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The Orange Line begins in an open cut at a station on the east side of Midway International Airport. From here, the line rises to an elevated viaduct at 55th Street and continues northeast towards the city on railroad right-of-way. At Lawndale Avenue the line turns east along a CSX right-of-way at 49th Street to a point east of Western Boulevard, then curves north and northwest on embankment structure along CSX right-of-way to Western Boulevard and Pershing Road.
From here, the line rises on elevated structure again and makes a curve to cross Archer Avenue, the CSX tracks and Western Boulevard before descending onto Illinois Central Railroad Railroad right-of-way immediately east of Western Boulevard. Entering the IC right-of-way, the line again changes from elevated structure to surface level. The line continues on surface level to Ashland Avenue where it crosses a bridge over the South Branch of the Chicago River. At this point, the line enters the joint Illinois Central and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad right-of-way continuing on embankment to Canal Street.
There the line again transitions to the elevated structure to bridge Canal Street, Cermak Road and the Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad tracks then curves east to run along the south side of 18th Street, crossing over the Red Line and the Rock Island District tracks near Wentworth Avenue, before joining the South Side Elevated at a flying junction between 16th and 17th Streets. The ballasted track ends and the timber deck begins here. Orange Line trains share the tracks with the Green Line operating from this junction to Tower 12 at the southeast corner of the Loop. Orange Line trains operate clockwise around the inner loop - via Van Buren Street, Wells Street, Lake Street and Wabash Avenue - before returning to Midway.
Along the Orange Line's main route there are seven stations. An eighth station is located at Roosevelt/Wabash on the South Side Elevated which Orange Line trains share with Green Line trains. A passenger tunnel connects this station with the Roosevelt/State subway station on the Red Line.
A downtown superstation was proposed to provide express service from the Loop to O'Hare and Midway, via the Orange and Blue Lines, but the project was cancelled during the excavation process due to significant cost overruns.
The Orange Line operates between Midway and the Loop weekdays from 3:30 a.m. to 1:25 a.m., Saturdays from 4 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. and Sundays from 4:30 a.m. to 1:25 a.m. On weekdays, headways consists of 10tph (trains per hour) during rush hour, 8tph during midday and 5tph at night. Saturday service consists 5-8tph during the day, then 3-4tph during late night hours. Sunday service runs 5tph during the day, then 3-4 tph at night.
During morning rush hour, several Orange Line trains bound for the Loop continue toward the Brown Line after stopping at Adams/Wabash station; whereas several Brown Line trains bound for Midway continue as the Orange Line after stopping at Harold Washington Library station.
The Orange Line is operated with the 2600-series cars. From November 8, 2012 to October 31, 2014, some 2400-series railcars were assigned to the line. From the opening of the route to October 2018, 3200-series railcars were assigned to the line. Trains operate using eight cars during weekday rush hours and four cars during other times on weekdays and all day on weekends except for special events when eight cars may be required. The Orange Line's 2600-series cars are to remain in service on the line until the early 2020s, where they will be replaced by the new 7000-series cars.
Beginning September 2018, CTA began to transfer the Orange Line's 3200-series cars to the Blue Line. As of October 2018, the 3200-series cars no longer operate on the Orange Line.
The Orange Line opened for service on October 31, 1993, and was the first all-new service in Chicago since the Dan Ryan Line opened in September 1969 and the first extension to the CTA system since the O'Hare Airport Extension of the Blue Line in September 1984. But its planning dates back to the late 1930s when the City of Chicago proposed a high speed subway extension along Wells-Archer-Cicero between the Loop and 63rd Street and Cicero Avenue near Chicago Midway International Airport (then called Chicago's Municipal Airport). It would be another four decades before Chicago transit planners became serious about providing rapid transit service to this area of the city.
