JFK Express

This article is about the former New York City Subway service between JFK Airport and Manhattan. For the intra-airport people mover presently operating at JFK, see AirTrain JFK.
JFK Express

Note: Service began at 57th Street prior to 1989
Northern end 21st Street–Queensbridge
Southern end Howard Beach–JFK Airport
Stations 13 (9 until 1989)
Started service June 1978 (1978-06)
Discontinued April 15, 1990 (1990-04-15)

The JFK Express, advertised as The Train to The Plane, was a limited express service of the New York City Subway, connecting Midtown Manhattan to John F. Kennedy International Airport. It operated between 1978 and 1990. It primarily used R46 subway cars, and operated along the IND Sixth Avenue Line, IND Fulton Street Line, and IND Rockaway Line between 57th Street in Manhattan and Howard Beach–JFK Airport in Queens. Passengers paid extra, premium fares to ride JFK Express trains. Its route bullet was colored turquoise.

Fares and rolling stock

The premium fare for the JFK Express was collected by train conductors on board, who punched the tickets that passengers had to purchase prior to boarding.[1] In addition to the conductors, there were transit police officers aboard to provide protection for travelers.[1]

The JFK Express used R46s exclusively for most of its existence,[2][3] although near its end R44s were used when the R46s began midlife overhauls.[2] The trains were initially three-cars long or 225 feet (69 m) in length.[1][2][4] They later were four-cars long or 300 feet (91 m) long, half the length of a typical B Division train.[2][5][6][7] The cars featured luggage racks for airport-bound passengers.[1]

Service history

In June 1978, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced plans for an "experimental" subway-bus service between Manhattan and JFK Airport.[8] The JFK Express began operation on September 23, 1978 with a three-car train originating at 57th Street.[1][4][5] The MTA created several 30-second long television commercials to promote the new service.[5][9] Train ran daily from 5:00 AM to 1:00 AM on 20 minute headways.[4] The route began at 57th Street and ran express on the IND Sixth Avenue Line to West Fourth Street–Washington Square, where it switched to the IND Eighth Avenue Line and ran express to Jay Street–Borough Hall in Downtown Brooklyn. From that point on, it ran non-stop on the IND Fulton Street Line and IND Rockaway Line to Howard Beach–JFK Airport.[1][4]

In May 1980, the MTA executive director, John Simpson, recommended that the express train be discontinued, stating that ridership on the line stabilized at 1.3 million yearly riders, and the yearly deficit rose to $2.5 million. In June 1980, members of the MTA board voted to make the JFK Express a permanent service, stating that a mass transit link to Kennedy Airport was necessary.[10] The fare for the service was $3.50 at the time.[11]

In June 1983, the New York City Transit Authority, along with other service changes, planned to change service on the JFK Express. The JFK Express would have been extended to Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street, and the $5 fare and the special guard would be eliminated, making it like any other subway line. Trains would be 8 cars long instead of 4 cars long, and the headway between trains would be 18 minutes, instead of 20 minutes.[12][13] The proposal was still being reviewed in January 1984.[14] This proposal never came to fruition.

At times, regular passengers were allowed on the trains and no fares were charged due to disruptions on other services; this included the 1988 closure of the Williamsburg Bridge, after a painter discovered a hole in a girder. At other times, some passengers paid the extra fare to use the JFK Express to reach Aqueduct Racetrack.[15]

In October 1989, the NYCTA proposed eliminating the JFK Express, citing that it had not attracted enough passengers. At the time, 3,200 people were using the train per day, down from the high of between 4,000 and 5,000 riders that used it at the beginning of the service's operation. The executive vice president of the NYCTA, George Miller, said that eliminating the service would save $7 million a year and free 144 transit workers and 12 subway cars for more cost-efficient subway runs. It was determined that 47 percent of the riders of the JFK Express were commuters from Howard Beach and the Rockaways, willing to pay for the premium service. Trains ran every hour.[16]

On October 29, 1989, the IND 63rd Street Line opened and the JFK Express was extended to 21st Street–Queensbridge.[2][17] However, this extension was short-lived as service was discontinued on April 15, 1990.[1][2][18] At the end of service, the fare was $6.75.[1]

Within a few years of its inauguration, the service was being criticized as being a poor use of resources.[19] The JFK Express proved to be unsuccessful, seeing low ridership in part because the service did not actually serve any airline terminals, but rather transferred passengers to a shuttle bus service that was several hundred yards from the station.[20]

Following the discontinuation of the JFK Express, the A train continues to serve Howard Beach–JFK Airport station.[20] The JFK shuttle bus service remained in operation until the AirTrain JFK, a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey-operated people mover system, replaced it on December 17, 2003.[21] The AirTrain JFK also connects with the Long Island Rail Road[22] at Jamaica, and with the E J Z trains subway services to Manhattan at Sutphin Boulevard–Archer Avenue.[21][22] A current proposal, the Lower Manhattan–Jamaica/JFK Transportation Project, would provide express train service between JFK Airport and Lower Manhattan through Brooklyn. This would be similar to the JFK Express except that the service would be an extension of AirTrain JFK and operate via the LIRR's Atlantic Branch, providing a one-seat ride to the airport terminals.

