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[Cotuit]

AirTrain To JFK Airport To Make Debut In Two Weeks
DECEMBER 02ND, 2003

More than a year after a deadly accident delayed its debut, the AirTrain to John F. Kennedy Airport will begin passenger service in about two weeks.

Governor George Pataki said Tuesday the AirTrain will take its first trip on Wednesday, December 17. That coincides with the 100th anniversary of manned flight.

The light rail service will connect JFK to the Long Island Railroad and the city transit system.

The nearly $2 billion project began in 1999 and was scheduled to open last year, but the train crashed during a test run in September 2002, killing the driver, 23-year-old Kelvin DeBourgh Junior. The crash caused an estimated $4 million in damage.

Investigators said excessive speed and poor communication were to blame.

From NY1.com





FACTS AT A GLANCE

Project Description
* Light rail system (compatible with the region) to John F. Kennedy International Airport.


AirTrain at JFK Airport

System Length


* Approximately 8.1 miles:
o 1.8-mile loop connecting airline terminals in JFK's Central Terminal Area (CTA).
o 3-mile extension to Jamaica transportation center.
o 3.3-mile extension to Howard Beach subway station.

Stations


Howard Beach Station

* Fully enclosed, heated and air conditioned with platform doors, wide escalators, large glass enclosed elevators, moving walkways to airline terminals, and 240-foot platform lengths. Ten stations will serve the following locations on and off airport:
o Terminal 1 (Air France, Lufthansa, Korean Air, Japan Airlines)
o Terminals 2 and 3 (Delta)
o Terminal 4 (International Air Terminal)
o Terminals 5 and 6 (United Airlines and JetBlue)
o Terminal 7 (British Airways)
o Terminal 8 (American Airlines)
o Federal Circle/Rental Cars
o Long Term/Employee Parking Lot
o Howard Beach
o Jamaica Station





Jamaica Station

Transportation Connections
* Jamaica - Long Island Rail Road trains; New York City Transit's E, J and Z subway lines; local bus lines.
* Howard Beach - New York City Transit's A subway line.

Travel Times
* Complete trip around Central Terminal Area: 8 minutes.
* Manhattan to JFK via Jamaica: less than 45 minutes
* Manhattan to JFK via Howard Beach: less than one hour.

Regional Benefits

Model of AirTrain at the Van Wyck Expressway


Construction over the Van Wyck Expressway

* Reduced highway congestion; improved air quality.
* Requires 4,150 construction jobs, generating $580 million in wages and $980 million in sales.
* Stimulates the Queens economy by contributing to the revitalization of Jamaica.
* Provides local residents who work at JFK with a transit connection to the airport.
* Ties JFK Corporate Square, a planned airport-themed mixed-use development located adjacent to Jamaica Station complex, to JFK with an 8-16 minute ride.
* Boosts New York City's international business and $15-billion-a-year tourism industry.

More information at: Port Authority - JFK AirTrain

[tocoto]

Very intresting article. There should be more of these trains gong from airports to the center of town.

[Cotuit]

Right on track?
By JEREMY OLSHAN

The 3,500-mile transcontinental railroad that connected the east and west coasts took six years to complete.

The eight miles of track connecting Kennedy Airport to the subway and Long Island Railroad has taken nearly four decades to be realized.

When it comes to railroad building, it’s easier to cross the Rockies than the Rockaways.

The Port Authority’s AirTrain will finally open on Dec. 17 with great fanfare, despite the death of an operator during last year’s test run, and despite the admission that the $1.9 billion project is at best only a first step toward improving access to the city’s airports.

The automated and elevated light rail will stop at each of the airport’s terminals before splitting into two spurs – one over the median of the Van Wyck Expressway to a renovated Jamaica station, where travelers can transfer to the E, J, or Z trains and the Long Island Railroad, another in Howard Beach for a transfer to the A train.

The AirTrain does not, however, provide the direct, one-seat ride from Kennedy to Manhattan that critics have long contended is the only real way to make a mass transit trip to the airport appealing.

A study sponsored by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) is underway to investigate options for connecting the AirTrain directly to the downtown transit hub, however, and the Port Authority says it would likely play a great role in such a project.

The Authority estimates that 34,000 people will take the eight-to-12 minute ride each day. Rides on the AirTrain will cost $5 each way, which will more likely appeal to business travelers than families of four, who would still most likely opt for a taxi.

Train to the Plane

Since the 1960s, efforts to create rail access to the airports have been derailed by high price tags, unrealistic plans and the usual squabbling over whose backyards would have to be disturbed.

In 1995, the Port Authority changed course by killing plans for a 22-mile railroad that would connect both airports directly to Manhattan and would cost, by some estimates, $4.5 billion.

Instead, the authority began advocating the current link at Jamaica and Howard Beach, infuriating many elected officials, transit advocates and the southeast Queens communities neighboring the airport.