In 1979, the City began the Southwest Transit Project, which proposed extending the CTA 'L' system to the Southwest Side of Chicago over existing railroad rights-of-way and newer elevated connections along the very busy Archer-49th-Cicero Corridor from the Loop to its originally planned terminus at Ford City Shopping Center. Funding for the project was made possible from Interstate Highway Transfer monies saved after the city decided to cancel the high priced and controversial Crosstown Expressway and Franklin Street subway projects. Federal funding for the project was secured by U.S. Representative William Lipinski as a favor from then-President Ronald Reagan, who wanted to thank Lipinski for his vote to provide aid to the Nicaraguan contras.
In 1987, construction of the $500 million transit line began and continued until fall 1993. When the Midway Line opened, the CTA decided to adopt a color-coded naming system for the rapid transit network (like Boston, Washington D.C. and Cleveland) and named it the Orange Line.
Destination signs on CTA trains have a line bearing Ford City. The Ford City Mall is about two miles (3 km) south of Midway Airport, and it was originally planned to be the line's terminal. However, because of financial shortfalls, the city decided to end the line at Midway Airport.
The CTA analyzed the cost of an Orange Line extension to Ford City in 2008 and determined that the project would cost approximately $200 million. Community meetings were held in neighborhoods surrounding Midway and Ford City to judge the level of public support for the extension.
The four corridors being studied for the Orange Line extension include alignments along Cicero Avenue, Pulaski Road, and a combination of the Belt Railway and either Cicero or Kostner Avenues. The corridors selected for further study are Cicero Ave (Bus Rapid Transit) and Belt/Cicero or Belt/Kostner (Heavy Rail Transit). In April 2009, the Cicero Avenue/Belt Railway corridor was chosen as the most viable option and advanced in the Alternatives Analysis process. By December 2009, the CTA had identified the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) as the Belt/Cicero route. According to a CTA report,
The CTA planned to prepare a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and complete preliminary engineering. However, the extension was canceled.
After stopping at Adams/Wabash, Orange Line trains return to Roosevelt, then make all stops back to Midway.
The Metrolink Ventura County Line is a commuter rail line serving Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles, in the Southern California system. The line is the successor of the short lived CalTrain commuter rail line.
Metrolink trains on the Ventura County Line ran weekdays only until Saturday service was added on May 29th 2021, mostly during peak commuter hours, and so with limited midday service. From Union Station to Downtown Los Angeles ():
Service is augmented during midday and on weekends by the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner line, serving most of the Metrolink stations on the Ventura County Line.
Additional airport shuttle service operates between Union Station and Burbank Airport–South station as the Hollywood Burbank Airport Line—BUR. Metrolink numbers Airport Line trains in the 900 series.
The line operates between Moorpark and Los Angeles Union Station on tracks owned by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority – the Ventura Subdivision from Moorpark to Burbank Airport and the Valley Subdivision, the Valley Subdivision from Burbank to Glendale, becoming the River Subdivision into Los Angeles Union Station. It uses the Coast Line of the Union Pacific Railroad between Moorpark and Oxnard and into Ventura where the Santa Paula Branch splits from the rest of the Coast Line. The East Ventura Station and layover facility are on the Santa Paula branch line.
The railway was originally constructed by the Southern Pacific Railroad as their Coast Line, connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco. The Montalvo Cutoff between Burbank and Ventura via the Simi Valley was built in 1904, bypassing the old line further to the north. Caltrans ran commuter rail service over the line very briefly in 1982 and 1983, but CalTrain was unsustainable due to a number of factors.
In 1990 the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, predecessor of Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, acquired a portion of the right of way between Los Angeles and Moorpark from Southern Pacific and transferred it to the newly-formed Southern California Regional Rail Authority for commuter service. The line began operations in 1992 as one of Metrolink's original three routes, with service from Moorpark to Los Angeles Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles. Service was extended to Camarillo and Oxnard in 1994 after the Northridge earthquake, then to East Ventura in 2002.
A trial service on Saturday was tried in 2020 for this normally weekday only line. The Amtrak service does run on the weekends.
At 4:23 p.m. on September 12, 2008, 25 people were killed in a collision between Metrolink commuter train 111 and a freight train. At least 130 people were injured, with at least one dying later at a hospital. The crash occurred on the Ventura County Line near Heather Lee Lane, south of the Ronald Reagan Freeway(SR-118) and east of Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Both locomotives, the leading car of the commuter train, and seven cars of the freight train were derailed.
