Riding the rails between downtown areas and the airport is becoming a reality for more groups. A growing number of airports are building or have plans for a rail link that will connect passengers from the terminals to a regional metro-rail system.
- The Central Link, a 16-mile line running between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac International Airport, is expected to launch later this year. Its airport station is scheduled to open this December.
- A five-mile rail connection to connect downtown Salt Lake City to the airport is under construction and is scheduled to open in 2012.
- A 23-mile extension of the Washington, D.C., region’s Metro line is being built to connect to Washington-Dulles. It’s one of the largest
construction projects in the capital. The completion date has not been determined. - Funding was approved in June for a 3.2-mile people-mover that will connect Bay Area Rapid Transit’s Coliseum station to Oakland
[Calif.] International Airport. The mover will replace the current bus connection and is expected to come on-line in 2013. - Miami-Dade Transit broke ground earlier this year on a rail extension from its Earlington Heights station, which is the nearest stop to
Miami International Airport. The rail line will connect to a ground transportation hub that is currently being built next to the airport.
Both are scheduled to be completed in 2012. - Phoenix Sky Harbor’s Sky Train, a people-mover that connects to a nearby light rail station, will open in 2012. The city’s metro line
opened last December.
