birdstrike
Mar 16, 03, 8:10 pm
Ms. birdstrike were on our way to SF today for lunch and decided to check out the new Airtrain system at SFO.
We drove into the old short-term parking area and parked next to the bridge to Terminal 1 on the top deck of the structure.
http://www.flysfo.com/guide_nonflash/airportinfo/terminalmap.htm
Access to the Airtrain boarding is one floor up from the top of the old parking structure.
There are two doors per car, two cars per train, one train every four minutes at peak times. Seating is limited to the "bay window" areas on each end of the car and two inward facing seats, again at each end of the car. Everything else is standing room only.
The airport authority has added parking brakes to the luggage carts and the carts are allowed on the Airtrain.
Views of aircraft are exceptional in the Internationl gate areas. Domestic air-side views are more restricted, but still fairly good. I noted a plane-spotter with a telephoto lens ensconced in the Terminal 2 station and I concur with his choice of locations.
There are two lines. The Red Line which runs in a loop between all of the airport terminals, and the Blue Line which covers the same territory plus the West Field Road station and the Rental Car Center. We only took the Blue Line on this trip.
The train runs counter-clockwise around the terminals:
Garage A
International Terminal A
Terminal 1
Terminal 2
Terminal 3
International Terminal G
Garage G (and future connection with BART)
West Field Road
Rental Car Center
West Field Road
Garage A (and repeat...)
Everyone must disembark at the rental car center and catch a train heading back towards the terminal. I don't know why they don't let you ride through the "turn", but I suspect that is where they remove cars when the schedule slows at night. Since the Airtrain runs unattended, there would be a good chance of stranding someone if the car goes into "park" mode.
All in all, a very satisfactory addition to a fine airport. Round trip time: 20 minutes. FF miles earned (AA): four.
Cheers,
birdstrike
We drove into the old short-term parking area and parked next to the bridge to Terminal 1 on the top deck of the structure.
http://www.flysfo.com/guide_nonflash/airportinfo/terminalmap.htm
Access to the Airtrain boarding is one floor up from the top of the old parking structure.
There are two doors per car, two cars per train, one train every four minutes at peak times. Seating is limited to the "bay window" areas on each end of the car and two inward facing seats, again at each end of the car. Everything else is standing room only.
The airport authority has added parking brakes to the luggage carts and the carts are allowed on the Airtrain.
Views of aircraft are exceptional in the Internationl gate areas. Domestic air-side views are more restricted, but still fairly good. I noted a plane-spotter with a telephoto lens ensconced in the Terminal 2 station and I concur with his choice of locations.
There are two lines. The Red Line which runs in a loop between all of the airport terminals, and the Blue Line which covers the same territory plus the West Field Road station and the Rental Car Center. We only took the Blue Line on this trip.
The train runs counter-clockwise around the terminals:
Garage A
International Terminal A
Terminal 1
Terminal 2
Terminal 3
International Terminal G
Garage G (and future connection with BART)
West Field Road
Rental Car Center
West Field Road
Garage A (and repeat...)
Everyone must disembark at the rental car center and catch a train heading back towards the terminal. I don't know why they don't let you ride through the "turn", but I suspect that is where they remove cars when the schedule slows at night. Since the Airtrain runs unattended, there would be a good chance of stranding someone if the car goes into "park" mode.
All in all, a very satisfactory addition to a fine airport. Round trip time: 20 minutes. FF miles earned (AA): four.
Cheers,
birdstrike