The Green Line is a light rail line on the Utah Transit Authority's (UTA) TRAX system in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States, operated by the Utah Transit Authority (UTA). It opened on August 7, 2011, and runs between Airport Station at the Salt Lake City International Airport and West Valley Central Station in West Valley City (via Downtown Salt Lake City) serving a total of eighteen stations: thirteen in Salt Lake City, one in South Salt Lake, and four in West Valley City.
The TRAX Green Line is designated as UTA Route 704.
West Valley Central to Central Pointe Station.
From South 600 West the Green Line briefly follows the route of the old Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW) Sugar House Branch, which goes under I-15/I-80 and then briefly runs along the south side of West Andy Avenue to South 300 West. After crossing South 300 West it continues east until about 220 West where it reaches the Union Pacific right-of-way and takes a sharp turn north as it merges with the Blue and Red lines), before entering Central Pointe, which is just south of West 2100 South (SR-201).
Central Pointe is the only TRAX station served by the S Line. The S Line platform is situated just southeast of the TRAX platform. (The S Line provides streetcar service east to the Fairmont stop in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City.)
Many TRAX stations include free Park and Ride lots, with some lots having as few as six parking spaces and others having nearly 1200. However, there are certain restrictions for all lots (for example, no 24-hour parking).
On weekdays the first northbound Green Line trains (to the Airport Station) leave the Central Pointe and the West Valley Central Station at about 5:00 am and the first southbound train (to the West Valley Central Station) leaves the Airport Station at about 5:45 am. The last northbound train leaving the West Valley Central at 10:27 pm and the last southbound train leaving the Airport Station at 11:27 pm. However, the last southbound train only goes as far as the Central Pointe Station; the last southbound train to the West Valley Station leaves the Airport Station at 10:42 pm.
On Saturdays the first northbound trains leave the Central Pointe Station at about 5:00 am and the West Valley Central Station at about 6:15 am; the first southbound train leaves the Airport Station at about 6:30 am; and the last northbound train leaves the West Valley Station at 10:19 pm and the last southbound train leaves the Airport Station at 11:16 pm.
On Sundays the first northbound trains leave the Central Pointe Station at about 9:00 am and the West Valley Central Station at about 10:00 am; the first southbound train leaves the Airport Station at about 9:30 am; and the last northbound train leaves the West Valley Central Station at 6:59 pm and the last southbound train leaves the Airport Station at 7:56 pm.
Green Line trains run every fifteen minutes on weekdays and every twenty minutes on weekends.
All of UTA's TRAX and "FrontRunner" trains and stations, streetcars and streetcar stops, and all fixed route buses, are compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act and are therefore accessible to those with disabilities. Signage at the stations, on the passenger platforms, and on the trains clearly indicate accessibility options. Ramps on the passenger platform and assistance from the train operator may be necessary for wheelchair boarding on the Blue Line. These ramps are not used for the Red or Green lines. In accordance with the Utah Clean Air Act and UTA ordinance, "smoking is prohibited on UTA vehicles as well as UTA bus stops, TRAX stations, and "FrontRunner" stations".
The Blue Line is a Chicago "L" line which extends through The Loop from O'Hare International Airport at the far northwest end of the city, through downtown via the Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway and across the West Side to its southwest end at Forest Park, with a total of 33 stations (11 on the Forest Park branch, 9 in the Milwaukee–Dearborn subway and 13 on the O'Hare branch). It is the longest line on the "L" system and second busiest, with an average of 143,178 passengers boarding each weekday in 2019.
The Blue Line and Red Line are the only two "L" lines to provide 24-hour service year-round. The Blue Line is also one of only two lines with more than one station with the same name, with the Green Line being the other. (It has two stations at Harlem Avenue: one in the Kennedy Expressway on the Northwest side and one on the south side of the Eisenhower Expressway in Forest Park, Illinois. It also has two stations on Western Avenue: one on the Milwaukee Elevated and one on the Congress branch.) The Blue Line also has only two in-system transfers (all in the Loop), contains a combination of both the oldest and newest portions of 'L' tracks, and does not share tracks with any other 'L' line.
