AirTrain LaGuardia was a proposed people mover system and elevated railway in New York City, United States, that would provide service to LaGuardia Airport in Queens. It would have connected with the New York City Subway and Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in Willets Point, similar to how the existing AirTrain JFK system connects John F. Kennedy International Airport's five terminals to the LIRR in southern Queens at Jamaica station and to the subway at both Sutphin Boulevard–Archer Avenue–JFK Airport station and Howard Beach–JFK Airport station; and how the existing AirTrain Newark station connects Newark Liberty International Airport's three terminals to NJ Transit Rail Operations and Amtrak at a dedicated station.
The system was to have been constructed and operated under contract to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), which operates the airport, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). In 2015, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to build a people mover similar to the AirTrain JFK, and in 2018, the New York State Legislature approved a law for the AirTrain LaGuardia project. Construction was to begin in 2021, with a projected opening in 2024; however, the project was indefinitely postponed in late 2021. In March 2023, the project was officially abandoned after the estimated cost reached $2.4 billion, five times the initial estimate.
The AirTrain project had been highly controversial. Advocates said that it would improve access to the airport from the subway and LIRR, alleviate traffic congestion, and reduce air pollution in and around East Elmhurst. The project was opposed by residents of nearby communities, as well as some transit advocates who objected to its indirect route to Midtown Manhattan, high cost estimate, and potential to prevent further rail transit connections to LaGuardia.
Context LaGuardia Airport had no rail service when the AirTrain was proposed in 2014. At the time, the only public transportation was via the and old Q48 bus routes, all of which connect to the subway. The Q70 also connects to the LIRR at Woodside station, while the M60 SBS runs to Manhattan, connecting with the Metro-North Railroad at Harlem–125th Street station as well as with several subway routes. In 2014, 8% of LaGuardia's 27 million passengers took the bus, compared to the 12% of the 53 million passengers using John F. Kennedy International Airport who took AirTrain JFK. Similarly, in 2008, 75% of LaGuardia's passengers took a taxi or car service, but only 16% rode a bus or van.
The New York metropolitan area's other two major airports have rail connections. AirTrain Newark, the monorail at Newark Liberty International Airport, opened in 1996, has connected that airport to commuter trains since 2000. AirTrain JFK, the people mover at JFK Airport, opened in 2003. AirTrain LaGuardia was proposed to be a people mover like the one at JFK.
Description As planned, the AirTrain LaGuardia would have run from LaGuardia Airport with two stops within the airport, before running over the Grand Central Parkway for before terminating in Willets Point near Citi Field and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, and would have connected there with the New York City Subway's at the Mets–Willets Point station and with the Long Island Rail Road's Mets–Willets Point station. The AirTrain trip would have taken 6 minutes, and the LIRR ride to Manhattan would have taken another 20 minutes.
The Mets-Willets Point subway stop would have been rebuilt, and $50 million had been allocated toward planning and designing this work in the 2015–2019 MTA Capital Program. Also as part of that Capital Program, the LIRR stop was to have been rebuilt for $75 million. The subway station and the LIRR station were to have been integrated with nearby buses as part of the overhaul for greater intermodal connectivity. The station was planned to potentially hold ancillary airport functions, employee parking, and a Consolidated Rent-a-Car facility. To allow the construction of the Willets Point AirTrain station, the Casey Stengel Bus Depot was to have been relocated. $50 million was allocated in the 2015–2019 MTA Capital Program to acquire property for a replacement depot.
History
Earlier proposals
A rail link to LaGuardia Airport had been proposed since 1943, when the city Board of Transportation proposed an extension of the New York City Subway's BMT Astoria Line (currently served by the ) from its terminus at Ditmars Boulevard. This was the first of 20 proposals for direct links to New York-area airports, all of which were canceled.
In 1990, the MTA proposed the New York City airport rail link to LaGuardia and JFK airports, which would be funded jointly by agencies in the federal, state, and city government. The rail line was to begin in Midtown Manhattan, crossing the East River via the Queensboro Bridge's lower-level outer roadways, which had been formerly used by trolley cars. It would stop at Queens Plaza, then use the right-of-way of the Sunnyside Yards and Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to access LaGuardia Airport. After stopping at LaGuardia, the line would continue parallel to the Grand Central Parkway with an intermediate stop near Shea Stadium in Willets Point, with a connection to the at Willets Point Boulevard. Continuing down the parkway, the line would have another intermediate stop in Jamaica, connecting to the LIRR at Jamaica Station, and then proceed nonstop down the Van Wyck Expressway to JFK Airport. The Port Authority seriously considered the proposal, commissioning an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the rail link. However, due to rising costs, the Port Authority canceled the direct rail link between LaGuardia/JFK and Manhattan in May 1995.
