EWR Airtrain Late Night problem
 

I am writing this because myself and family have encountered this several times at EWR.

I know this is a PANYNJ problem and not a direct CO problem, but it is something that CO Insider should forward to the operations folks at EWR AND maybe they can press the PA into doing something about it.

After midnight, the Airtrain EWR runs only 1 train between all stations after midnight which means that if you miss the train you are waiting 15 minutes to get to the parking garages.

This is fine when operations are normal...most flights arrive well before midnight and it makes sense to limit the train after midnight.

HOWEVER, on night when Continental (the largest tenant at EWR) has irregular ops and there are several dozen flights that are delayed this is where the problem gets compounded. There are so many late flights that sometimes there isn't enough ground staff to man jetways, tow in planes and retrieve luggage...this means that even if a flight lands well before midnight (let's say 11pm) by the time you get off the plane, wait an extended time for your luggage and then head to Airtrain, it's now after midnight and there is ONLY ONE TRAIN!!! So, if you miss it, you and dozens of other people are now waiting in the station by the train arrives and usually IT'S PACKED ALREADY.

There's got to be a pressure release (I mean IT IS an automated system) that will run a second train for one hour after midnight to accommodate all the stranded passengers...it's bad enough your flight was delayed 2-3 hours; it's worse that there is NO GROUND CREW to tow in your plane and then you wait another 45 minutes for your BAGS, then you wait ANOTHER 15 minutes for a train that is already packed rolling into an already packed STATION and you know you don't want to WAIT another 15 mins, to be in the situation.

Is there any way that CO can pressure PA to throw and emergency switch to run an extra train after midnight for one hour during irregular ops?

Anyone else have the same problem and how can we communicate this to CO/PA to fix this.

- HF

why is it "fine?" as you correctly point out, it is an automated system. i've arrived at odd times (super early or late) and have brutal experiences with the Airtrain because it was only running on one track. it is incredibly annoying.

just run both trains, for heaven's sake.

Because the PA won't listen to "Joe Traveler" writing as a single person complaining. The only leverage I have is my relationship with CO and FT...CO as the majority tenant at EWR HAS leverage to let the PA know that a lot of customers get stranded or severely delayed by their hours of operation....

Hey if I was a high priced call girl and had the ear of let's say the governor of NY then maybe I would have more leverage...WHOOPS! Wait she took Amtrak....nevermind. :D

- HF

Ear of the Gov!!!
 

If you were a high class lady of the night

would you be parking in the garage at EWR and waiting for the Airtrain.

NO

You would be met kerbside by a driver and limo.

Common sense please.

A well worded letter of complaint to the CEO of the PA should start the ball rolling.

Adam

I will add my voice to those that feel this is a big problem. Picture a snowy night with lots of delays, for all airlines. By the time the one train gets to C, where there may be a couple of hundred people now waiting, it is FULL from having been packed at A and B first. Wait for the next train 15 mins and repeat, and on and on. Extremely annoying. I usually walk (long) to the parking garage. It is usually faster than not knowing how long before a train will arrive that you can actually get on.

CO pushes NJ Transit service to NYC, so it IS thier problem. People cannot get to the train station.

It's also quite common when arriving late to find the airtrain not running at all, and you have to take a bus to the train station. This takes absolutely forever -- you wait 15 minutes or so, and then they manage to take 20 minutes for the ride over to the station (which should take less than 5)! And of course you still pay the large airtrain surcharge on your train ticket despite the fact that there was no airtrain!

Are taxis generally available at that hour as an alternative?

I'm not sure, but I doubt it. The bus has to go through a massive security fence to get anywhere near the train station (waiting for this damn thing to open often takes 10 minutes). You can't just drive right up to the station, as far as I know.

Of course you could take a cab to Newark Penn Station, but this is a bit of a ways.

You can not drive to the EWR rail station. Neither can a taxi. A taxi will have to take you to Newark Penn Station or Elizabeth if you wish to take a train. At that hour there are probably more train choices at Newark Penn Station than at the EWR rail station.

now back to real world....I don't believe one single letter will make the PA change anything...it will take a LOT of single letters sent as a bloc or a group to make them take notice and listen...or the 400 lb Gorilla known as CO to say "hey, change this".

- HF

In this situation, I would take a cab to Newark Penn and switch to NJT or PATH.

it's not just late night - the trains don't run enough in the morning either.

The AirTrain late night/early morning is nothing short of a disgrace.

On the last three occasions I arrived post 11pm the trains were so full you couldn't board and had to wait 15 minutes.

I guess they don't monitor their traffic flow.

The OP has a very valid point.

Instead of employing all those "helpful" Air Train guides at the terminal they could redeploy some of them to monitor the trafic at the stations and increase the frequency of trains to cope with the traffic flow.