Train To The Plane

[Gilbert B Norman]

Considering my age (78), I have friends and neighbors who are anywhere between astounded and concerned, that I use "train to the plane" and v.v. in this life. The neighbors are all affluent, and fly far more frequently than my four or five times a year. So they think in terms of using a for-hire motor vehicle to get there (one has an "airport junker" that they drive and park at ORD).

I'm of mind to take my "poor man's way to the airport". I'm of course retired so my time has no monetary value attached to it. Here is my all time, worldwide compilation of "train to the plane" and a one liner on my thoughts regarding such:

"Poor man's way to O'Hare". BNSF to CUS then CTA Blue Line: Can take three hours on a Weekend, but it works @ $8.50 RT Senior fare.

DFW to Dallas City Center Marriott. This starts with a meandering bus ride all through the DFW terminals and eventually gets to DART. Two hours and a 100yd walk from Pearl Street to the hotel. $1.50 Senior each way.

ATL to Dunwoody GA: all on the Red line and one train. Half mile walk to Crowne Plaza where I usually stay. $5 Round trip.

MIA to Arsht Center. There can be not really explained delays, which are unnerving if you are going TO a flight. Change at Govt Center to the Mover. Arsht Center Mover station is three block to the Marriott at which I stay. Fare; Mover is free, $4 on Metrorail.

JFK to Brooklyn. Make like Duke Ellington on A Train to Howard Beach then AirTrain to JFK. $10 each way (AirTrain "socks it to ya"), but sure cheap compared to the $70 taxicab my Niece said to use.

EWR to Penn. Did this without incident once now a while back. Interesting to learn that Mr. Andrewjw reports at another topic that the system will be torn down and replaced with another.

"Left Coast"? Can't help you there; haven't been out that way in twenty five years.

Overseas:

LHR to Euston Station. Understand much improved since I was last there, but 1.5hr and a "close shave" connection using Underground.

MUC to Munich Ost: S-Bahn absolutely seamless and then to the DB and Salzburg.

Hbf to FRA; been a while, but again S-Bahn."seamless".

That's all folks!!

[jonnhrr]

Boston (when I lived in central MA)

MBTA Fitchburg line to North Station, Green Line to Government Center or Orange line to State, depending on which one is less fouled up at that time, Blue Line to Airport station, shuttle bus to terminal.
Alternatively when trains are few and far between on weekends, drive to Alewife station, Red line to Park st. or DTX,
Green line to Govt. Ctr. or Orange Line to State, then as above.

One can also ride the Red Line to South Station and take the dual mode trolley bus that runs direct to the airport terminals but I've been told it takes longer even with the multiple changes needed by the all subway routing.

Here from Maine I usually take the Concord Coach (sorry railfans) which conveniently leaves every 2 hours from a stop a few minutes away on the ME turnpike. Requires a bus change in Portland to the hourly service to Logan Airport. Downeaster requires a 30 minute drive to Brunswick, doesn't run as often, and requires the green/orange to blue to shuttle thingy.

[mtuandrew]

Washington DC is dead simple to DCA: Blue or Yellow, transfer at either Rosslyn, Metro Center, L’Enfant or Gallery Place/Chinatown depending on what part of town you come from.
-IAD is harder: Silver Line to Wiehle-Reston East and a bus from there, until the line officially opens. There’s a direct bus from Rosslyn too.
-BWI is easy from Baltimore, just ride the LRT to the end. You could also pick up either the MARC Penn Line or Amtrak for access from either Baltimore or Washington, and from Washington you can take the Green Line to Greenbelt then the B30 bus.

[ExCon90]

From LHR the Heathrow Express goes to Paddington--15 or 20 minutes, depending on the terminal; makes getting to or from the airport actually pleasant. Departures every 15 minutes; since the transit time to the nearest terminal is equal to the headway, for awhile they were using the slogan "Famous For 15 Minutes." For the return from Paddington there is a central platform between two tracks, always with a train waiting with its doors open. (I agree that for LHR the Piccadilly Line is the very poor man's way; since a lot of transatlantic flights leave around midday you share your luggage with a lot of commuters on their way to work.)

