EWR Monorail update?
 

Anybody heard any post-tragedy news re: the monorail extension? Last news I heard targeted a late September opening (which I already assumed to be 15 October) - and I assume testing and such has been delayed by recent events, but I haven't found any official word.

Incidentally, I'm not sure if any other airlines dove in head first (I know AA was researching it), but CO has invested in a full check-in and baggage check facility at the rail station - all of which may never be used, with new security regs in place. Add that to all of the eservice check-in kiosks in the gate areas, and you've got an awful lot of investment dumped into the toilet over the last years.

Maybe the spare parts can be sold and the proceeds used to upgrade the cockpit doors?

Not a good time to be an airline exec!

I went thru EWR twice since the attacks and the monorail is still now being tested. Once last week, I noted that it shut down at 11:00 pm, (I'd literally just missed it!) for testing and I had to use the "old" bypass bus.

If I'm not mistaken, the monorail is shut down overnight because the operatoirs have been on strike for some time, and it is being run on a limited schedule by management personnel.

I went thru multiple times last week....the last time being at 2 AM Saturday morning 9/22....and it was running just fine.

For someone who is new to flying into and out of EWR, is there a specific monorail that you have to get on to to Newark Penn Station?

Where does the bus pick you up for the transfer to the train station?

This thread is about the new monorail extension that connects to a new train station on the northest corridor line. This is supposed to open soon, but no date has been announced.

For now, to get from EWR to Newark Penn station, you don't need to take a monorail. Just walk out of the terminal and follow the signs to busses. Take the NJTransit bus #302 Airlink bus to Newark Penn Station. The trip can take awhile.

I guess you are talking about the monorail connection from EWR to Newark Penn Station, right? The monorail among the terminals A, B, C is still operating normally, no?

As for the off-airport check-in, you're right (for now). But Continental's E-Service Centers are operating as normal.

The monorail extension does not go to Newark Penn Station, but to a brand new station (Newark International Airport Station) on the Northeast corridor. The station will service both Amtrak and NJTransit trains.

Here is the website http://www.airtrainnewark.com/airtrainnewark/

So if the new monorail doesn't go through Newark Penn Station, for those of us PATH riders, we have to take the PATH to Newark Penn then take a NJ Transit train (which at most comes 3X an hour) to the new Newark International Airport Station and then take the Airport Monorail to the terminal.

Seems sort of ridiculous, how long does the bus from Newark Penn to EWR take?

When there is no traffic, 15 minutes. However, in evening rush hour during the holiday season, could run up to an hour or even more. (I missed a flight that way last Christmas season!)

Wahoo has a good point there. The new service only seems handy for travelers from New York who find Pennsylvaia Station convenient. I think that the heaviest users of this new station will originate at the NJ Transit stations on the Main Line between Elizabeth and Trenton.

monitor:
You would think that the people you mention would benefit, BUT:
I use the Princeton Junction station. The trip to the new airport station will take 45 minutes and makes 10 stops. It takes me 25 minutes to drive to the train station from my home. There is virtually no parking availabe between 7AM and 4PM due to commuters. If there is a spot the cost is $3.00 a day. What happens if my flight is late into EWR arriving after the last train south (2AM). I can sit at the airport for 3 hours. (After 10 PM, there is just one train per hour) .This just does not sound attractive to me, as an alternative to a 50 minute drive to the airport from my home.

The word around is that the Port Authority is studying extending the PATH trains to the airport, which would create another (less expensive) alternative from the airport to Jersey City, Hoboken, and NYC.

Well, that was before the WTC attack, and now the PA has bigger priorities. I still think that will be part of the long range plan, but don't look for it for at least 5 years.

Word in the transportation industry is that the AirTrain Newark monorail will not open as scheduled on 9/30/01. Indeed, the PA's website no longer lists this opening date.

Originally it was to open before 9/30/01, but reliable sources have mentioned that Gordon Bethune did not want the opening of AirTrain Newark to overshadow his planned gala celebrating the opening of his Global Gateway Terminal (Terminal C expansion)!

If true, it is annoying that the public should suffer from not being able to utilize this important transportation link while his ego is stroked.



[This message has been edited by Globehopper (edited 09-26-2001).]