You can get there from here - train-transit to airport systems - Industry Overview

Railway Age, June, 1998 by William C. Vantuono

In an increasing number of cities worldwide, the "train to the plane" is becoming the most efficient means to travel to and from the airport. For U.S. new-starts, San Francisco and New York lead the way. The airport rail link is one of the transportation industry's growth segments, and there are 166 airports worldwide with rail connections either up and running or in the planning or construction phases.

These range from dedicated new-starts (New York City-JFK, London's Heathrow Express, the Hong Kong Airport Railway, Norway's Gardermoen Airport Train) to airport rail Stations on existing intercity routes (Gatwick, Schiphol, Frankfurt, Zurich, Baltimore-Washington, Newark) to regional and urban rail connections (San Francisco, St. Louis, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Barcelona, Kuala Lumpur). Railways and airlines have traditionally been competitors, but that attitude is changing in certain markets where the two have discovered they can be complementary. Some airlines are promoting short-haul rail service to free up airport slots for more lucrative long-hauls; some railways are developing services to transport passengers to airports with greater speed and comfort than a private car, taxi, or bus. There now exists an international association aimed at developing and promoting greater cooperation between railways and airlines: the International Air Rail Organization, formed in mid-1997. IARO operates on the premise that rail/air service has different requirements than most other passenger rail services, in that there needs to be special considerations for luggage handling, multi-language passenger information systems, and multi-currency ticket vending. Overall, says IARO, "there is the interface with the airlines and how, together, we can make check-in and getting to the airport a much more civilized affair." As of early 1998, IARO had about 20 members, mostly railways, railway suppliers, airports, and consultants. Ironically, only one airline is among its ranks, and the organization has no North American members. IN THE U.S., SIGNS OF PROGRESS U.S. airlines caution customers to be at the airport at least one hour before flight time for domestic flights, two hours for international travel. What they don't say is how long it's going to take to actually get to the terminal. In some cases, getting to the airport may require as much time as a flight. That's because, with few exceptions, there is seldom a choice beyond one's own car, a taxi, or perhaps a bus. This constraint is evident at John F. Kennedy International and Newark International airports in the New York Metropolitan Area, where "getting there" involves negotiating the region's clogged, confusing road network. It's also evident at Denver's new international airport, which resides about 25 miles outside the city limits and offers no rail link. AIR TRAIN, a commuter rail service using an existing Union Pacific line, has been under study, but an 0.4-cent transportation sales tax proposed by Denver's Regional Transportation District that would have funded light rail extensions as well as the airport link was shot down by voters late last year. In New York, real progress is being made. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. which operates JFK and Newark International, will open within the next three years rail links to each facility that promise more convenient, faster travel. At Newark, the existing monorail supplied by Adtranz is being extended by one mile to the Amtrak/New Jersey Transit Northeast Corridor. A new monorail station is under construction on the NEC at Elizabeth, N.J., where two tracks are being added to the four-track main line. The $250 million project will open in spring 2001. Construction is funded through a Passenger Facilities Charge (PFC) of $3 per airline passenger, added to the cost of airline tickets. The automated monorail, capable of transporting 2,600 passengers per hour per direction, operates on four-minute headways with LDCS (Low Density Control System) technology supplied by Alcatel. Northeast corridor connecting train schedules are currently in development: NJ Transit says it plans to have three to four trains per hour stop at the monorail station during peak hours; off-peak schedules are yet to be determined. Amtrak service levels are also undetermined. Availability of PFC funds-a non-traditional source for rail transit-made the JFK project possible. The FAA ruled that up to $1.3 billion of the project's total cost could come from the PFC. But the PFC as currently defined can be used only for airport-related projects, which precludes usage of the new rail system by people other than airline passengers and airport employees. Construction of the Port Authority's other rail project, JFK's $1.5 billion, 8.4-mile fully-automated light rail transit system, should start this year after a long period of political squabbling (RA, may, p. 27). That definition doesn't agree with the region's concept of an integrated mass transit system. The only off-airport connections will be at Jamaica (to the Long Island Rail Road and NYC Transit) and Howard Beach (to NYC Transit). But, in the overall scheme, project officials believe the system will fit very well into the area's long term transportation plans, even though it can't be used by non-airport customers. For example, with LIRR's planned new connection to Grand Central Terminal, airline passengers will be able to reach JFK by rail from both the east and west sides of Manhattan. The Port Authority (advised by Parsons Brinckerhoff) and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority are working very closely on JFK. And despite New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's grandstanding and threats to stall construction in the city's land-use review process, the project should move ahead on schedule. Ironically, it's the airlines, through their trade organization, the Air Transport Association, that have challenged FAA's ruling. It would appear they have limited interest in providing their passengers with a better means of accessing JFK. AirRail Transit Consortium, a joint venture of Bombardier Transportation, Skanska USA, STV, Inc., Alcatel Canada, and Perini Corp., will design, build, operate, and maintain the JFK system under a $1.035 billion turnkey contract. Capital cost of the contract, to be constructed in two phases, is estimated at $930 million. The