Before the adoption of color-coded names, the Blue Line was referred to as the West-Northwest Route (which it is still sometimes referred to as today) or more commonly, the O'Hare-Congress-Douglas route for its three branches. The Congress and Douglas branches were renamed for their terminals, Forest Park and 54th/Cermak, when the current color naming system was adopted in 1993. Blue Line service on the Douglas branch was discontinued in April 2008 and replaced by the Pink Line.
The Blue Line is one of five 'L' lines that run into Chicago suburbs, with the others being the Green, Purple, Pink, and Yellow lines. The Blue Line actually runs through three, making it the rail line that runs through the most suburbs on the Chicago 'L' system.
The Blue Line is the successor to the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad, which built a series of 'L' lines servicing the West Side of Chicago beginning in 1895. The first section to be built by the Metropolitan extended west in the vicinity of Van Buren Street from an independent terminal at Canal and Jackson Streets to Marshfield Avenue, and then northward in the vicinity of Paulina Street to Damen and Milwaukee Avenues. Service on this section began on May 6, 1895. The structure was completed from Damen Avenue to Logan Square on May 25, 1895.
The next stage in the development of the West Side 'L' came on June 19, 1895, when the Garfield Park Branch was added, extending west in the vicinity of Van Buren Street and Harrison Street from Marshfield Avenue to Cicero Avenue. An extension of service over the tracks of the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railroad to a new terminal at Desplaines Avenue was established on March 11, 1905. A subsequent extension to Westchester opened on October 1, 1926 over tracks that had originally been built by the CA&E with the intentions of building a bypass route. (Low ridership would prompt the CTA to discontinue service on the Westchester extension on December 9, 1951.)
Another branch line was added to the rapidly growing Metropolitan on July 29, 1895, when trains began operating over the Humboldt Park Branch, splitting off from the Logan Square Branch at and running west alongside North Avenue to a terminal at Lawndale Avenue. This was followed by still another addition when the Douglas Park Branch was placed in operation as far south as 18th Street on April 28, 1896.
As the southwest area of the city developed, the Douglas Park Branch was extended from 18th Street to Western Avenue in September 1896; to Pulaski Road in June 1902; to Cicero Avenue in December 1907; to Central Avenue in August 1912; to 62nd Avenue in August 1915, and to Oak Park Avenue in Berwyn on March 16, 1924. The Douglas Park branch was later cut back to 54th Avenue in Cicero.
The Metropolitan West Side Elevated began service onto the Loop on October 11, 1897, and a rush period stub terminal at Wells Street was added October 3, 1904. For much of the early 20th century and through the 1940s, service on the West Side Elevated lines went unchanged until 1947, when the Chicago Transit Authority took control of the 'L', initiating a series of massive service cuts and station closings (that would last until the 1980s).
On February 21, 1993, the CTA adopted a color-coded naming system to the rapid transit system, and the West-Northwest route (O'Hare-Congress/Douglas) became the Blue Line. On April 26, 1998, the Douglas Branch lost its overnight (owl) and weekend service and began operating between 4 a.m. and 1 a.m. on weekdays only as a result of budget cuts that also eliminated owl service on several other lines. Congress (Forest Park) service was effectively doubled through much of the day since service frequency from O'Hare required shorter headways than what would have been left.
While the CTA claimed Douglas branch reductions were due to low ridership, community activists also pointed to badly deteriorated infrastructure and funding shortfalls, as well as a perception that the CTA was uninterested in serving the West Side. On September 10, 2001, the CTA began a historic reconstruction of the Douglas Branch to repair its aging stations and tracks. The work was officially completed on January 8, 2005 with new elevated structures, tracks, rebuilt stations, new communication networks and an upgraded power system along the route. On January 1, 2005, weekend service was restored.
