Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 12, 2019

AirTrain JFK is an 8.1 mi elevated people mover system and airport rail link serving John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK Airport) in New York City. The driverless system operates 24/7 and consists of three lines and ten stations. It connects the airport's six terminals with the New York City Subway in Howard Beach, Queens, and with the Long Island Rail Road and subway in Jamaica, Queens. Bombardier Transportation operates AirTrain JFK under contract to the airport's owner, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. A railroad link to JFK Airport was first recommended in 1968. In-depth planning for a dedicated transport system at JFK began in 1990, but was ultimately cut back from a direct rail link to an intra-borough people mover. Construction of the current people-mover system began in 1998. The system opened on December 17, 2003, after many delays. The system was originally projected to carry 4 million annual paying passengers and 8.4 million annual inter-terminal passengers every year. The AirTrain has consistently exceeded these projections since opening. In 2017 the system had nearly 7.7 million paying passengers and 12.6 million inter-terminal passengers.