five-year operation and maintenance part is valued at $105 million and contains options for two additional five-year periods. Part of the predominantly elevated right-of-way will be built in the median of the Van Wyck Expressway. Bombardier's Advanced Rapid Transit (ART) MK II technology selected for the project is a second-generation version of Vancouver's successful, fully-automated SkyTrain. ART MK II technology was also selected for Kuala Lumpur's LRT System 2, which includes an airport link. Skanska and Perini will be responsible for construction, with STV providing design, engineering, and quality assurance services. Alcatel will supply a driverless SELTRAC moving-block train control system. One of the most difficult parts of the project will be constructing the right-of-way in the median of the congested Van Wyck and within the infrastructure of JFK with minimal impact on traffic flow and normal airport operations. "The key will be keeping the disruptions to a minimum," says STV President Dominick Servedio. Equally difficult will be coordination with a large number of state and city agencies, such the New York State DOT, the New York City Planning Commission, and various public utilities. Given the complex nature of New York City politics, STV is faced with the formidable task of making sure that every agency is kept in the loop. Twenty-four hour JFK service is scheduled to begin on-airport and to Howard Beach by mid-2002; Jamaica service should start the following year. More than 12 million riders are expected to use the new system in its first year of operation. Travel time between the airport and midtown Manhattan via the Howard Beach link is estimated at under one hour. San Francisco International Airport will soon have two new transit links: an on-airport people mover system, supplied by Adtranz, and an extension of the BART rapid transit system (RA, August 1996, p. 52). The $116 million people-mover, which includes a three-year, $12 million operation and maintenance contract, will consist of an elevated, dual-lane guideway with inner and outer loops. The 1.2-mile inner loop, with seven stations, will link the airport's four terminals (including a new International Terminal Building) and two new parking garages, one of which will be located at the BART station. The three-mile outer loop will serve the same seven stations as well as rental car and maintenance facilities. Adtranz will supply 24 CX-100 vehicles, the complete guideway, automatic station doors, and a Flexiblock communications-based train control system. Start-up is expected in 2002. The $1.167 billion, nine-mile, four-station BART airport extension, scheduled to begin revenue service in 2001, is expected to carry nearly 70,000 riders per day by 2010, including 20,000 airport passengers. Parsons Brinckerhoff is the general engineering consultant. In other developments: * Florida's Tri-Rail opened its new, $18.6 million Miami International Airport station on April 27. Located a half-mile east of the airport, the new station is part of the under-construction Miami Intermodal Center that will link Tri-Rail, Amtrak, Metro-Dade rapid transit, and the planned Florida Overland eXpress high speed rail system. Free shuttle-bus transfers to the airport (a four-minute ride) are provided by Metro-Dade Transit. * Trinity Railway Express, Dallas, plans to extend service 34 miles to neighboring Fort Worth by late 1999. Included in this plan is the Centreport station located near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, which will have airport shuttle bus service. Future plans call for a direct TRE link into the airport. * At Washington, D.C., a 23-mile extension of WMATA's Orange Line to Duties International Airport has been proposed by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. A $1 billion proposal from Dulles Corridor Partnership, a public-private venture led by ICF Kaiser Engineers, is under consideration. * St. Louis's MetroLink light rail system is being extended 8.6 miles to Mid America Airport under a three-phase expansion plan. * Salt Lake City's new TRAX LRT, now under construction, is planned to eventually include a 10-mile east-west link that will reach Salt Lake City International Airport. * At Portland, a public-private partnership has been formed to build a 5.5-mile extension of Tri-Met's MAX light rail system linking the Gateway Transit Center with Portland International Airport. The project was proposed by Bechtel Enterprises, Inc., which wants to build a mixed-use, transit-oriented development on 120 acres of Port of Portland property. The Port would build an airport terminal and a 1.2-mile segment of line funded by a PFC; Bechtel would finance a I .4-mile segment in return for development rights on the 120-acre parcel. INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS Oslo's new Gardermoen Airport, scheduled to open in October will be located some 30 miles outside the Norwegian capital, but it will take less than 20 minutes to travel between the city center and the airport. That's because Gardermoen will have a high speed rail link with 16 130-mph, tilt-body, three-car EMUs. The new Airport Express Trains, supplied by Adtranz and operated by NSB (Norwegian State Railways), are expected to carry at least half of all people traveling to and from the airport. London's Heathrow Express, billed as "bringing the airport into the center of London," was scheduled to open this month, with full service between London Paddington Station, Heathrow Central, and Heathrow Airport. Luggage check-in at Paddington will be available for passengers with hand baggage only; full luggage check-in is planned for 1999. New trains for this service will feature onboard passenger information systems. Touch-screen ticket vending machines will offer instructions in six languages. Hong Kong's Airport Express, linking Kowloon with the new Chep Lap Kok Airport, is scheduled to open next month. An airport-user-only system, it will offer passenger amenities similar to Heathrow. It is initially expected to carry 39,000 passengers per day on eight-minute headways, 76,000 passengers on 4.5 minute headways by 2011. Construction start-up is scheduled in July for the $123.7 million Airtrain Citylink, which will connect Brisbane Airport, Australia, with the city center and Australia's Gold Coast resort area. To be built and operated by a public-private partnership under a 35-year turnkey arrangement, it is expected to be in service for the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.