Amtrak and Airports … and a Little Bit About a LOT of Luck.
The question is finally being asked: How come Amtrak trains don’t stop at more airports?
Good question! And such a sensible idea: Get off the plane, take a shuttle van or, better yet, a moving sidewalk to an Amtrak station and continue on your merry way. Yet there are only two airports in the entire country with that kind of a convenient connection: Newark International in New Jersey and Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California.
Another one is coming, though. When Miami Intermodal Center is completed in the next 6-8 months, passengers will be able to get off a plane and get on an Amtrak train (or visa versa) all in that one facility.
It’s certainly a sensible idea. Probably the only organized opposition would come from the various taxi companies who would lose their $60 fares for hauling people from downtown railway stations to out-of-town airports.
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Some people are just born lucky. A lady who worked for me a number of years back was like that. She would go to Las Vegas several times a year over long weekends. She only played the slots and blackjack, and she would always win. Always! Last time I saw her, she had just returned from one of those junkets. When I asked her how she had done, she frowned, looked a little sheepish, and shook her head.
“You mean you lost money, Sachi?” I said. Her reputation was legendary, so I was quite surprised.
“Oh, no,” she said a bit indignantly, “But I only won $1500.”
Sachi is lucky. People who win lotteries are very lucky. But none of them come close to matching the luck of Darryle See, 22, from Michiana Shores, Indiana. This guy, walking along the railroad tracks listening to music in his ear buds, was hit by an Amtrak train traveling at about 110 miles per hour. According to the Amtrak conductor, the train hit him dead on … so to speak.
Darryle not only survived, but all things considered, he wasn’t even badly hurt – he’s banged up, but will be all right.
Tell you what: If I ever decide to go to Las Vegas, Sachi can stay home. I’m going to hire that guy to place the bets for me!
I take train rides in Ohio to work everyday. It saves me about $150 a month in gas. I love it!
There is a shuttle from Amtrak’s Milwaukee Airport station to the terminal, it is also not a bad walk if you’re simply going to the bookseller and coffee house in the airport concourse (most of the services are outside the secure area, and the cafe offers a view of the ramp area). The BWI station was built explicitly to serve the airport. The U.S. passenger service that brings intermodal passengers closest to the airport is probably the South Shore Line at South Bend, and there’s some very interurban-like side-of-the-road running with tight curves to get there.
Well, that’s what I get for taking the article at face value. I’ve ridden right by both those stops and was aware that there seemed to be a link to the airport, but have never had the opportunity to try out the transfer to either of the airports. I should also have mentioned that VIA Rail’s first stop heading west out of Toronto is at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
Don’t forget BWI…
I know the Hiawatha service services Milwaukee Airport. There are some people who choose to fly out of Milwaukee rather than Chicago because of the convenient connection. I think there is also Amtrak service to Baltimore-Washington (Thurgood Marshall) Airport.