In January 2005, the CTA held hearings on a proposal to reroute Douglas Branch service via the recently rebuilt Paulina Connector to the Lake Street Green Line, carrying Douglas trains to and around the elevated Loop for the first time since 1958. It was the first stage of what became the Pink Line. This would have allowed a doubling of Blue Line trains to Forest Park on the Congress Branch, since service would no longer be divided between the Forest Park and 54th/Cermak terminals. Due to community fears that the Pink Line would not be enough, however, the CTA decided to retain limited Douglas Branch Blue Line service during weekday rush hours.
On February 15, 2006, the CTA approved the separate operation of the Douglas Branch plan. All non-rush hour trains would all be routed via the Loop, Green Line and Paulina Connector. During rush hour, service was available on the new route as well as the existing route via the Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway. These changes were scheduled to be implemented for a 180-day trial period beginning June 25, 2006 and after their evaluation in early 2007, the Pink Line remained in service.
Beginning April 28, 2008, the CTA began a six-month experimental ceasing of Blue Line operations on the Douglas. Despite maintaining that the service cut was an experiment, the CTA immediately covered Blue Line stations' directional signage for trains to with paint rather than temporary covering, suggesting it was a permanent discontinuation instead of a temporary one. All Douglas Branch operations are now served by the Pink Line. On December 4, 2008, CTA announced its decision to permanently discontinue Blue Line service on the Douglas branch and to make the Pink Line permanent.
On October 15, 2015, the CTA announced the completed installation of 4G wireless service on the Blue Line in between the Logan Square and Belmont stations. In the future this will mean that the CTA will be the largest rapid transit system with 4G coverage in subway tunnels and stations, this is targeted for the end of 2015.
At the intersection of Ashland and Milwaukee Avenues, the Blue Line descends underground, swings over to Milwaukee Avenue, and continues southeast towards downtown under Milwaukee Avenue (with stops at , and . The line then turns east under Lake Street, crossing beneath the Chicago River, and makes a stop at , where in-system transfers are provided to 'L' trains on the Loop. East of Clark/Lake, the tracks swing south under Dearborn Street, and stop three times along a continuous platform similar to that used in the adjacent State Street Subway, with stops at , , and . Jackson provides a transfer tunnel to the Red Line. Until October 2006, a transfer tunnel existed at Washington as well.
South of Jackson, the line turns west under Ida B. Wells Drive (with stops at and ). The tracks then emerge from a portal near in the median of the Eisenhower Expressway (Interstate 290) and continue west.
After exiting the subway, the tracks continue west in the median of the Eisenhower Expressway as the Forest Park branch, formerly called the Congress branch, successor to the Garfield Park Branch.
The Cermak branch, formerly known as the Douglas branch, previously was operated as part of the Blue Line. On April 28, 2008, the CTA eliminated Blue Line service on the Cermak branch, having been replaced by the Pink Line. The Loomis ramp that connects the Congress branch to the Cermak branch remains intact for non-revenue equipment moves, as the only track connection between the Blue Line and the rest of the system.
On July 11, 2006, a derailment caused a smoky fire in the Blue Line's Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway. There were injuries from smoke inhalation, but no fatalities. The comparatively minor incident prompted heavy news coverage and a temporary stoppage of Chicago subway service because it occurred hours after train bombings in Mumbai earlier the same day.
In the early morning of March 24, 2014, a Blue Line train derailed at O'Hare at the end of its run. Initial reports said that 32 passengers on the train were injured, but none of the injuries were considered life-threatening. The station reopened on Sunday, March 30, 2014 at 2:00 p.m.
On April 10, 2019, a Blue Line train derailed in the tunnel near O'Hare station.
For the past twenty years, there had been talk of extending the O'Hare section of the Blue Line westward to Schaumburg, but that has been changed, due to recent developments involving the planning of the Metra STAR Line and various other transportation projects.
