CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – On Thursday, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced $500,000 from the Department of Transportation (DOT) for Amtrak to complete the first step in restoring daily service on the Cardinal line.
This award funds the first step in the Corridor ID Program. The three-step program begins by developing a schedule and a cost estimate for a service development plan (SDP).
Step two is the preparation of an SDP to finish the project planning work. The third and final step is the preparation of vital documentation to complete the project development work required to prepare the corridor for implementation.
“I applaud Amtrak for their continued efforts to restore daily service on the Cardinal line that travels through the Mountain State. This is a great investment in further connecting West Virginia communities, bringing more visitors to our great state and creating new economic opportunities,” said Senator Manchin.
“I am committed to seeing daily rail service in Charleston, Huntington, White Sulphur Springs, Hinton, and the many communities along the Cardinal line. I will continue working to see that West Virginia gets the important rail service it needs and deserves.”
The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) directed the FRA to conduct the Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study to assess the potential for daily intercity passenger rail service on Amtrak’s few routes that only offer three-day-a-week service.
This includes the Amtrak Cardinal, which passes through West Virginia, connecting key communities and landmarks like the Summit Bechtel National Scout Reserve, the State Capitol in Charleston and Marshall University in Huntington.
The Cardinal line is the only train with an Amtrak stop within a National Park – the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve – in the entire United States.
Currently, the Cardinal stops in Huntington, Charleston, Montgomery, Thurmond, Prince, Hinton, Alderson, and White Sulphur Springs in West Virginia.