February 26, 2003 House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

Statement of

Ross B. Capon, Executive Director

National Association of Railroad Passengers

Submitted for the record to the

Subcommittees on Aviation and on Railroads

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

U. S. House of Representatives

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Hearing on
Planes, Trains, And Intermodalism:  Improving The Link Between Air And Rail

February 26, 2003

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Thank you very much for holding a hearing on this important subject. We generally support the statement submitted by Hank Dittmar of Reconnecting America, and hope the information that follows will be of further assistance to the Committee.

Projects that make it easier for travelers to transfer among different modes of transportation:

• Give remarkable "bang for the buck" by making existing systems so much more useful;
• Are still relatively rare because our laws and transportation culture remain dominated by a "stovepipe" or single-mode mentality.

A good local example of big value added came when the frustrating walk-or-bus-ride between Metro and Reagan National Airport was replaced with a modern air terminal that incorporated the Metro station. A major reason why airport authorities have not worked harder to get rail transit links is the perception that such service means reduced parking-fee revenues for agencies that depend heavily on such fees.

Nonetheless, the concept of local rail transit airport links now is well accepted in the U.S., while the equally important idea of sending intercity passenger trains to the airport is barely on the radar screen for many relevant transportation professionals and only exists today at two airports -- Newark and Burbank -- if we exclude examples like BWI which use inherently unsatisfactory highway links.

Quality integration with airports (and airlines via code share) can save billions in unnecessary airport expansion, while making the most efficient use of public investments. For too long, we have focused exclusively on air/rail "competitive" aspects. Investments should be based on a recognition that the air and rail modes should be complimentary.

Europe and many other parts of the world are well ahead of the U.S. in this integration.  Trains are an appealing part of the American system of transport, and good connections with air may provide a much needed stimulus to the overall travel market.

I. TYPES OF AIR-RAIL TERMINALS

Broadly speaking, two types of rail service can go to airports:

• Local transit or commuter rail systems, such as Metro at Reagan National Airport or SEPTA's commuter rail system at Philadelphia International, can make it easier for airport employees and passengers to travel between the airport and the region's central business district as well as a selection of other locations within the same metropolitan region; and
• Intercity passenger trains, which can substitute for short air links that are part of a longer journey, and thus can reduce air congestion. With automobiles increasingly replacing short air links since 9/11, intercity rail airport links likewise have a growing ability to reduce land-side congestion as well.

The ideal rail station is in the basement of the airport, as in Geneva and Paris/Charles de Gaulle, but stations that are removed yet linked by fixed guideway can be very effective.

• Newark: A fixed-guideway people-mover (extension of a remote parking link) connects the air and rail terminals. Initially, Continental staffed a station check-in counter (rail equivalent to curb-side check-in), but with financial pressures this has been abandoned and passengers now must get their bags on the people-mover and into the airport. Lack of rail staff also presents a challenge for newcomers to Newark trying to figure out whether to ride New Jersey Transit or Amtrak, with sharply different fare levels. Nonetheless the Continental/Amtrak code-sharing (the nation's only such agreement) is doing well. It covers rail travel to and from six stations in five states: New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Trenton, Philadelphia and Wilmington. Halfway through the first year, Amtrak has realized $120,000 in sales to Continental passengers, exceeding a modest, one-year target of $100,000.
• BWI Airport Station: The railroad station (unlike the light rail terminal) is distant from the airport terminal and requires reliance on an irregular bus service. Although the airport plans some a fixed-guideway link connecting the terminal with the Amtrak/MARC station (which has excellent rail service), this unfortunately is on the back burner, apparently without a clear timetable for construction.

II. EXISTING U.S. AIR-RAIL TERMINALS

The number of U.S. airports with rail transit or commuter railroad links (not requiring highway transfer) has grown considerably and now includes:

• Atlanta
• Baltimore BWI [light rail, but not commuter rail]
• Burbank
• Chicago (Midway and O'Hare)
• Cleveland
• Newark
• Philadelphia
• Portland, Ore.
• St. Louis
• South Bend
• Washington (Reagan National)

Two high-profile facilities are built but not yet in service:

• The February 24 New York Daily News reports that "AirTrain, which will link Manhattan and JFK Airport, with stops in Howard Beach and Jamaica, may be ready by June."
• "BART's San Francisco Airport extension remains months away from a grand opening. Agency staff cite minor but numerous incomplete details such as elevator certifications, fare equipment installations and escalator testing ... [pushing] the opening date toward the end of April at the earliest" (Contra Costa Times, February 14). But the airport's five-mile internal "Air-Train" monorail circulator (which will link with BART) is running. "The red line [linking the nine terminals and parking garages] began running today [February 25], and the blue line [extension to rental car center] will be up and running by next Tuesday, [March 4], eliminating 200,000 bus trips to the rental car center a year" (KCBS Radio AM 740, February 25).

