lexande
@lexande.bsky.social
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https://alexander.co.tz/timelines/
mastodon.social/@lexande
twitter.com/threestationsq
A full third being TGV seems like a got given how infrequent service to most destinations is. Looking up CDG-Lyon it looks like it's not unusual for it to be faster to take the RER into the city and get a TGV there, & of course frequencies to anywhere other than Lyon are even worse.
November 16, 2025 at 2:13 PM
A full third being TGV seems like a got given how infrequent service to most destinations is. Looking up CDG-Lyon it looks like it's not unusual for it to be faster to take the RER into the city and get a TGV there, & of course frequencies to anywhere other than Lyon are even worse.
(And even if the answer is "yes" the intercity approach might branch from the airport line without serving the airport, as with the about-to-open new tracks towards BER.)
November 16, 2025 at 2:04 PM
(And even if the answer is "yes" the intercity approach might branch from the airport line without serving the airport, as with the about-to-open new tracks towards BER.)
Generalizing, I think it makes sense that if you're building a brand new city-airport line you should consider whether it would also be useful as a new (more direct or less congested) approach to the city for intercity trains. But the answer being "yes" is something of a geographic coincidence.
November 16, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Generalizing, I think it makes sense that if you're building a brand new city-airport line you should consider whether it would also be useful as a new (more direct or less congested) approach to the city for intercity trains. But the answer being "yes" is something of a geographic coincidence.
Thru Thalys trains already stopped at Schiphol before the HSL Zuid. When the HSL was built it bypassed Den Haag & Leiden but joined the existing line through Schiphol without any significant new construction there. The unnecessary & expensive tunnelling was furhter south, near Leiden.
November 16, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Thru Thalys trains already stopped at Schiphol before the HSL Zuid. When the HSL was built it bypassed Den Haag & Leiden but joined the existing line through Schiphol without any significant new construction there. The unnecessary & expensive tunnelling was furhter south, near Leiden.
The Schiphollijn is from 1978, long predating the HSL Zuid; before that (and for a bit afterward) all Amsterdam-Rotterdam trains ran via Haarlem, which was circuitous & would be an actual problem today. And of course you'd want a local line to Schiphol regardless.
November 16, 2025 at 11:38 AM
The Schiphollijn is from 1978, long predating the HSL Zuid; before that (and for a bit afterward) all Amsterdam-Rotterdam trains ran via Haarlem, which was circuitous & would be an actual problem today. And of course you'd want a local line to Schiphol regardless.
There used to be KTX thru service to ICN and they got rid of it; it ran 2014-2018. Given that ICN is on the opposite side from the rest of the country & there's already a direct transfer to AREX at Seoul station it seems pretty plausible that it's not worth the operational headaches.
November 16, 2025 at 11:34 AM
There used to be KTX thru service to ICN and they got rid of it; it ran 2014-2018. Given that ICN is on the opposite side from the rest of the country & there's already a direct transfer to AREX at Seoul station it seems pretty plausible that it's not worth the operational headaches.
Consolidating the rental cars and eliminating the need for a zillion rental car shuttle buses seems good actually? And at least in the JFK and MIA cases it also enables a rapid transit connection at lower cost than would otherwise have been feasible.
November 15, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Consolidating the rental cars and eliminating the need for a zillion rental car shuttle buses seems good actually? And at least in the JFK and MIA cases it also enables a rapid transit connection at lower cost than would otherwise have been feasible.
Heathrow terminals 5B and 5C are also separate buildings separated from the rest by taxiways!
November 15, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Heathrow terminals 5B and 5C are also separate buildings separated from the rest by taxiways!
I think between-terminal airport peoplemovers are actually significantly rarer than within-terminal peoplemovers.
November 15, 2025 at 3:54 AM
I think between-terminal airport peoplemovers are actually significantly rarer than within-terminal peoplemovers.
Yeah I'm not sure whether to call e.g. the FRA people mover within-terminal or between-terminal.
November 15, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Yeah I'm not sure whether to call e.g. the FRA people mover within-terminal or between-terminal.
All of the examples I gave are "within-terminal" in this sense.
November 15, 2025 at 3:48 AM
All of the examples I gave are "within-terminal" in this sense.
I don't understand what distinction you are trying to draw; the ZRH one is within the airport's single terminal. (It doesn't make sense to consider "Dock E" to be a separate terminal, terminals have their own security lines and connections to the outside world etc.)