At FRA the railroad station is in two sections: Tracks 1-3 for frequent S-Bahn trains to Frankfurt and Mainz; in the other section, tracks 4-7 (a bit of a hike, but it's all under cover) for InterCity and ICE trains to many places in Germany as far afield as Berlin; about as close to seamless as you can get. The same applies in Switzerland from both Zurich and Geneva airports, and in the Netherlands from Schiphol to just about everywhere, though you may have to wait up to 30 minutes for a train to a destination other than Amsterdam ...

I always found that the best way to start a trip in Germany is to book a hotel in someplace like Stuttgart, Munich, or Berlin, since flights from the US tend to arrive at breakfast time, when your hotel room is still occupied by whoever had it last night. By the time you get to your actual destination from Frankfurt it's midday or later, and your room will be ready.

In Philadelphia, SEPTA Regional Rail serves most terminals directly, with connections in Center City to the rest of the system; unfortunately the 30-minute headway is longer than the transit time to Center City, meaning that if you just miss a train you'll get there faster in a taxi than on the next train, but of course taking a taxi is far from being "the poor man's way." (And if you enjoy working out puzzles in your head you can try to figure out which is the cheapest way to actually pay the !@#$%^&*() fare--see the SEPTA forum for details.

[Gilbert B Norman]

Mr. Ex Con, going to Salzburg, which has no flights to or from overseas, certainly takes care of the "problem" of what to do with the time between flight arrival and hotel check in.

From now having done this five times in as many years (a sixth starts next week), let's say the flight from the States shows up in EDDM/MUC/Munich at 930A (mine from Chicago). First stop after being cleared for me is a public shower there. Private bathrooms, and so far as I'm concerned, the best spent €15 on the trip.

Next is the 27 klick S-Bahn to Munich East station. While the premium Rail Jets do not stop there, there is still "one an hour" to Salzburg. Just be certain not to use "a Metro North ticket to ride Amtrak". As I found out the hard way (I got "put off" at Rosenheim - halfway to Salzburg by "Brunhilde" - a DB Conductrix resembling same), be sure to have a ticket for whichever train, Meridian, Euro City, or Inter City, you ride.

Takes 1.25 hrs to do the 150 klicks; leave the Airport by 1, and you'll be in this absolute Disneyland of a city about 230P. The hotel at which I stay is 1 klick from the Hbf, or a 20 min walk carrying my bag.

[Rockingham Racer]

Boston (when I lived in central MA)

MBTA Fitchburg line to North Station, Green Line to Government Center or Orange line to State, depending on which one is less fouled up at that time, Blue Line to Airport station, shuttle bus to terminal.
Alternatively when trains are few and far between on weekends, drive to Alewife station, Red line to Park st. or DTX,
Green line to Govt. Ctr. or Orange Line to State, then as above.

One can also ride the Red Line to South Station and take the dual mode trolley bus that runs direct to the airport terminals but I've been told it takes longer even with the multiple changes needed by the all subway routing.

Here from Maine I usually take the Concord Coach (sorry railfans) which conveniently leaves every 2 hours from a stop a few minutes away on the ME turnpike. Requires a bus change in Portland to the hourly service to Logan Airport. Downeaster requires a 30 minute drive to Brunswick, doesn't run as often, and requires the green/orange to blue to shuttle thingy.

You can also get off the Downeaster and take the Woburn Express bus from there. It leaves every 30 minutes weekdays.

[ExCon90]

Mr. Norman, I greatly regret the passing of the days when a Eurailpass (or similar one-country pass) would enable you to ride any train at all, and the train operator was the national railway of whatever country you were in. Now it seems that we encounter the NJT-SEPTA- vs.-Amtrak situation in Europe.

[R36 Combine Coach]

STL: Metrolink has direct service daily to city points and Illinois.

SFO: BART (Yellow Line/Pittsburg) to downtown (Market Street) and Oakland. Change for other East Bay points.

Oakland International: BART station (and Capitol Corridor) at Coliseum, "AirBART" shuttle.

BWI Thurgood Marshall: Rail station on premises, shuttle service to terminals.

Milwaukee: Hiawatha service (opened 1/18/05), shuttle to terminal.

