grand Central and Penn Stations (the Penn Station connector is used by Amtrak for service to Albany and points north).

[Iberia A340-600]

As mentioned it is rather easy to get from the MTA to SWF. There are frequent bus runs between SWF and the Beacon train station which takes a minimal time of 15 minutes. Almost all trains from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central and vice versa stop at Beacon.

[Matt Molnar]

SWF is closer to the Hudson line than the Port Jervis line. That line is operated by the MTA, and has tracks to both Grand Central and Penn Stations (the Penn Station connector is used by Amtrak for service to Albany and points north).

The Hudson line is on the opposite side of the river. :)

I think adding a bus to the equation really turns people off.

[hiss srq]

fAce it, SWF is not New York. HPN is more new york than SWF.

[pgengler]

There's been talk of rail lines to SWF for a few years; one of the proposals for a new Tappan Zee bridge includes railroad tracks in the middle of the bridge to carry passengers between "the other side of the river" and Manhattan, and would probably include service to SWF.

I do think SWF is a little too far to be a "serious" NYC airport.

[lijk604]

As mentioned it is rather easy to get from the MTA to SWF. There are frequent bus runs between SWF and the Beacon train station which takes a minimal time of 15 minutes. Almost all trains from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central and vice versa stop at Beacon.

And you are going to travel with your transatlantic luggage from an airport to a bus to a train to Manhattan...and that is supposed to be convenient :?: :?: :?: Remember, many of those coming off the SWF flights have luggage :!:

[cancidas]

What's needed is not another AirTrain to Metro North but direct high speed rail link at the airport directly to the heart of Manhattan. yeah I know I'm smoking weed but its the best possible solution for SWF.

i'll take some of that tommy.

fAce it, SWF is not New York. HPN is more new york than SWF.

you're almost right. SWF is NY, but NY STATE and not NY CITY. i don't see a reason not to develop SWF more, but there needs to be something directly connecting it to the city. the air train is a wonderful idea, the open cars make it easy for travelers to move in and out with luggage and such. if Metro North cars are anything like the LIRR then it's going to be tougher for people to move in and out and about the stations. on the other hand, we won't be seeing the cliche foreign travelers there with 3 suitcases apiece.

building a new air train line into the city isn't feasable. it's going to be like the one built for JFK: too little, too late, too expensive. the smart (wo)man would find a way to use the existing mass-transit infrastructure and work that into a workable solution that wouldn't kill the budget. alas, when we find a (wo)man like that the project will be a success.

on another note, why can't SWF be used for a cargo terminal. the area is more condusive to inter-state truck travel both up and down the east coast and even out west. i know nothing of what roads are near the airport, but with that nice long runway and lots of real estate that would make a viable idea for investment. removing cargo from the equation at JFK and EWR isn't the answer that'll fix the entire problem, but it'll be beneficial in the grand scheme.

[Iberia A340-600]

As mentioned it is rather easy to get from the MTA to SWF. There are frequent bus runs between SWF and the Beacon train station which takes a minimal time of 15 minutes. Almost all trains from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central and vice versa stop at Beacon.

And you are going to travel with your transatlantic luggage from an airport to a bus to a train to Manhattan...and that is supposed to be convenient :?: :?: :?: Remember, many of those coming off the SWF flights have luggage :!:

People do it all the time. If you ride Metro-North on any given day you'll see people with luggage heading towards Grand Central or 125th were they take the bus onto LGA, JFK, and EWR.

I'm not saying it's convenient but when fares are cheaper it's worth it.

[stuart schechter]

if Metro North cars are anything like the LIRR then it's going to be tougher for people to move in and out and about the stations. on the other hand, we won't be seeing the cliche foreign travelers there with 3 suitcases apiece.

LIRR is MTA trains and MNR is MTA. The only trains that are the same are the new M7's. But MNR doesn't have the double-decker M7's.

[Tom_Turner]

What's needed is not another AirTrain to Metro North but direct high speed rail link at the airport directly to the heart of Manhattan. yeah I know I'm smoking weed but its the best possible solution for SWF.

It was a good idea Tommy. They planned it almost 40 years ago. Too bad it was never built; Stewart would be all set to go today if that had been done.

Tom