November 15, 2025 at 3:44 AM
I don't understand what distinction you are trying to draw; the ZRH one is within the airport's single terminal. (It doesn't make sense to consider "Dock E" to be a separate terminal, terminals have their own security lines and connections to the outside world etc.)
Like I said bsky.app/profile/lexa...
IMO the EU should ban bus-to-plane operations. Good for politically connected rich air travelers (who would be spared a dreadful experience there's currently no reliable way to avoid at any price), good for the climate (by effectively cutting airport capacity).
November 14, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Like I said bsky.app/profile/lexa...
*Airside*/within-terminal people movers like at DEN that are necessary to reach some subset of gates are much more common (despite @alonlevy.bsky.social's claim upthread). ATL, CDG, DXB, HKG, IAD, ICN, LAS, LHR, MAD, MUC, PEK, PVG, SEA, STN, ZRH...
November 14, 2025 at 5:15 PM
*Airside*/within-terminal people movers like at DEN that are necessary to reach some subset of gates are much more common (despite @alonlevy.bsky.social's claim upthread). ATL, CDG, DXB, HKG, IAD, ICN, LAS, LHR, MAD, MUC, PEK, PVG, SEA, STN, ZRH...
(2tph Long Branch, 2tph Rahway local, 2tph Trenton semi-fast makes a train every 10 minutes.)
November 14, 2025 at 5:01 PM
(2tph Long Branch, 2tph Rahway local, 2tph Trenton semi-fast makes a train every 10 minutes.)
There should be trains stopping at least every 10 minutes all day at Newark Airport NJT station. The airport should for its own reasons build a better/faster people mover that actually serves Terminal A (& future new Terminal B). With those done EWR would have pretty good transit access.
November 14, 2025 at 4:55 PM
There should be trains stopping at least every 10 minutes all day at Newark Airport NJT station. The airport should for its own reasons build a better/faster people mover that actually serves Terminal A (& future new Terminal B). With those done EWR would have pretty good transit access.
Until very recently ORY had basically the same sort of connection as JFK. And many airports (CDG, LGW, soon FRA) require a people mover to reach *some* of the terminals.
November 14, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Until very recently ORY had basically the same sort of connection as JFK. And many airports (CDG, LGW, soon FRA) require a people mover to reach *some* of the terminals.
With an actually good Airtrain sure, not with the current slow and cramped monorail.
November 14, 2025 at 4:39 PM
With an actually good Airtrain sure, not with the current slow and cramped monorail.
PATH to the EWR terminals isn't terrible but I don't think it's the best way to do it, PATH trains need to be long and it's a lot easier to locate short stations close to the terminals. Honestly the main thing EWR needs is decent off-peak NEC frequency.
November 14, 2025 at 4:14 PM
PATH to the EWR terminals isn't terrible but I don't think it's the best way to do it, PATH trains need to be long and it's a lot easier to locate short stations close to the terminals. Honestly the main thing EWR needs is decent off-peak NEC frequency.
Apparently it's actually Line 9 x.com/alon_levy/st...
@[email protected]/@alonlevy.bsky.social (they) on X: "Direct airport service is in line 9, which would have a branch going Newark-Midtown-JFK. That's how unimportant airport service is." / X
Direct airport service is in line 9, which would have a branch going Newark-Midtown-JFK. That's how unimportant airport service is.
x.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Apparently it's actually Line 9 x.com/alon_levy/st...
There are cost and NIMBY constraints on airport growth; some would expand but it would definitely lead to higher airfares and fewer flights.
November 14, 2025 at 3:58 PM
There are cost and NIMBY constraints on airport growth; some would expand but it would definitely lead to higher airfares and fewer flights.
I believe their regional rail crayon has a suggested branch from the Lower Montauk to JFK as part of the seventh regional rail line.
November 14, 2025 at 3:56 PM
I believe their regional rail crayon has a suggested branch from the Lower Montauk to JFK as part of the seventh regional rail line.
No way, the perimeter rule means you have to transfer to get much of anywhere even domestically.
November 14, 2025 at 3:52 PM
No way, the perimeter rule means you have to transfer to get much of anywhere even domestically.
Definitely not, it has almost no transcontinental flights.
November 14, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Definitely not, it has almost no transcontinental flights.
Disband the Port Authority.
November 14, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Disband the Port Authority.