Denver: RTD "A" to airport.

ARR runs directly into Anchorage (ANC), charter and excursion only (no scheduled passenger service at this time).

Of course, the original "train to the plane" was NYCT's JFK express, operated with 1200-series R46s ordered specifically for the service, launched 9/23/1978. Running from 57 Street (IND) on Sixth Avenue and non stop express through Brooklyn from Jay Street to Howard Beach, with connections to PANYNJ buses. Premium fare charge, cash collected by conductors on board. Service ended April 14, 1990.

[eolesen]

In Los Angeles, I've taken Amtrak to Metrolink to LAUPT, and then there's an express Flyaway bus to LAX. Our family was vacationing in San Clemente, which made it quite convenient when I had to leave early on a business trip.

[RRspatch]

I'll add a few more -

Seattle - Light rail to Seatac airport.
http://urbanrail.net/am/seat/seattle.htm

Minneapolis - Light rail Blue line to Lindbergh/Humphrey airport
http://urbanrail.net/am/minn/minneapolis.htm

Cleveland - Red line rapid transit to Hopkins.
http://urbanrail.net/am/clev/cleveland.htm
Isn't Cleveland the original train to the plane line in the US?

Salt Lake City - Line 704 to the airport.
http://urbanrail.net/am/salt/salt-lake-city.htm

Vancouver - Canada line to YVR airport
http://urbanrail.net/am/vanc/vancouver.htm

Toronto - Union Pearson Express.
Does not show up on urbanrail.net Toronto map.

Montreal - Light rail (REM) to airport (under construction)
http://urbanrail.net/am/monr/montreal.htm

Los Angeles - Light rail Crenshaw line (under construction)
http://urbanrail.net/am/lsan/los-angeles.htm

[R36 Combine Coach]

Cleveland - Red line rapid transit to Hopkins.

Isn't Cleveland the original train to the plane line in the US?

Toronto - Union Pearson Express.
Does not show up on urbanrail.net Toronto map.

Indeed, Cleveland was first North American city with direct rail link to airport (1968). The "Airporter" MU cars with interurban style seating and luggage racks were ordered from Pullman for the Hopkins Airport extension.

In a similar manner, the 1973 stock on the Piccadilly Line was designed for added room for Heathrow airport passengers and luggage (and rumored the R44s were designed for such added interior passenger and luggage room, being destined for the A line to JFK). The final 40 cars of the Budd/TransitAmerica CTA 2600s (3161-3200) delivered in early 1987 had factory installed luggage racks, being assigned to the Blue Line to ORD (removed during overhaul at Alstom in 2001-2002). Several SEPTA Silverliner IIIs (232-239) were fitted with luggage racks, being assigned to PHL service upon overhaul.

The Union-Pearson Express (UPX) is still rather new (opened June 6, 2015). Nippon-Sharyo DMUs are used.

To add:

Teterboro (TEB): Pascack Valley Line to Teterboro, walk south, left (east) through Walmart and Costco, then right on Industrial Ave. 15 minute walk, 2/3 mile

Stewart (SWF): MNCR extension (Port Jervis Line spur) studied

LGA: 7 or LIRR to Woodside (61 Street), Q70 Express to terminals; Metro-North or any subway to 125 Street to M60 or Q48 from Flushing Main Street (7 and LIRR)

Westchester (HPN): MNCR to White Plains, transfer to Bee-Line 12

MacArthur (ISP): LIRR to Ronkonkoma

T.F. Green (PVD): MBTA

[Joseph1]

It is somewhat difficult to take the train to the airport in San Diego. The Coaster and Amtrak do stop at the Santa Fe Depot downtown. From there, you go on the city bus to the airport. The San Diego Trolley also stops at the depot, but you can also catch a shuttle from the Middletown stop a few miles north, which is closer to the airport. You have to walk across the busy Pacific Highway to get to the shuttle from the stop. Other cities have it much easier in terms of taking a train or light rail to the airport.

