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New Airport Links

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pemma

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What International Airports are in the process of being given rail links and the bigger question when they are due to open?

I've found Naples, Kiev and Toronto in answer to the first part but in answer to the second part it's unknown, should have opened before now and 2016.
 
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starrymarkb

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What International Airports are in the process of being given rail links and the bigger question when they are due to open?

I've found Naples, Kiev and Toronto in answer to the first part but in answer to the second part it's unknown, should have opened before now and 2016.

The new Berlin Brandenburg airport will have a regional and intercity station as and when it opens. (Est March 2013 - The rail link is ready, the airport isn't)
 

pemma

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The new Berlin Brandenburg airport will have a regional and intercity station as and when it opens. (Est March 2013 - The rail link is ready, the airport isn't)

Will this actually go in to the Airport terminals opposed to the current Schonfeld situation where you go out of the terminal, along a walkway, under the road in to a dull station with a lot of people and ticket machines but virtually no staff?
 

starrymarkb

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Will this actually go in to the Airport terminals opposed to the current Schonfeld situation where you go out of the terminal, along a walkway, under the road in to a dull station with a lot of people and ticket machines but virtually no staff?

Yes, it will tunnel under the runways and aprons and be within the terminal complex.

Great description of Schönefeld Bf btw. The airport had a very run down feel to it as well. (Not surprising given it was supposed to shut yesterday!). Mind you Berlin Hbf was similar, lots of people and machines, but no staff about!
 

gottago

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Schönefeld was the only station in Berlin that I encountered that had no English-speaking staff which is ironic considering it served an airport and all that. I wouldn't have minded but the signage was so poor. It took me about 10 minutes to work out which platform I had to use. Horrid airport as well, can't wait for the new one to open.
 

gordonthemoron

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both Bucharest Airports are getting a new metro line. Munich airport is supposed to be getting additional rail links but god knows when.
 

WestCoast

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Great description of Schönefeld Bf btw. The airport had a very run down feel to it as well. (Not surprising given it was supposed to shut yesterday!). Mind you Berlin Hbf was similar, lots of people and machines, but no staff about!

Schönefeld is a horrible airport, although the architecture is hardly surprising given the era in which it was built. It reminds me of that Warsaw Etudia terminal.
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What International Airports are in the process of being given rail links and the bigger question when they are due to open?

Brussels Airport is gaining a new rail link to Antwerp (aside from the spur on the Brussels - Leuven line already there) in the Diabolo project, for which all passengers arriving/departing on trains at the Airport having been paying a supplement to finance! It means, for example, that international services heading to e.g. Paris, London or Cologne could call at the airport. It should be open on 10th June.
 
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pemma

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Schönefeld was the only station in Berlin that I encountered that had no English-speaking staff which is ironic considering it served an airport and all that. I wouldn't have minded but the signage was so poor. It took me about 10 minutes to work out which platform I had to use. Horrid airport as well, can't wait for the new one to open.

Public facing transport staff in Berlin are supposed to be able to deal with enquiries in either English or French but if there are no public facing staff then that's not possible to do.

If you find out in advance which ticket to buy and which train to catch to get to central Berlin other passengers see you as a wealth of information and I don't just mean the English tourists but Eastern Europeans from the likes of Poland as well.

One other negative thing I noticed is the ticket validation machines are at the top of the stairs but not at the top of the ramped access to the platforms.
 

WestCoast

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It always pays to do a little research if you can when travelling, doesn't matter where you're going. Knowing beforehand was invaluable when I was at New York JFK Airport earlier this year, trying the find the Subway from the airport monorail was not easy. I didn't see one member of staff (which is pretty standard for NY transport) and lots of iffy-looking people hanging about offering to, erm, "help you buy a ticket". Made Schoenefeld look very easy.

I still think it's strange that there isn't a direct rail connection to JFK, and no immediate plans to create one! I guess the taxi lobby don't want people being able to get directly downtown for 5 dollars on the LIRR or even 2.50 dollars on the Subway!
 
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NY Yankee

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What International Airports are in the process of being given rail links and the bigger question when they are due to open?

I've found Naples, Kiev and Toronto in answer to the first part but in answer to the second part it's unknown, should have opened before now and 2016.

In DC, they're constructing a Metro line linking downtown DC with Dulles Airport.

It always pays to do a little research if you can when travelling, doesn't matter where you're going. Knowing beforehand was invaluable when I was at New York JFK Airport earlier this year, trying the find the Subway from the airport monorail was not easy. I didn't see one member of staff (which is pretty standard for NY transport) and lots of iffy-looking people hanging about offering to, erm, "help you buy a ticket". Made Schoenefeld look very easy.

I still think it's strange that there isn't a direct rail connection to JFK, and no immediate plans to create one! I guess the taxi lobby don't want people being able to get directly downtown for 5 dollars on the LIRR or even 2.50 dollars on the Subway!

The LIRR and Airtrain combination is the fastest (but most expensive) way to get from JFK to Midtown Manhattan.

