Is the EWR monorail airside? Or, if I have to get from Terminal A to C, will I have to go through sercurity in Terminal C?

The AirTrain is not airside, so you need to re-clear security if using it to tranfer between terminals.

There is also a bus that runs airside between A and C. Depending on the time of day, it is usually a much faster option. The bus departs at C71 and arrives at A28.

More info can be found here.

Correction: ALWAYS a much faster option. Even if there was no line to re-clear security, you have to keep in mind that the AirTrain is pulled by a team of gerbils, or so its average speed would make it seem.

Agreed - the AirTrain is the slowest train ever!!!

You are correct - the AirTrain is extremely slow and often seems to be running with limited frequency due to maintenance. I have also seen occasions (although, not recently) where the bus was delayed and the line to get on was very long. In this instance, it was probably faster to take the AirTrain and re-clear security.

In any case, I just wanted to give the OP info on both options.

Last night when I got in from the west coast there was only 1 train running and everyone had to go from C to P4 then back towards C, B , A

and its not really a train! its a monorail!

But they call it the Airtrain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q44IDYpEeso

This is the standard MO that kicks in sometime between 11:30 PM and midnight nightly. Rolov means that only one train is running in both directions between A & C. In total, there are really three trains running across the entire Airtrain system;

1) One train between P4 and the NJ Transit/Amtrak station
2) One between P4 and Terminals A, B & C.
3) One between Terminal A and P1, P2, and P3.

Nope - the EWR monorail is the second slowest!

The honour goes to the monorail at BHX (originally called Maglev, as in Hungarian/levitation, and IIRC claimed by the locals back in the late 1980s/early 1990s as the world's first magnetic train).

It seems to have two speeds - stopped, and snail's pace.

BTW, I usually walk between terminals at EWR. It's a chance for some fresh(ish) air, after a flight (and a cigar).

It's an absolute travesty. Someone should be in jail and they should just tear it down and start over again. The JFK AirTrain is 50 times better.

This is ironic on a few levels.

OP: take the bus or the pack mule.

Thanks - glad you saw the irony (at least not the lowest from of humour!).

To be fair to EWR, however; it does seem to have fresher air than BHX!

Actually, the Port Authority took a close look at the problems at the EWR AirTrain when they built the JFK AirTrain.

One of the main reasons the EWR AirTrain is so slow and requires so much maintenance is that the technology has always been faulty. Shortly after it opened, corrosion was discovered and the entire system had to be shut down for a number of months.

The problem has not been totally solved and the system still operates poorly whenever the exterior temperature is hot or cold.

Also, the other very poor aspect of this AirTrain are the tiny, disconnected cabins. If you have the misfortune of lining up at a cabin that is already full, not only will you not get on, but the cabin next to yours will most likely fill up before you can get on.

There is no question that the JFK AirTrain is vastly superior.