However, in 2008, the Regional Transit Authority revealed a plan to the RTA board to expand commuter rail and bus service, which included a extension of the Blue Line on an east-west route, from its current western terminus at Forest Park as far west as the Yorktown shopping center in DuPage County. Several feeder bus services would also be implemented along the route in order to supplement ridership and increase its usefulness. The prospect of this extension was also listed in the Chicago region's 2030 long-term master plan.
In early 2013, the idea of an infill station at Nagle and Bryn Mawr Avenues was declined. Such a station remains only idea but it may come to fruition in the future because that particular stretch of the line, between Jefferson Park and Harlem/Kennedy, is the second longest on the 'L' system without a station (behind the gap on the Yellow Line between and ).
In December 2016, Pace introduced the on-highway BRT I-90 Express service. The successor to the Blue line Extension and the STAR Line, this service serves as an extension of the Blue Line and provides rapid service along I-90 all the way to Elgin.
Between Grand/Milwaukee and Clark/Lake in the Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway, two more stub tunnels also exist, continuing west under Lake Street while the in-service tracks turn northwest under Milwaukee Avenue. This junction (actually a stacked junction), built in the 1940s along with the subway, was intended for a never-built connection to, or subway replacement of the Lake Street Elevated. In the late 1960s through the mid-1970s, they were also proposed to be a service link between the Dearborn Subway and a high-speed subway route in Randolph Street to replace a portion of the Lake Street 'L' east of Damen Avenue ("Transit Planning Study Chicago Central Area", April 1968).
The PHX Sky Train is an electric people mover at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. The first segment opened to the public on April 8, 2013. The second segment, extending the train to Terminal 3, opened on December 8, 2014. The 24/7 service operates free of charge, with trains running every 3–5 minutes.
The PHX Sky Train is gradually replacing shuttle buses. Inter-terminal shuttle bus service was discontinued on January 15, 2015. Rental car shuttle buses remain in service but are planned to be eliminated when the final PHX Sky Train segment extends the people mover to the Rental Car Center in 2022.
The PHX Sky Train features a bridge over Taxiway R, one of three taxiways that connects the north and south runways. This is the first transit bridge in the world to be built over an active taxiway. The bridge is tall enough to allow for Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 aircraft to pass under.
Phase 1 consists of a segment constructed between December 2008 and April 2013. It links Terminal 4, the East Economy Parking lot, and the 44th Street/Washington station of the Valley Metro Rail. The guideway runs in a new underpass (below the Union Pacific railroad), past the jet-fuel tank farm, and alongside 44th Street. At an estimated cost of $1.58 billion, phase 1 opened on April 8, 2013.
Phase 1a, which opened December 8, 2014, extended the train from Terminal 4 to Terminal 3. A covered walkway connected the Terminal 3 station with Terminal 2 until Terminal 2 closed in February 2020.
Phase 2, which is under construction as of mid-2020 with a planned completion date of 2022, will extend the Sky Train west from Terminal 3 to the Rental Car Center. Funding was approved in October 2016 and the extension is projected to cost $700 million. Phase 2 will be fully funded by airline and rental car passenger fees. The extension will pass in two cuts underneath future taxiways and Interstate 10.
Phase 2 includes provisions for infill stations to be constructed for a future "West Terminal" (on the site of the West Economy Parking lots) as well as a new ground transportation center to be built just east of 24th Street. Both the new terminal and new ground transportation center are unfunded and included in the airport's 20-year Comprehensive Asset Management Plan.
At 44th Street station, domestic passengers can check baggage for flights operated by American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. Bags must be checked at least 90 minutes prior to the flight's departure time. Once checked, the baggage is delivered in locked containers to the internal baggage-handling systems at Terminal 4. Delivery of the baggage is via secured shuttle-trucks that run approximately every eight minutes.
44th Street also has a passenger drop-off area, cell phone lot, bike racks, and bike lockers. It is also served by routes 1, 32, and 44 of the Valley Metro Bus system. FlixBus boards from the north side of the Sky Train station.
Select airlines also offer kiosks to print boarding passes at the 44th Street/Washington and East Economy Parking stations.
