Airport to Downtown

I do some traveling to various urban areas in the USA and Canada and one thing I like is to use mass transit between the airport and my hotel (I usually book one downtown). I'd like to swap experiences in this thread with other people who have done likewise.

When I first began traveling, getting from the airport to downtown seemed one of the most difficult parts of the trip. Especially when traveling to an area I had never been to. Once you get off your flight and walk through those arrival gates you're on your own Charlie! haha But I soon came to enjoy pitting myself against the various transit systems. Only after a number of trips it actually got kinda boring, no matter where I went. Nowadays they make it too easy!

I apologize in advance since this message is about a recent trip where I was forced to use local transit buses. I think it is on-topic in the sense it's about the difficulty of NOT having a rail connection from airport to downtown.

This recent experience involved flying on Xmas day to Dallas-Ft Worth, an area I had never been to. The Trinity Rail Express wasn't running and I almost decided to take a cab, Then I thought, 'No too easy.' My only preparation was to go to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) home page and print out the result I got from the Trip Planner. I didn't look at any maps or etc. Just printed out the directions. Three DART buses and the Red Line Light Rail was all I needed to get from DFW to my hotel the planner said. Being that it was December I crossed my fingers the weather wouldn't be too bad. Other than that I didn't foresee too many problems.

It turned out to be fairly simple. The most frustrating part was -- after waiting a half hour at the air terminal for a DART parking area loop bus (which I never did see) -- realizing I could've taken ANY van marked "Parking Area C." They all connected to the DART bus stop at the parking lot entrance. I boarded my first DART bus (ever!) and discovered it had an automated stop announcer so finding the transfer point for the second DART bus was easy. I had a couple of shaky moments after I got off the first bus, I admit. Waiting by myself at the bus stop at an intersection on Mockingbird Lane near I-35 in an area of office parks all deserted and shut down tight due to the holiday. Not another soul in sight. Having virtually no idea where I was (other than Dallas, Texas USA lol). I began to wonder, 'Tommy boy do you really know what you're doing?' But the bus came along in about 20 minutes and took me right downtown to a Dallas Light Rail stop. The Light Rail WAS running on Christmas and soon I was at my hotel (literally across the street from Dallas Union Station).

All in all, a fairly smooth trip. Two hours total travel time (reasonable). All I needed was to pay the basic fare and get a transfer from the first DART driver (I bought a Day Pass from the vending machine on the Light Rail platform) so the cost was very low. After stowing my stuff I used the Day Pass to explore the Light Rail.

Returning the following Friday, I took Trinity Rail Express to the DFW station. Airport shuttle vans meet the trains and take you to parking areas where you can get vans to the various terminals. Much quicker.

I apolgize for all the bus stuff in my message but TRE does not run on major holidays while the DART buses do. But it turned out the train was quicker. About half the time.

[edited for clarity]

I've taken the Chicago CTA Blue Line from O'Hare. Don't do it in rush hour if you have luggage. There were no luggage racks, my suitcase was in the aisle causing incovenience to anyone passing by. Off at LaSalle St. station, then upstairs to Metra RI line to get home.

Amtersdam was convenient when I was in Europe. Trains to the airport are frequent.

I've taken the Blue Line too from O'Hare. I agree it's a very easy connection. Plenty of signs too so you can find it.

But how do you get from the Blue Line to LaSalle Street? It's only a couple blocks, I guess, but you mentioned a suitcase.......

Two convenient airport rail connections I've used are in Atlanta and Cleveland. They're both directly in the terminal, which is pretty amazing for Cleveland since the Airport extension opened in the '60s. In Atlanta, they built the station several years before the line was actually extended to the Airport when they were building the Terminal. Both lines from the airport in Cleveland and Atlanta go directly into downtown.

Internationally, Brussels is kind of a pain to get to the EU Area (long bus ride), but there is direct service into the center on the mainline rail system.

Speaking of O'Hare, I want to try the Metra connection via the North Central trains. There's a stop about 30 minutes out of CUS called O'Hare Transfer. Last time I was in Chicago I rode an outbound North Central train and saw that an airport van actually did meet the train. As I recall two people actually made the transfer, business travelers in suits.

I saw Metra advertisments for the connection but it seemed like they weren't really pushing. North Central service finally got additional midday trains but it's still not even hourly -- about every two hours, I think -- and still no Saturday, Sunday and holiday service.

Last time I was a bit leery about about using the servce for the first time to go to the airport. For one thing, I don't like to get to the airport too early and the schedules didn't quite work out otherwise.

I enjoyed riding the North Central line. On the Chicago end of the line we spent a lot of the trip dodging freights. So next time I fly into O'Hare I am going to try the Metra/North Central connection. Even if it means waiting a couple of hours -- and it might! -- I think I'll give it a shot.

Chicago is unique in the US in that there are L trains to BOTH major airports. As already stated, the Blue line goes from downtown to O'Hare. The Orange line goes from downtown to Midway Airport. There's also the Metra North Central service from Union Station with an O'Hare stop (requires shuttle bus to terminal). And, If Chicago-Gary Airport in NW Indiana ever gets reliable, consistent air service, the South Shore line can take you there from Randolph St. station in downtown Chicago. Wow, lots of choices!

Everywhere I went, including fantrips with the Electric Railroaders' Assn., I would research the ground transportation opportunities at the airport.

I've done the O'Hare to downtown subway ride more than once with "one carryon and one personal item". (A not so big suitcase and my camera bag) I've also taken the local bus from San Fran' airport to Mission St. downtown; the express bus doesn't allow baggage.

