EWR Monorail out of order
 

Entrance closed at terminal c. Don't know about the rest. "Buses are being provided."

Called WeCare and suggested they let people know...perhaps with Tripalert. They didn't know there was a problem.

I wouldn't have made my bus at Penn Station (Newark), so I took car service. I don't know how they're connecting to Amtrak.

Bummer. The EWR monorail makes things so effortless.

it is always out of service when it gets cold - the system is a theme park monorail that was bought at discount. small cars, small doors

one car in operation after 11 pm - ridiculous.

someone should be fired for that

btw - the elevators for the P4 garage dont operate too well when it gets cold either

After too many problems to list, I wouldn't ride the airtrain/monorail if it was free. If you're coming from Manhattan, take the PATH to Newark and then a cab. Or if you're running early, take the bus from Newark - runs twice an hour and a bargain at $1.10.

I disagree - With the exception of coming home late on a Sunday night and not wanting to risk the once an hour NJ Transit train to Penn Station, I simply LOVE AirTrain. My apartment on 26th to Penn Station to the airport to the President' club in under an hour? Beat that with a taxi/traffic/tolls/the turnpike... And for $11.55? Worth every penny. Smart tip: Buy 9 tickets at a time at the machines. Makes it easier as opposed to having to buy one each time.

AirTrain is not bad, I would take a connection through Amtrak on ocassion and it's really not terrible... weekdays anht ratd day time weekends its runs fair fairly frequently.

As for it being a theme part Monorail being bought really cheap. When it was first installed it was not working as "promised" and they did over pay, but it is a commerical class system (infact some theme park monorails are high quality -disney for example). It's no longer known as the multi-million dollar misfit of EWR, it works most of the time. It now does do as advertised....

-Vincent

Newark is my home port, and I can't believe anyone likes it. OMG, it is sooooo sloow. At least when I fly to Newark, i don't visit. Rental buses are faster then that thing.

PANYNJ could not have thought it would be more convienient. You have to go downstairs, get your bags, go up 2 flights, take the elevator, take the train, and then back down 2 more flights when getting to your rental car. What a pain.

I took a bus from the AirTrain station to C during that big snowstorm. It was rather ugly, truth be told...lots of people, waited for 10 minutes or so in a small stairwell, waded into the snow to board the bus - and then of course it had to stop at A and B first.

But that was in the middle of the storm, and the bus provisioning was ad lib. Perhaps it will be easier for them to arrange with advance notice.

I for one REALLY dislike the monorail. Every time I ride it I say a prayer. I have been stuck on it twice. Once in the station. The doors closed, but the train didn't move and the doors wouldn't open. The second time was between stops. Both times it was at least 10 minutes. Both times it was not during cold weather.

The monorail was also out during the blizzard last month. I landed at EWR at 9:00pm (8 hours delayed) on Sunday 1/23. The airport was a zoo. Long lines everywhere. Went to the monorail entrance which was closed. I asked the airport worker stationed there how I could walk to station P4? Her response was an instant classic -

"I ain't gonna tell no-body they can walk no-where. I don't want no-body coming back here and beating me up."

Alrighty then. I knew there was a way, I had done it before. Wait for the bus? I played that game before and lost, and it wasn't during the cleanup from a blizzard. A little searching and I found it. If you exit from the mid-level and head left, there is a path to station P4 (parking, hotel vans, off airport parking van pick-up).

The system has a history of not working when it is cold. Give me a break. Whoever designed and built it didn't know it got cold in Newark during the winter?? Believe it or not, yes, it was disclosed after the fact that severe cold weather was not fully considered. Utter stupidity. The monorail folly (including the cost overruns, design flaws, and unreliability) has been well documented by the local newspaper, the Newark Star Ledger.

SunLover

The monorail does have its issues but it has gotten better since thing was installed.

Personally when I am working south of EWR, eg. Philly or Wilmington, DE. AMTRAK is great to connect with EWR.

You're forgetting that not all of the elevators go to all of the floors and the floors that they do go to are not always obviously marked. Couple that with the fact that some sets of elevators are called by a common control yet go to different sets of floors.

I believe that the monorails were taken into account when the terminals were first designed. At that time there were no security checkpoints. Things changed a LOT between then and the actual (lousy) implementation. Other airports have similarly ill-conceived entry/exits from their transportation systems. Look at the train at SFO. To get to/from it from where CO flies you have to go down the escalator, across the tunnel, up an elevator, over to the underside of the station, then up another escalator. It's much more of a mess if you have bags and need to use the ramps/elevators.

Sure - you're 5 blocks from Penn Station. But I was talking about GETTING to the airport from Manhattan. If you take the PATH to Newark and then a taxi, there are no tolls and no traffic and no turnpike. It costs $1.50 for the PATH and $14 for the cab, which is $4 more than the AirTrain. I'll spend that $4 everytime.

There are also the Coach Buses that leave from downtown (as well as several midtown locations) twice an hour @ $11 (and they are ALWAYS empty GOING to the airport) and the Airport Super Shuttle ($21). In my opinion, unless you live right next to Penn Station, all of these are better alternatives to the unreliable and cramped AirTrain.

Try getting on NJ Transit with a bag at rush hour! And most people going to the airport travel with at least one bag of size. Something the planners of the AirTrain never considered. :td:

And it's not that I'm against any AirTrains. I continue to sing the praises of the AirLink in Hong Kong. You can roll a FREE luggage cart from the baggage carousel directly to the trains doors at the Airport. You then place your bags in the luggage rack and relax in a very comfortable seat. You are then whisked to your destination (Hong Kong Island, etc) and there are FREE luggage carts right by the train doors as you exit, even though the indoor taxi stand is less than 50 yards away. ^

And this was built around the same time as the EWR AirTrain. Makes me proud to be an American. :(

And don't get me started on the JFK AirTrain! :mad:

As for EWR & JFK just think of the cost over runs and how many connected people were able to put some nice $$$ in their pockets. the fact that its not ideal for the people who need to use it, hey this is the Good Ole USA when did we ever that the end users into cosideration.

what I like even better was how they instituted the $3 -5 fee for airport improvements and then when these things are completed they jack up the price of parking etc and say now that theres this monorail that you can use (have to use) you have to pay more. Well if the funds came from the airport fees then there shouldnt have been any other fees to have gone up. Heck the trams run without drivers it should be cheaper to run them then the buses that were used before.

I guess that goes along with a city charging a tax so they can build a new Stadium, Arena whatever for their local Professional Team, heck if the people living dont want to pay for it why should !!?? when I rent a car, stay at a hotel, I have to pay for it and yet its the locals that will get the benefit. If the owners dont want to pay let them sell the team and get out of the business. But thats not likeky gonna change any time soon either.