Three months after opening, the PHX Sky Train carried about 70,000 people per week, over 40% higher than the design estimates of about 48,000. The busiest days are Thursday and Friday. The busiest times are 5 am-8 am and noon-3 pm In March 2016, average daily ridership was 15,940.
Cumulative ridership hit 1 million in 2013 and hit 10 million in 2015.
Rolling stock consists of 18 Bombardier Innovia APM 200 vehicles. Trains generally operating as six 3-car trainsets, although 2-car trainsets are in use during off-peak times. With the opening of Phase 2, Bombardier will deliver 24 additional vehicles.
The system is designed to carry 3,300 passengers per hour per direction. The average speed of the trains was forecasted to be , with trainsets capable of reaching , making the journey time from the 44th Street to Terminal 4 five minutes, plus an additional two minutes to reach Terminal 3.
This is Bombardier's third APM 200 installation following the DFW Skylink and Heathrow Terminal 5 Transit.
Different views of the PHX Sky Train and terminal.
AirTrain LaGuardia is a proposed people mover system and elevated railway in New York City, United States, that would provide service to LaGuardia Airport in Queens. It would connect with the New York City Subway and Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in Willets Point, similar to how the existing AirTrain JFK system connects with the subway and LIRR in southern Queens.
The system will be constructed and operated under contract to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the operator of the airport, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). In 2015, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to build a people mover similar to the AirTrain JFK, and in 2018, the New York State Legislature approved a law for the AirTrain LaGuardia project. According to plans, construction would begin in 2021, with a projected opening in 2024.
The AirTrain project has been highly controversial. Project advocates say that it would improve access to the airport by subway and LIRR, alleviate traffic congestion, and alleviate air pollution in and around East Elmhurst. However, the construction of the AirTrain has been opposed by residents of nearby communities, as well as some transit advocates who have objected to its indirect route to Midtown Manhattan and high cost estimate.
LaGuardia Airport had no rail service when the AirTrain was proposed in 2014. The only public transportation is by bus via the routes, all of which connect to the subway. The Q70 also connects to the LIRR at Woodside station, while the M60 SBS runs to Manhattan, connecting with the Metro-North Railroad at Harlem–125th Street station as well as with several subway routes. In 2014, 8% of LaGuardia's 27 million passengers took the bus, compared to the 12% of the 53 million passengers using John F. Kennedy International Airport who took AirTrain JFK. Similarly, in 2008, 75% of LaGuardia's passengers took a taxi or car service, but only 16% rode a bus or van.
The New York metropolitan area's other two major airports have rail connections. AirTrain Newark, the monorail at Newark Liberty International Airport, has connected that airport to commuter trains since 1996. AirTrain JFK, the people mover at JFK Airport, opened in 2003. AirTrain LaGuardia is proposed to be a people mover like the one at JFK.
As currently planned, the AirTrain LaGuardia would run from LaGuardia Airport with two stops within the airport, before running over the Grand Central Parkway for before terminating in Willets Point near Citi Field and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, and would connect there with the New York City Subway's at the Mets–Willets Point station and, via an existing passenger bridge, with the Long Island Rail Road's Mets–Willets Point station. The AirTrain trip would take 6 minutes, while the LIRR ride to Manhattan would take 20 minutes.
The Mets-Willets Point subway stop would be rebuilt, and $50 million has been allocated toward planning and designing this work in the 2015–2019 MTA Capital Program. Also as part of that Capital Program, the LIRR stop would be rebuilt for $75 million. The subway station and the LIRR station would be integrated with nearby buses as part of the overhaul for greater intermodal connectivity. The station could also possibly hold ancillary airport functions, employee parking, and a Consolidated Rent-a-Car facility. To allow for the AirTrain station in Willets Point to be built, the Casey Stengel Bus Depot will need to be relocated. $50 million was allocated in the 2015–2019 MTA Capital Program to acquire property for a replacement depot.
A rail link to LaGuardia Airport had been proposed since 1943, when the city Board of Transportation proposed an extension of the New York City Subway's BMT Astoria Line (currently served by the ) from its terminus at Ditmars Boulevard. This would be one of 20 proposals for direct links to New York-area airports that would all be canceled.
