NYC - JFK Airtrain News
 

For anyone planning on taking this route into NYC - with cred to:

Author: AllanNYC
Date: 01/25/2005, 06:14 am

Message: FYI, the City bus to/from LGA is the M60.

I've heard that you can buy a Metro Card at some of the newstands at LGA, but it's a good idea to have the $2.00 in chage.

News for anyone considering using the JFK Airtrain:

A fire destroyed a switching room that controls traffic on the A/C line. Word is it will take 3-5 years to repair the damage and there will be MAJOR changes on these lines.

As of now, the C train is no longer and A service is at 1/3 capacity.

This leaves the E train as the preferred connection from the JFK Airtrain.

Latest update:

MTA is now saying service will be restored in 3-6 months, but repairs will still take 3-5 years. A train is supposed to come back online first, then the C.

Sounds like your typical 6 month to 30 year plan to me!

The switching technology is so old, there are only two companies in the world still making replacement parts. One in France and one somewhere in the US.

All I want out of life is to live long enough to take a ride on the Second Ave. Subway. I've lived in NYC for all my 45 years and they've been talking about it as far back as I can remember.

I remember when they spent a couple, years rebuilding the track on the 7 line , only to have them ripped out when someone decided to inspect the underlying trackbed, to find it needed to be replaced. A couple of years to replace trackbed, then a couple of years to redo the track work.

Okay, so I'm a subway geek ;)

Unless something's changed (aside from the general problems), the E train stops at the old WTC stop. It's never gone to JFK.

Again, something could've changed, but if it hasn't, the A is still the way to go.

gummo, The JFK Airtrain connects to the A train at Howard Beach, yes. However, the Airtrain also connects to the E train and the LIRR at Jamaica.

Considering the delays on the A train - reported to be at least double previous times - it seems that the E or LIRR options are much more viable.