[MACTRAXX]

R36 (and Everyone:)

Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP) is accessible from the LIRR Ronkonkoma Station by way of the
Suffolk Transit S57 bus or local taxi service to the Terminal which is on the south central perimeter of the
Airport near Veterans Memorial Highway (NYS 454) and Johnson Avenue - the main entrance.
Ronkonkoma Station is adjacent to the northwest corner of the ISP property...MACTRAXX

[andrewjw]

Mr. Norman, thank you for starting this topic, I've really enjoyed reading it. I had some fun using public transit to get to airports around Europe last summer, so I can add:

If you're unfortunate enough to be flying to or from Beauvais-Tille (probably on RyanAir), you can get a bus from Porte Maillot, but if you don't want to get stuck in traffic you can take the TER from Gare du Nord, either direct (line 29) or (faster and more frequent) with a transfer in Creil, (line 28 from Beauvais and line 23/24/27 to Paris). There's a shuttle bus from the station to the airport (but check the schedule, none of this frequent enough to show up and go).

Amsterdam Schiphol's station is beautifully integrated into the airport, and trains can take you anywhere in the Netherlands (or several nearby countries). Just make sure you get on the right train - not all northbounds go to Centraal!

Dublin has a multitude of buses to get to the airport, and they are run by different brands with different tickets even though they share a numbering scheme. Make sure you get the right ticket - the 747/757 Airlink (express just outside the city center and a dozen stops through it) is publicly operated, the 700 Aircoach (express to one stop downtown) is private, and the 41 is the local bus.

Porto (OPO) has convenient Metro (low-floor trams with a mix of median, street, and dedicated ROW and a downtown tunnel) access, but make sure you buy the right zone fare.

When traveling around Europe I definitely recommend the Trainline app - you can get a good idea of what fare classes will show up where without having to depend on translations (it's an English app, as in the land as well as the tongue).

Some more notes:

For JFK, if you buy the CityTicket on the weekend (or Atlantic Ticket on the weekdays) you can get from anywhere in Brooklyn/Queens (most notably Barclays Center) for about $10 on LIRR - it's faster, especially late at night when the A runs local.

For EWR, I'm hard put to see the AirTrain + NJT tickets as a "poor man's route"... how much are they up to now? The cheapest way is to take PATH from World Trade Center (or anywhere on 6th Av from 9th to 33rd Sts with the transfer) to the route 62 bus, it costs just about $5. The Route 62 bus does get stuck in rather bad traffic so you need to leave a lot more time, though.

For LGA the E/F/M/R to the Q70 bus is faster than a cab a lot of the time, since the worst of the traffic is getting out of Manhattan and once you're in Jackson Heights the bus (on the highway, no stops) is slightly faster than a cab since it can use the bus lane at LGA. At $2.75 this is the cheapest airport ride in NYC. The M60 does NOT run on the highway in Queens - it runs right next to it and gets stuck at all the lights.

For SWF (the secret fourth Port Authority airport - no I do not count Atlantic City), there's an express bus from Port Authority, but I'd rather enjoy the ride along the Hudson to Beacon and then take an Uber (the bus is very infrequent and takes well over twice as long). You can also take the much cheaper Port Jervis line to a much cheaper Uber, add PATH and still come out ahead.

For SFO, they've rather nicely reintroduced a shuttle from SFO to Millbrae running at peak times to avoid having to ride up to San Bruno and then back down on the BART. There's also a bus from Millbrae to SFO which picks up right near the southbound Caltrain platform, convenient when BART would require a transfer.

[jonnhrr]

For London, I don't recall seeing extra space for luggage on the '73 Tube Stock but maybe that was added since I used it last, about 10 years ago. The Tube is the cheap but slow way to get to/from LHR. If you can splurge, or your company is paying then the Heathrow Express to Paddington is fast and comfortable. Of course you still have to shlep your bags on the Underground from there unless you are going somewhere nearby. The soon (?) to be open Elizabeth Line (AKA Crossrail) should improve Heathrow access also.

On the subject of London there is also Gatwick which lies right on the London to Brighton line of what was called Network Southeast when I used it last, I believe it is now the Southern (what goes around comes around as that was Southern Railway after the 1923 grouping) . Via Thameslink you can now get to all kinds of places besides Victoria station or Brighton.

For Stansted a 2 minute walk to the station where there are trains to/from London Liverpool St. as well as other destinations.