Then Mayor Rudy Giuliani, no friend of the agency, advocated that the city take control of its airports. Transit advocates favored the use of the old Rockaway line of the Long Island Railroad, which they argued could easily be reworked as a direct rail link into Manhattan.

The Port Authority dismissed the Rockaway plan as unfeasible, some critics argued, because it would disrupt white neighborhoods whereas the Jamaica plan went through predominantly black ones.

The authority had to convince a lukewarm City Council, and much to the authority’s chagrin, go through the series of public hearings required under the city’s arduous land use process.

But nothing could stand in the way of the agency’s cowcatcher. The agency converted its opponents, or when necessary, plowed right through them. City Council and the mayor did 180-degree reversals. And soon, the Straphangers Campaign, the Air Transportation Authority and various community organizations were all aboard.

Ticket To Ride

How did the Port Authority accomplish this? In a word, the converted say: money.

"The general rule is that if you have your own piggy bank, you win," said Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign, a group dedicated to playing watchdog over the MTA and Port Authority.

"Unlike the earlier proposals, this one was doable because they had the money and the wherewithal to make it happen."

More than $1 billion of the funding came from the $3 surcharge imposed on every departing passenger from the airport. The rest came from the authority itself. Early on, the authority gained the backing of then Rep. Floyd Flake, and his successor, Gregory Meeks, with promises of community development.

While it’s unclear how many travelers will eat and shop in Jamaica before transferring to the subway and Long Island Railroad, the arrival of the AirTrain has brought the attention of developers to the Sutphin Boulevard neighborhood.

"It will not improve access to Southeast Queens, but we’re hoping at the very least it serves as an economic engine for the region," Councilman Leroy Comrie said.

Critics argue that the Port Authority has wasted billions on a train line that few will use.

Congressman Anthony Weiner said, "I think the AirTrain is safe, but I’m still not a believer that a lot of people will take it. I hope I’m wrong. I think that it’s still going to be a difficult sell to get people out of a taxi."

Still Weiner was optimistic about development in the downtown Jamaica area as a result of the AirTrain, saying, "There has already benn significant investment around Jamaica Station. Hopefully, more will follow. Right now, I think the primary consideration is getting people out of their cars and off of the Van Wyck Expressay so we can improve infrastructure. I think we’re on the right track for that . . . Whether it will create a boom, the jury will be out on that in a while."

But if the opposition did have one success, activist George Haikalis said it was convincing the Port Authority to make the link more compatible with the subway and LIRR. The original plans were changed to make the AirTrain a standard gauge railroad with a third rail.

But the stations and tracks at the airport itself are designed such that it would be almost impossible for a regular subway car to make the journey, he said. The Port Authority disputes this contention.

Tragedy On The Tracks

The safety of the project came into question after a test run in September 2002, when 23-year-old operator Kelvin DeBourgh was crushed by falling cinder blocks intended to simulate the weight of passengers.

An investigation determined that he rounded the curve too quickly, and that for some reason technicians had turned off a mechanism limiting the speed of the train. The DeBourgh family is suing the authority for $100 million.

To activists like Haikalis the incident only confirmed criticisms of the design’s safety and feasibility.

"Port Authority did it on the cheap, sort of the way they built the Trade Center," he said.

The Port Authority disagrees, and calling DeBourgh’s death a tragedy, says every effort is being made to ensure the safety of the AirTrain.

Take the AirTrain

As for the utility of what they have created, spokesman Pasquale DiFulco said that at the very least the number of airport employees who will use the service should substantially alleviate traffic on the Van Wyck.

"Even if not a single passenger uses it, it would still be a great boon. That’s why we are giving a substantial discount of $40 for a monthly pass."

While the Port Authority plans a media campaign to coincide with the opening of the AirTrain, DiFulco said he think the service will sell itself.

"People will be sitting in traffic on the Van Wyck and see it zipping by at 40 miles per hour, while they stare at their wristwatches."

From The Queens Tribune

[BrandonTO416]

Awesome news! It is amazing how much of a chore it is to get a basic rail system that is a few miles opened nowadays.

I think part of the problem is that stations are designed a little too elegantly - transportation needs to be functional, not an art gallery.

Air conditioning and heating? Good.

Picasso and the most post-modern architecture available? Probably waste.

Contractors that do the job well for less money? Good.

Contractors that are bed buddies with the elected mayor and/or local officials? Bad.

[turlough]

that's cool that is a nice train I bet is is a joy yo ride it could be the best train to ride on in New York

[ChunkyMonkey]

I can't believe it is taking this long to have a rail connection from airport to city. Our transit system in the U.S. really sucks when compared to Europe and asia.

[monsoon]

[49er]

2 billion to construct one 8 mile line. 3 billion for Charlotte's entire rail transit system...and people here complain.

Seriously, this is awesome. I will prob use if I fly into JFk. I like flying into Newark b/c its so easy to take NJ transit into the city.

[Cotuit]

This thread at Rider Diaries has some pictures from the AirTrain.