ianmac47 wrote:
One of the biggest problems with the current monorail is that it wasn't designed for cold weather operation. For some reason nobody thought this would be a problem. When it first opened the switches would freeze and I think even the computers would crash in the cold.

bodhipooh wrote:
Forget the JFK AirTrain. They should be consulting with Disney. The Disney World monorail is an incredibly smooth ride, runs around the clock, every day, and you don't hear about all these issues. They have had VERY FEW incidents over the 40+ years it has been in existence. How is it that the PA can come up with such a piss poor system using a concept and technology that is already established??

ianmac47 wrote:
One of the biggest problems with the current monorail is that it wasn't designed for cold weather operation. For some reason nobody thought this would be a problem. When it first opened the switches would freeze and I think even the computers would crash in the cold.

bodhipooh wrote:
Quote:

PotStirJC wrote:
Quote:

bodhipooh wrote:
Forget the JFK AirTrain. They should be consulting with Disney. The Disney World monorail is an incredibly smooth ride, runs around the clock, every day, and you don't hear about all these issues. They have had VERY FEW incidents over the 40+ years it has been in existence. How is it that the PA can come up with such a piss poor system using a concept and technology that is already established??

something called winter.

What do other countries that experience winters do? Or, are you so dense that you think that no other country in the world with bitter winters is using monorails??

PotStirJC wrote:
Quote:

bodhipooh wrote:
Forget the JFK AirTrain. They should be consulting with Disney. The Disney World monorail is an incredibly smooth ride, runs around the clock, every day, and you don't hear about all these issues. They have had VERY FEW incidents over the 40+ years it has been in existence. How is it that the PA can come up with such a piss poor system using a concept and technology that is already established??

something called winter.

bodhipooh wrote:
Forget the JFK AirTrain. They should be consulting with Disney. The Disney World monorail is an incredibly smooth ride, runs around the clock, every day, and you don't hear about all these issues. They have had VERY FEW incidents over the 40+ years it has been in existence. How is it that the PA can come up with such a piss poor system using a concept and technology that is already established??

bill wrote:
From nj.com

By Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on April 27, 2015 at 2:02 PM, updated April 27, 2015 at 2:20 PM

NEWARK ? The 19-year-old AirTrain monorail system at Newark
Liberty International Airport is being targeted for replacement.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has not publicly
estimated the cost of a new system, or said when it expected the
project to begin or end. But Port Authority commissioners are
scheduled to vote Thursday to authorize spending $40 million on
planning consultants for the project, plus another $30 million
on technical experts.

"Although substantial investment has been made to maintain
current operations, such investment has not extended the 25-year
design life of the system, nor has it expanded capacity," states
the planning resolution proposed for adoption Thursday.

The agency plans to ask the Federal Aviation Administration for
permission to use $40 million in airline ticket surcharges to
offset the planning cost.

The 3-mile system carries about 30,000 passengers a day between
terminals A, B and C, the airport's parking and rental car lots,
and a station linking the airport to NJ Transit trains along the
Northeast Corridor line.

A 2011 report by the Regional Plan Association, a transportation
research organization, recommended replacing the monorail system
as part of a broader plan to expand the region's airport capacity.
The RPA report criticized the AirTrain as slow and unable to
accommodate growth.

The AirTrain, which is free within the airport, has been
characterized by service interruptions due to power failures,
accidents and maintenance. Last summer, the AirTrain was closed
for two months to fill what were essentially 60 potholes in the
steel and epoxy running surface. The weight of the cars is born
by rubber tires that roll on the running surface.

The AirTrain system first opened in 1996 at a cost of $354 million,
built by a company that is now a subsidiary of the Canadian
aircraft and rail car maker Bombardier, which operates the monorail
under a contract with the Port Authority through 2022.

In 2001, the system was linked to a heavy rail station just north
of Newark Liberty, where fliers and airport workers can transfer
between the monorail and NJ Transit trains heading in an out of
Newark Penn Station. The monorail was also expanded from 12 cars
to 18.

Thursday's authorization votes come four months after the Port
Authority issued its first contract for preliminary work to
extend the PATH commuter rail system from Newark Penn Station to
the airport rail station, a project estimated to cost $1.5 billion.

The PATH extension is among 11 major projects, along with hundreds
of less costly ones, included in a 10-year, $27.6 billion Port
Authority capital plan approved by the agency in February 2010.

However, like a new Port Authority Bus Terminal projected to
cost $8-10 billion, a new AirTrain is not included in the capital
plan, suggesting agency officials will have to come up with additional
revenues or spending cuts, to pay for it.

Port Authority officials did not respond to requests for comment
on Monday.

A report issued in December by the Special Panel on the Future of
the Port Authority, convened last year by Gov. Chris Christie and
Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, stresses the need to modernize and
expand capacity at Newark Liberty, John F. Kennedy International
and LaGuardia Airports, gateways to the region that have been
criticized as outdated.


"While some improvements have been made at these airports over the
past decade, many of these faciliites are outdated and ill-equipped
to meet the increased passenger demands of the future," the report
stated.

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com.
Follow hin on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.