Prior to the construction of AirTrain JFK in 1997, Mayor Rudy Giuliani opposed the AirTrain at JFK because of a monetary dispute between the state, city, and Port Authority. Giuliani wanted the Port Authority to study the possibility of extending the BMT Astoria Line to LaGuardia Airport, among other things. Later that year, Giuliani agreed to the AirTrain JFK plan, and the Port Authority agreed to conduct a feasibility study on a similar LaGuardia rail link. In 2003, $645 million was budgeted to extend the Astoria Line to the airport, but the extension was never built due to community opposition in Queens.
In January 2020, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst, wrote to the FAA asking why 46 alternatives were rejected and noting that over 60% of the 414 public comments collected by the FAA were in opposition to the proposed routing. Hiram Monserrate, the area's Democratic District Leader, also objected that the FAA's approval had bypassed a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure analysis, as would have been mandated for other large projects. The same month, residents and business owners along the AirTrain's proposed route protested against the construction of the AirTrain on that route.
Many government officials and advocates support the current Willets Point AirTrain plan. In 2017, the "Newsday" editorial board wrote a piece in support of the AirTrain LaGuardia project, saying that it would increase mass transit patronage to the airport. The board cited AirTrain JFK as an example, saying that "officials with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey estimate the AirTrain provides 7.5 million rides to air travelers annually", and arguing that LaGuardia Airport needed a similar mass-transit airport link.
List of North American rapid transit systems by ridership
The company has roots back to 1920, when E. Roy Fitzgerald and his brother began operating two buses in Minnesota, transporting miners and schoolchildren. In 1936 the company was organized into a holding company. In 1938, National City Lines wished to purchase transportation systems in cities "where street cars were no longer practicable" and replace them with passenger buses. To fund this expansion the company obtained equity funding from companies seeking to increase sales of commercial buses and supplies, including General Motors, Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of California and Phillips Petroleum.
In 1936, they bought 13 transit companies in Illinois, Oklahoma and Michigan, then in 1937, they replaced streetcars in Butte, Montana and made purchases in Mississippi and Texas. Sometimes these systems were already run down, but not always. Major investment had recently been made with improvements to the streetcars systems in Beaumont, Texas. The Butte system, while sound, deliberately replaced to lower the load on the overtaxed electric system, which was primarily used for commercial uses, including electrolytic refining of copper and zinc.
In 1938 the company entered into exclusive dealing arrangements and obtained equity funding from companies seeking to increase sales of commercial buses and supplies, including General Motors, Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of California and Phillips Petroleum. The company was indicted in 1947 and was later convicted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois of conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses and related products to the local transit companies that they controlled.
Over 1938 and 1939 the company made purchases in Alabama, Indiana and Ohio. and by 1939, it owned or controlled 29 local transportation companies in 27 different cities in 10 states.
American City Lines, which had been organized to acquire local transportation systems in the larger metropolitan areas in various parts of the country in 1943 merged with NCL in 1946. By 1947 the company owned or controlled 46 systems in 45 cities in 16 states.
In 1947 National City Lines, with others was indicted in the Federal District Court of Southern California on two counts: 'conspiring to acquire control of a number of transit companies, forming a transportation monopolize' and 'Conspiring to monopolize sales of buses and supplies to companies owned by National City Lines' in what became known as the Great American streetcar scandal (or 'General Motors streetcar conspiracy', 'National City Lines conspiracy').
In 1948, the United States Supreme Court (in "United States v. National City Lines Inc.") permitted a change in venue to the Federal District Court in Northern Illinois. National City Lines merged with Pacific City Lines the same year.
In 1949, General Motors, Standard Oil of California, Firestone and others were convicted of conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses and related products to local transit companies controlled by NCL and other companies; they were acquitted of conspiring to monopolize the ownership of these companies. The verdicts were upheld on appeal in 1951. The corporations involved were fined $5000, their executives $1 apiece.