Rail stations at Airports

[Trollopian]

If coming from / going to the south, make the transfer at Alexandria, VA, then take any WMATA train north to DCA. If you need to go to Dulles, then you take a Blue line train north to Rosslyn and change to a Silver Line train for the long haul out to Dulles. The Amtrak station and the WMATA station are adjacent and parallel at Alexandria. (Back in the 70's when I was working on WMATA the line to Dulles was a maybe someday, but probably never extension of the system. The squawk at that time of the WMATA planning was that the DCA station was not immediately adjacent to the airport terminal as it was at that time. The terminal expansion has made it more central to WMATA.)

Just a gentle reminder that it's not yet possible to take the Silver Line all the way to Dulles. Current prediction is fall 2022/winter 2023. (See post at US Airports and Transit Connections.) Right now, you'd take the Silver Line to its terminus at Reston Town Center then transfer to a bus. Pretty good bus, from what I hear, but still a bus.

 

[jis]

Just a gentle reminder that it's not yet possible to take the Silver Line all the way to Dulles. Current prediction is fall 2022/winter 2023. (See post at US Airports and Transit Connections.) Right now, you'd take the Silver Line to its terminus at Reston Town Center then transfer to a bus. Pretty good bus, from what I hear, but still a bus.

I have taken that bus connection from Silver Line many times. While it is still a bus, it is still quite convenient for $5.
In my experience the Silver Line to bus transfer was at Wiehle-Reston East. When did that change?

 

[Trollopian]

I have taken that bus connection from Silver Line many times. While it is still a bus, it is still quite convenient for $5.
In my experience the Silver Line to bus transfer was at Wiehle-Reston East. When did that change?

You're right, I'm wrong...it's Wiehle-Reston East, the current terminus. "Reston Town Center" will be the next stop on the as-yet-unopened extension. As to the whole concept of a suburban town center, no comment.

 

[ces Los Angeles]

With all the delays and cancellations going on at the airlines, I feel like it is a good opportunity to introduce people to train travel.. Why not put an Amtrak kiosk at the airport - then people have that option when their flights cancel.

At LAX there is already a Flyaway shuttle service that runs to Union Station. If someone is just trying to get to, say, Phoenix or San Francisco, it could be a very win-win opportunity for Amtrak.

 

[west point]

Why? Amtrak cannot take any of the passengers anyway this summer. It is irresponsible to advertize Amtrak for this summer in an airport.that is essentially all booked up.

 

[jis]

Just came across this article which is of relevance in this thread...

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/amtrak-at-airports-guide/

 

[zephyr17]

If someone is just trying to get to, say, Phoenix or San Francisco, it could be a very win-win opportunity for Amtrak.

Well, I'd hold off on considering Phoenix a "win-win" with a triweekly train that leaves at 10 pm and dumps you off in Maricopa.

If you want to demonstrate some Amtrak service as impractical for routine travel to those new to it, that's a very good one.

 

[MIrailfan]

San Diego's airport is close enough to Santa Fe Depot where a people mover would work.

 

[MARC Rider]

San Diego's airport is close enough to Santa Fe Depot where a people mover would work.

Are people movers cheaper to build and operate than light rail? If they aren't, then a spur from the existing light rail system would work just fine.

 

[jis]

Are people movers cheaper to build and operate than light rail? If they aren't, then a spur from the existing light rail system would work just fine.

At least the San Diego one, if built, will be shorter than the JFK one. Neither makes the Airport have a Rail Station though. I doubt it will be built though, since the Bus connection works just fine for the existing and projected demand.

 

[Anthony V]

In regards to the proposed Gulf Coast Amtrak line's Mobile station situation, it would make the most sense to have a station at the Brookley Aeroplex and downtown Mobile. It would be no different from the station situation in Milwaukee.

 

[joelkfla]

At least the San Diego one, if built, will be shorter than the JFK one. Neither makes the Airport have a Rail Station though. I doubt it will be built though, since the Bus connection works just fine for the existing and projected demand.

Then would you say neither Newark nor Miami has a train station, since each requires an APM to get to the terminal?

 

[jis]

Then would you say neither Newark nor Miami has a train station, since each requires an APM to get to the terminal?

I consider a rail station at the airport to be an integral part of the airport terminal, not a remote site with a lengthy ride on something else.

Actually many airports have internal APMs, and then the question boils down to whether the rail terminal connected by the APM is an integral part of the airport. Interestingly JFK is an extreme case of that since the Jamaica Terminal is apparently part of the airport on airport land!!! But one must admit that it is quite a stretch to suggest that JFK has a Rail Station in Jamaica, notwithstanding all that.