Prior to the construction of AirTrain JFK in 1997, Mayor Rudy Giuliani opposed the AirTrain at JFK because of a monetary dispute between the state, city, and Port Authority. Giuliani wanted the Port Authority to study the possibility of extending the BMT Astoria Line to LaGuardia Airport, among other things. Later that year, Giuliani agreed to the AirTrain JFK plan, and the Port Authority agreed to conduct a feasibility study on a similar LaGuardia rail link. In 2003, $645 million was budgeted to extend the Astoria Line to the airport, but the extension was never built due to community opposition in Queens.
Planning and construction
Plans On January 20, 2015, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to build a people mover similar to AirTrain JFK. It would follow the Grand Central Parkway for one and a half miles, similar to how the AirTrain JFK runs along the median of the Van Wyck Expressway between Jamaica and JFK. The line would terminate in Willets Point near Citi Field and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, and would connect there with the New York City Subway's at the Mets–Willets Point station and, via an existing passenger bridge, with the Long Island Rail Road's Mets–Willets Point station on the Port Washington Branch. The governor's office estimated the cost for the project to be $450 million, which later increased to $1.5 billion. Unlike the other proposed AirTrain routings, the Willets Point route was to be located on government-owned land and would not require capture of private property.
The first contracts for the AirTrain itself were awarded in May 2016. A pair of contracts, totaling $7.5 million, were awarded for preliminary engineering work at the two Willets Point stations and expected to be completed in 2017. One contract, costing $4.6 million and awarded to STV Inc, was for studies of the LIRR station's platform lengthening and an ADA-accessibility retrofit. The other, a $2.9 million contract given to HDR Architecture and Engineering PC, was for studies regarding the subway station's complete renovation and ADA-accessibility. The airport renovation as a whole started construction on June 14, 2016. $1.5 billion was allocated for the construction of the rail link as part of the introduced 10-year $29.5 billion plan for the Port Authority. New York Commissioner Kenneth Lipper tried to have the plan amended with all funding for the AirTrain removed, citing concerns that the project would leave the agency in financial difficulty.
In January 2017, the PANYNJ released its 10-year capital plan that included AirTrain LaGuardia funding. Construction is projected to start in 2019, with passenger service in 2023. On February 6, 2017, the PANYNJ announced that it had opened a four-week-long request for proposals. The firm that is awarded the RFP would design three AirTrain stations—two inside the airport's new terminals and one at Willets Point—as well as plan the right of way from Willets Point to the airport. In May 2017, WSP USA was hired to design the AirTrain. The PANYNJ awarded another $55 million to the project in November 2017, bringing the total funds allocated for planning to $75 million. In April 2018, the Port Authority ruled out the possibility of routing the AirTrain along Grand Central Parkway, after consultation with residents of nearby East Elmhurst who opposed such a routing. The other options for routing the AirTrain included either placing it on a promenade adjacent to Flushing Bay, or over the bay itself.
Environmental impact statement In June 2018, the New York State Legislature approved a law for the AirTrain LaGuardia project. This allowed the PANYNJ to start acquiring public land for the AirTrain's route, as well as for environmental impact studies to be conducted. Under the original plan, the AirTrain would start construction in 2020 and be complete by 2022. The Port Authority subsequently began environmental studies for three possible routings of the AirTrain to Willets Point, as well as the no-build alternative. Some residents and environmental groups opposed the project and requested results from the EIS upon its completion. Environmental groups worried that the AirTrain's construction would pollute Flushing Bay, which had just been cleaned at that point. A subsequent proposal to route the AirTrain over the waterfront was also met with opposition. Cuomo announced in May 2019 that the MTA would partially pay for the AirTrain's construction. By late 2019, the Port Authority was planning to award contracts for the AirTrain in 2021, with the line opening in 2024.
The Federal Aviation Administration released a draft EIS and opened public comments for the project in August 2020. In March 2021, the FAA released their final EIS on the project; at the time, work was supposed to commence in June 2021 and the AirTrain LGA would be opened by 2026. In June, the project was set for further review by the FAA after complaints that other options were not properly explored. The public provided 4,200 comments on the proposed Airtrain LGA before the FAA approved the project in July 2021. Several environmental lawsuits sued the FAA in September 2021, prompting the FAA to consider delaying the project.
Postponement and cancellation When Kathy Hochul succeeded Cuomo as governor in late 2021, critics of the project called for her to cancel it. Hochul said in October 2021 that she had directed the PANYNJ to consider alternatives, and the authority presented 14 options in March 2022, including extending the BMT Astoria Line to provide service to the airport. Meanwhile, Hochul announced that, starting on May 1, 2022, the Q70 bus would no longer charge fares as a temporary measure while the New York state government studied alternatives to the AirTrain plan.