Other noteworthy facilities in the works:

• Minneapolis will have light rail service between downtown and the airport (and Mall of America) in a couple of years.
• Chicago -- by triple-tracking segments of existing rapid transit lines to Midway and O'Hare Airports -- plans to develop express service between a downtown airline terminal and those airports. (But see section III for Chicago's most exciting and precedent-setting air-rail plans.)
• Miami Intermodal Center is planned to link the airport, commuter rail, and a new east-west Metrorail line (already locally funded by a half-cent sales tax -- but needs a federal match). Land has been purchased and cleared.  [There has been some talk of Amtrak service coming here as well. This would be excellent. Until then, Amtrak passengers can transfer to/from TriRail at Amtrak/TriRail shared stations -- Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Delray Beach and West Palm Beach.]
• Planning efforts are underway to link DFW with a nearby station on the Dallas-Fort Worth Trinity Railway Express commuter rail line (which itself has direct connections with Dallas' light-rail network and with Amtrak at Dallas Union Station).

By contrast, only two airports have intercity rail stations:

• Burbank
• Newark

III. PLANS FOR AIR/INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL LINKS

There are, however, serious plans to build other airport stations either intended to, or with the potential to, serve intercity passenger rail:  Chicago, Harrisburg, Milwaukee, Oakland and Providence.

The most exciting prospect is at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, where plans have been developed to:

• Build a six-track railroad station at the planned Western Terminal.
• Extend the existing CTA Blue Line from its present O'Hare terminal to the Western Terminal.
• Create a major, new hub which would permit Metra/CTA transfers, as well as Metra/Metra transfers. The latter would make practical certain suburb-to-suburb trips on Metra that now require a 34-mile round-trip to/from Chicago Union Station, adding an hour or more to trip time.
• The planned new railroad terminal at O'Hare's Western Terminal could handle intercity trains, say, traveling from St. Louis to Milwaukee by way of Union Station and O'Hare, if track capacity issues at Union Station are addressed.
• On the railroad side, the immense series of benefits outlined above essentially results from adding just three rail route miles.

Fortunately, the City of Chicago incorporated all the track and related requirements into its Airport Layout Plan which was filed with the FAA in late December, and which should insure protection of the needed right-of-way.

Gary, Ind., plans a new regional air terminal to be served both by Amtrak and South Shore Line trains. Thus, the nation’s last interurban electric railroad, NICTD's South Shore Line, will serve two airports. (The line's eastern terminal is at South Bend’s airport.)

In Harrisburg, the planned rail station will be just 150 yards from the air terminal, and the two will be linked by an enclosed, elevated walkway with moving sidewalks. The station will be fully enclosed, so passengers can transfer between train and air terminal with complete protection from rain and snow. Because parking at downtown Harrisburg is difficult, the airport station is expected to become the region's main train station. An opening date target of summer, 2004, announced earlier, now is seen as a bit optimistic.

The February 25 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said Wisconsin has found "enough money to keep Wisconsin passenger trains running, build a new Amtrak station at Mitchell International Airport and plan future commuter rail service .. Under the 2003-'05 state budget announced last week by Gov. Jim Doyle and the federal appropriations bill approved by Congress on Feb. 13 ... the state will build a long-discussed station at the airport for Amtrak's Milwaukee-to-Chicago Hiawatha line. By adding that station to the current stops in downtown Milwaukee, downtown Chicago, Sturtevant and Glenview, Ill., state officials hope to draw more Illinois passengers to Mitchell ... State officials expect the station to open in 2007, said Randy Romanski, executive assistant to state Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi."

Other airports that are close to Amtrak-served lines: Charlotte, Cleveland, Indianapolis, New Orleans and San Diego.

IV.  USAGE BY AND BENEFITS TO PASSENGERS

Simply establishing genuine intermodal terminals brings other benefits to travelers, including those traveling exclusively by train.

• Many Amtrak travelers have to use airport rental car facilities and would benefit from an airport rail station even if they are not flying. Car rental agencies at airports tend to have longer operating hours than downtown locations in or near rail stations. And it is a major inconvenience when a traveler needs to go to a location that is not in a rail station.
• Parking often is more plentiful and secure at airports than at rail stations.
• Personal security is -- or often seems -- greater at a joint facility that is heavily used than at a stand-alone rail terminal with relatively infrequent service.
• An attractive transfer facility helps make the business case for an airline to do a code-sharing agreement with a railroad. This is common in Europe. In connection with the Continental/Amtrak agreement at Newark (thanks to the new airport station), Continental's interest in good rail access to New York City led the airline to pay $400,000 to rebuild Amtrak's ClubAcela lounge facility in New York's Penn Station (work completed in October 2001). (In return, Continental "President's Club" members get access to that facility when they hold an Amtrak ticket good for same day of travel.)
• In what we hope will be a pilot project for improved cooperation between intercity and commuter rail, Amtrak and Metrolink cross-honor each other's tickets for travel between Burbank Airport and both Los Angeles Union Station and Glendale. In addition, for nine months starting January 1, 2003, ride free on any train by showing a Southwest Airlines ticket.

Thank you for considering this information. We appreciate the continuing interest of your subcommittees in improving linkages among all types of travel facilities in the U.S.