But getting back to San Diego, it is possible but quite unlikely that San Diego Airport would acquire land by the Amtrak station and build a terminal there. And even if it did, it would be more like the JFK situation than say the Miami, or EWR situation. Admittedly there is a slippery slope argument that could be made in either direction, when we have nothing better to spend our time on

 

[MIrailfan]

Are people movers cheaper to build and operate than light rail? If they aren't, then a spur from the existing light rail system would work just fine.

True, depending on cost for the right of way and track.

 

[PeeweeTM]

Schiphol Amsterdam airport (red arrow) in attached pdf-file representing Dutch passenger railway lines.
The fully coloured lines represent half-hourly service between about 0600-2000 hrs.
Black dot: all trains stop here.
No dot: train doesn't stop.

You can see Schiphol airport has pretty good connections.

 

[SwedeC]

An on-call shuttle bus to the terminal from the depot (&vv) would suffice at SD.

 

[jis]

San Diego already has pretty adequate Bus connection to both San Diego Santa Fe Station and the Old Town Station, the latter is free:

https://www.sdmts.com/getting-around/airport

 

[poncho]

Once you travel to Amsterdam Airport you'll never look at airport rail links the same. Literally a massive train station below baggage claim with frequent trains to all corners of the country. Also took me 30 minutes to travel from Central Station in Amsterdam to my airplane GATE. We have a long way to go to having a quality transportation system in the US.

 

[John from RI]

Newark NJ's airport has a rail sation and a connecting monorail. With New Jersey Transit trains it works quite well and many people use it. But I would never recommend using it with Amtrak unless you buy your ticket 6 weeks in advance because Amtrak tickets cost a fortune if you buy them just before you ride. And if you buy the ticket in advance but your plane is an hour late be prepared to lose the money you have spend on an Amtrak ticket.
Amtrak uses a "bucket" system to charge fares. But I think Amtrak must be losing buckets of money because of the people who learn Amtrack does not serve them at Newark. If they need to travel beyond New Jersey they have to rent a car.

 

[PeeweeTM]

For timetable fans; attached a .pdf with the standard departure times in the Netherlands, Schiphol being the gray square to the left.

The numbers/minutes a bit apart from the node is departure minute, the closer one arrival.
One line means hourly service.
Two lines means every 30 minutes, so a 10 departure also has a 40 departure.

You can try it with the timings below. Rotterdam is to the south of Schiphol, Vlissingen is in the southwest.

 

[cirdan]

I don't see the distinction between a station being in a terminal building and being at a stop a few minutes away on the airport's APM. Even if the station is in a terminal building, it's likely that passengers will have to use the APM (or walk a long ways) to get to other terminal buildings.

There are subway system where the subway has individual stops serving separate terminals. In London Heathrow for example both the Piccadilly line and Elizabeth line do this. So essentially the metro system fulfils the role of ground-side circulator between the terminals (use is free for inter-terminal rides) while also assuring passengers arriving by metro don't need to change to a different vehicle.

Are people movers cheaper to build and operate than light rail? If they aren't, then a spur from the existing light rail system would work just fine.

For some reason that is not entirely clear to me, airports the world over seem to love gadgetbahns but need a lot of pushing, shoving and arm twisting to accept the extension of a regular light rail system even when one runs right up to their doorstep.

Maybe something to do with wanting to control everything themselves?

 

[cirdan]

Once you travel to Amsterdam Airport you'll never look at airport rail links the same. Literally a massive train station below baggage claim with frequent trains to all corners of the country. Also took me 30 minutes to travel from Central Station in Amsterdam to my airplane GATE. We have a long way to go to having a quality transportation system in the US.

Sadly, Schiphol is yuuuge airside and if you leaving from one of the more remote gates it can be quite a trek to get there. They could well do with an airside gadgetbahn but don't have one.

 

[jis]

San Diego's airport is close enough to Santa Fe Depot where a people mover would work.

San Diego Airport has a very convenient frequent bus connection from the airport to Santa Fe Depot, and at least for now it seems to be more than adequate for extremely minimal capital cost.

 

[blueman271]

There are subway system where the subway has individual stops serving separate terminals. In London Heathrow for example both the Piccadilly line and Elizabeth line do this. So essentially the metro system fulfils the role of ground-side circulator between the terminals (use is free for inter-terminal rides) while also assuring passengers arriving by metro don't need to change to a different vehicle.


For some reason that is not entirely clear to me, airports the world over seem to love gadgetbahns but need a lot of pushing, shoving and arm twisting to accept the extension of a regular light rail system even when one runs right up to their doorstep.

Maybe something to do with wanting to control everything themselves?

Light rail in Minneapolis and St Louis does the same thing. Each city has two stops at the airport and the light rail is the primary way to transfer between terminals.

 

[west point]

As far as I know there is not a subway closer to domestic bag claim and ticketing than ATL airport to MARTA, No intermediate transportation needed. BART might come close??i