Most people take the JFK Airtrain (which is a light rail, not a monorail) to Jamaica and then take the E train to Manhattan, but I could see how it would be confusing for a tourist. There is a long escalator from the Airtrain station in Jamaica to street level. Then, you have to walk under the LIRR station to reach the subway.

As far as a direct link, nothing gets built in NYC. Whenever you try to build something, people complain that the construction will cause noise and trains will bring undesirables to the neighborhood.
 

jamesontheroad

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The New Doha International Airport (NDIA) in Qatar is likely to be served by two lines of the Doha Metro, although I don't know if construction has started yet. DB have been involved in various aspects of the planning of this completely new system.

Dublin Airport was supposed to be the terminus of the city's new Metro North line, but the plans have been shelved for obvious economic reasons.
 
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WestCoast

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Munich airport is supposed to be getting additional rail links but god knows when.

Munich is large airport with a lot of incoming tourists and business passengers heading into the city, but the S-Bahn link is pretty slow (about 50 mins IIRC). There must be a market for a premium fare non-stop service along the line, like the City Airport Train in Vienna (which only saves about 10 minutes over the S7, but costs at least double the single fare!). I am guessing paths and capacity are the issue here.
 

SwindonPkwy

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Slightly further afield. Manila's airport (NAIA) is due to be linked to the city's light rail system by extending LRT1. Being the Philippines, however, I wouldn't advise holding your breath.

Also, in the longer term, there is talk of Clark (50 miles North of Manila but already with two runways) taking over from MNL as the capital's airport. If this were to happen then a high speed rail link is proposed. The timescale given is "within 10 years" so, expect construction to start around 2040.

Don't get me wrong. I love the Philippines.
 

W-on-Sea

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Plans to build a railway to connect the airport at Yerevan, Armenia, with the city have been announced very recently.
http://www.construction.am/aarticle.php?id=55

As for when this will be ready...we'll see. (I wonder if it will be similar to the railway built to Tbilisi Airport in Georgia a few years ago)
 

ACL

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In DC, they're constructing a Metro line linking downtown DC with Dulles Airport.

The DC connection to Dulles Airport (IAD) is currently under construction. The first phase (that doesn't quite reach the airport) of the Silver Line is scheduled to open in 2013. The second phase, which reaches the airport and beyond is currently scheduled to open in 2016, but the local governments in the State of Virginia (which are notoriously short-sighted) are embroiled in a fight over the sharing of the costs.

http://www.dullesmetro.com/
 
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jopsuk

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Can we include UK International ones? The much maligned Edinburgh Tram Line 1 will be going to the airport.

Bordeaux recently extended its tram system to Mérignac town centre, near to Bordeaux-Mérignac International, but didn't build a branch to the airport itself- is this a missed opportunity or does anyone know if they have a future plan to include it?
 

lemonic

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Warsaw Airport now has a railway connection to the centre, which started on 1 June, just in time for Euro 2012. The airport station was built at least a couple of years ago, but there was no connection to the existing railway tracks a mile away. Trains run roughly every 15 mins but some serve different stations in the centre i.e. some go to Srodmiescie, the suburban station and some go to Centralna, the central station, which must be confusing for passengers, especially going towards the airport as they may not know which station to go to for the next train to the airport, although both stations are 5 mins walk apart.

And WestCoast may be glad to know that Etiuda Terminal at Warsaw Airport has closed. It really was a very small and unpleasant terminal. WizzAir weren't happy to be told they had to move to Terminal 1 and as such pay the airport more. Well in mid July, Warsaw's second airport, Modlin, is opening to the north of the city, and will be served primarily by low-cost airlines including Wizzair and Ryanair.
 

johnnychips

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Whenever the Naples metro extension to Capodicino airport is due to open, add three years if the progress of the Piazza Dante-Piazza Garibaldi/Napoli Centrale extension is anything to go by.

However Napoli airport is one of the closest to a big city centre I can think of (7km), so if you still have to get the bus, it won't take that long
 

Jordeh

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When I was in Finland in October last year there was an ongoing construction product to connect Helsinki Airport to the rail network.
 

NY Yankee

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The DC connection to Dulles Airport (IAD) is currently under construction. The first phase (that doesn't quite reach the airport) of the Silver Line is scheduled to open in 2013. The second phase, which reaches the airport and beyond is currently scheduled to open in 2016, but the local governments in the State of Virginia (which are notoriously short-sighted) are embroiled in a fight over the sharing of the costs.

http://www.dullesmetro.com/

I heard about it. I've been to DC numerous times. In fact, I may head there in August. I think the first phase of the Silver Line will serve Tysons Corner, which is a major commercial and residential development. The DC Metro is the only system I like more than the London Underground.
 

ACL

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I heard about it. I've been to DC numerous times. In fact, I may head there in August. I think the first phase of the Silver Line will serve Tysons Corner, which is a major commercial and residential development. The DC Metro is the only system I like more than the London Underground.

The first section of the Silver Line will have several stops in the Tysons Corner area and will reach all the way to Reston, Virginia; specifically the intersection of the Dulles Access Road (which the tracks will run down the median) and Wiehle Avenue.
 
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