I rate airports thusly:
Class A -- Has frequent rail service to downtown.
Class B -- Has city bus service.
Class C -- Only taxis and limos.

So Chicago gets an A; SF got a B but since upgraded to A when BART was extended.

Some of the following B and C ratings may be outdated:
Boston -- A- (shuttle bus to subway)
Schaumberg (Chicago) -- B
Cleveland -- A
Detroit -- C
Honolulu -- C (bus service but no baggage allowed)
Los Angeles -- A- (shuttle bus to light rail)
Orlando downtown -- B
Orlando Disney -- C (some hotels out there have free shuttle)
Philadelphia -- A- (half hour service)
Pittsburgh -- C
Portland OR -- A
Seattle -- B
Toronto -- C
Wash. DC Dulles -- C+ (private shuttle to subway station)
Wash. DC Reagan -- A

Even if it is rush hour, I will bring baggage on the subway.

Sigh...everybody forgets poor Baltimore. BWI-Thurgood Marshall has half-hourly light rail service to downtown, running through to the northern suburbs.

BaltOhio wrote:Sigh...everybody forgets poor Baltimore. BWI-Thurgood Marshall has half-hourly light rail service to downtown, running through to the northern suburbs.

Plus a shuttle bus to MARC/Amtrak at BWI.

I might quibble with an A- for Boston. While on paper, its got subway service, the shuttles are a long ride, and the Silver Line is not an adequate substitute. I'd say Boston/Logan is a B+, really heavy bus service, with rail in the vicinity. Its enough that I'm now kind of glad my closest airport is Manchester NH, even if it means driving.

Let's also remember that Newark Int'l Airport has the monorail connecting terminals with NJT/Amtrak EWR rail station. NJT trains run frequently and can connect passengers with New York, Newark and other points in NJ. Amtrak can take passengers throughout its NEC system. JFK airport has Airtrain that connects to LIRR and NYC subway.

I like Chicago, especially Midway, and Philadelphia (train connects to Amtrak then rolls right thru center city). New York is greatly improved except LaGuardia (can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear).

What is doing with Denver? Know when it opened there was NOTHING

Montreal is like LaGuardia - too close to the congested city to get rail in there. There is a bus route, but it makes a couple of connections and is very much unadvertised. Direct bus is really a limo with its cost;

...Ken

Another connection I like is at Toronto (Pearson Intl). Soon GO Transit will have a direct service (you can see the end of a runway from the Georgetown trains) but there's already a decent connection. The TTC Airport Rocket -- a transit bus with room for luggage -- runs express to the Kipling Terminal of the Bloor-Danforth subway. You do have to make another change to get downtown -- at Spadina to get the Yonge St train (or you can connect to the Spadina Avenue light rail line there) -- but it's a quick connection.

There's an alternative means, available during rush hours only though. Last couple times, to return to the airport I took a GO Transit Milton Line PM commuter train from Union Station to Kipling. Then the bus. Very quick, under 30 minutes Union to air terminal (!) and a great rail ride. The Milton Line trains are one of the few (only, I think) GO commuter lines that uses a Canadian Pacific route. You go north from the lake shore on a CP main line, parallel to the Canadian National transcontinental main line. At North Toronto Jct. you swing west on what is the east/west CP freight main through Toronto. Right past the MacMillan Yard where there's always been road power visible and yard engines working. The freight main splits at Kipling. One line headed west to Winnipeg and etc., the other to the Lake Shore.

Last trip (Summer 2007), a long westbound intermodal train -- bound for the Lake Shore -- passed by as I was walking down the GO platform at Kipling. The engineer was really letting her loose too. There was also what looked like an eastbound CP transfer move holding for the intermodal to clear. While I was waiting for the TTC airport bus the transfer move rumbled by.

Just happened to be in Milwaukie on a long layover and went to the train station. Just a short shuttle bus ride from the terminal, out to the nice, new train station and then back. A quick connection and the bus ride is much shorter than similar shuttles in Boston and there seemed to be direct bus service into town on the main public transit operator. Using Disney's rating scheme, it would seem to be a B+ with city bus service and a shuttle bus to the intercity train station for the Hiawathas.

My cab ride from SFO to South San Francisco on the commuter rail is way out of date, so all I have to add is overseas:

London Gatwick - main London- Brighton rail line, somewhat tricky to connect to trains N out of London
London Heathrow - long tube ride, shorter train ride I haven't tried, same issue w/multiple London stations
Glasgow - no rail, bus to downtown stations well run, but you need to know which station you want
Amsterdam Schipol - excellent main-line service to many Dutch cities, change @ Amsterdam or Rotterdam for others.
Frankfurt Flughavn - main-line IC/ICE service to many points, S-bahn (suburban heavy rail) to downtown.
Munich - S-bahn to downtown and main station.
Copenhagen Kastrup - Local & long-haul station near Oresund Link bridge/tunnel to Sweden.
Paris Charles DeGaulle - Local RER to Paris, some TGV & other long-haul lines.
Milan Maplensa - Private suburban rail to downtown, change stations via Metro for TrenItalia long-haul
Rome Fumicino - Suburban rail to main Rome station.
Tokyo Narita - I used the private Narita suburban line to Ueno Park downtown, but there are alternatives.

Add Barcelona, RENFE half-hourly service to the center of the city. Using the universal 10-trip RENFE/TMB/FGC ticket, the cost is only .72 euro.