JFK to Manhattan for only $7? Yes, if you take the train

[question everything]

JFK to Manhattan for only $7? Yes, if you take the train

Rail service at many airports is making it easier -- and cheaper -- for passengers to get to city centers.
By James Gilden
Special to The Times

April 3, 2005

Travelers to U.S. cities may find it easier to get from the airport to the urban center without breaking the vacation bank or dithering around at the ground transportation desk, thanks to train and light-rail service.

The concept isn't as on track in the U.S. as it is elsewhere, but it is gaining steam.

"The use of rail in Europe is much more prevalent, with far better rail connections from airports in more cities" than in the U.S., said Ron Salk, editor and publisher of the Airport Transit Guide (www.airporttransitguide.com), a pocket-sized booklet from Salk International that's now in its 23rd edition. "One of the trends I've noticed in the last 12 to 24 months is the increase in the number of rail connections in the U.S."

Of the top 25 U.S. airports, as measured by the number of passengers who boarded in 2003 (the latest full year for which statistics were available), 14 claim some sort of light- or heavy-rail airport-to-city transit connections.

In just the last two years, Minneapolis-St. Paul, JFK in New York and San Francisco have come on board, and several other airports have long- and short-term ambitions to add rail service, including Seattle-Tacoma and Houston's George Bush Intercontinental.

More..

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-insider3apr03,1,1459063.story

[Kellanved]

1. Uhm... no thanks

The Amtrak train to Newark - OK.
But the NY subway does not allow luggage and it is not like the subway stops anywhere near the airport. You have to use some weird shuttle train, which isn't even free - decidedly more trouble than it is worth in the usual jet-lagged state of mind.

On edit: don't get me wrong, I am all for going to the Airport by train. But I don't think JFK has any business being on that list.

[question everything]

2. Right. Used both JFK and MSP

One still has to take the subway to Jamaica, I think, and one has to be able to carry one's luggage on regular stairs to the subway.

Once in Jamaica we had to circle around to find the stop for the AirTrain. Admittedly, this was in 2003 when the AirTrain just opened, so perhaps the connection is now better.

Fast forward one year, when we landed in Minneapolis - St. Paul airport after an ice storm when taxis were few with a long line. We took the elevators to the shuttle that whisked us to the light-rail station and from there to downtown Minneapolis where we knew we could get a cab and we did - after having to walk a block or two. A taxi cab at the train station would be nice. Even there, there was not much room for real suitcases but we managed to keep them in the aisle.