Route

Service pattern

The following lines were used by the JFK Express service:[23]

Line Portion Tracks
IND 63rd Street Line (full line) all
IND Sixth Avenue Line north of West Fourth Street–Washington Squarelocal
IND Eighth Avenue Line south of West Fourth Street–Washington Squarelocal
IND Fulton Street Line north of Rockaway Boulevardexpress
IND Rockaway Line north of Howard Beach–JFK Airportlocal

Stations

1978 brochure
Ticket
The JFK Express bullet on an R68 serving the Franklin Avenue Shuttle
Station service legend
Stops all times except late nights
Time period details
StationNotes
Queens
21st Street–Queensbridge new terminus after completion of IND 63rd Street Line; opened October 29, 1989
Manhattan
Roosevelt Island opened October 29, 1989
Lexington Avenue–63rd Street opened October 29, 1989
57th Street original terminus before IND 63rd Street Line opened
47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center
42nd Street–Bryant Park
34th Street–Herald Square
West Fourth Street–Washington Square
Chambers Street
Broadway–Nassau Street
Brooklyn
Jay Street–Borough Hall
Queens
Howard Beach–JFK Airport transfer to Port Authority shuttle bus to airport terminals

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Grynbaum, Michael M. (November 25, 2009). "If You Took the Train to the Plane, Sing the Jingle". Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Linder, Bernard (December 2008). "Sixth Avenue Subway Service Changes". New York Division Bulliten. Electric Railroaders' Association. 51 (12): 2–4. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  3. ↑ Maitland, Leslie (April 14, 1980). "U.S. Cites Flaws in R-46 Subway Cars; Transit Authority to Cut Their Use 47%". The New York Times. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "New "JFK Express" Service Begun in Howard Beach" (PDF). New York Leader Observer. Fultonhistory.com. September 28, 1978. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Pitt, David E. (October 22, 1989). "Transit Agency Wants to End Airport Express". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2009.
  6. ↑ Queens Subway Options Study, New York: Environmental Impact Statement. United States Department of Transportation, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Urban Mass Transit Administration. May 1984. pp. 83–. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  7. ↑ "PLAYING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: LONG ISLAND CITY; Tortoise Heads Into Queens". The New York Times. October 18, 1998. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  8. ↑ Lichtenstein, Grace (June 27, 1978). "Experimental Bus‐Subway Route to Kennedy Planned". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  9. ↑ "Train to the Plane". YouTube. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  10. ↑ Schiro, Anne-marie (July 25, 1981). "TO THE AIRPORT: GETTING THERE THE FASTEST". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  11. ↑ Goldman, Ari L. (June 5, 1980). "JFK Train: Wasteful or Wonderful; Deficit of $2.5 Million a Year 'Train to the Plane' Service: Is It Wasteful or Wonderful? How the Fares Compare A 'Psychological Barrier'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  12. ↑ Goldman, Ari L. (June 5, 1983). "CHANGES PLANNED FOR SUBWAYS TO ROCKAWAYS AND WEST SIDE". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  13. ↑ Goldman, Ari L. (June 2, 1983). "CUT IN FARE TO $1.50, END OF GUARDS URGED FOR 'TRAIN TO PLANE'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  14. ↑ Haitch, Richard (January 15, 1984). "FOLLOW-UP ON THE NEWS; AJFK Local?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  15. ↑ Feinman, Mark S. "The New York City Transit Authority in the 1980s". nycsubway.org. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  16. ↑ Pitt, David E. (October 22, 1989). "Transit Agency Wants to End Airport Express". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  17. ↑ Lorch, Donatella (October 29, 1989). "The 'Subway to Nowhere' Now Goes Somewhere". The New York Times. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  18. ↑ The New York Times (March 11, 1990). "JFK express subway to be discontinued". Observer–Reporter. New York City. p. 54. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  19. ↑ Goldman, Ari (June 5, 1980). "JFK Train: Wasteful Or Wonderful". The New York Times. p. B1. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  20. 1 2 Faison, Seth (April 20, 1993). "Trains and Buses, Then Airplanes". The New York Times. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  21. 1 2 "AirTrain JFK opens for service". Railway Gazette International. March 1, 2004. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  22. 1 2 Gosling, Geoffrey D.; Freeman, Dennis (May 2012). "CASE STUDY REPORT: JOHN F. KENNEDY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AIRTRAIN" (PDF). sjsu.edu. Mineta Transportation Institute, San Jose State University.
  23. ↑ "NYC Subway Map 1987 Edition". nycsubway.org. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
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