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Originally Posted by mrnyc
well extending the astoria subway has always seemed like the best option. but re this plan i would say cheaper, easier and less disruptive maybe. also you get the lirr bonus at willets. oh and that the practically lawless pa does whatever the hell it wants to. that too.
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That LIRR connection would be a bonus, but it connects to the one line that doesn't connect to the rest of the LIRR system. So it won't benefit anyone coming from LIRR the way the Airtrain connection at Jamaica does.
They're building along the Grand Central right of way anyway, so a connection presumably could have been built to connect to the N train, just not at the last stop.
But I guess anything is better than nothing at this point.
Anyway, Anthony Weiner's back!
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...icle-1.2087690
Weiner: Cuomo's AirTrain to LaGuardia plan steps up to the plate but needs more
Instead of a train to an already-mobbed Flushing line and its 16 local stops, the better approach is to extend the N/Q terminus in Astoria,
so we can have a true one-seat ride and eight stops to 'the city.'
January 21, 2015
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For a city that’s a magnet for business travel and tourism, with arguably the best transit system in the world, it is an enduring shame that we don’t have an easy way to get back and forth to Kennedy and LaGuardia airports.
So kudos to Gov. Cuomo for stepping up to the plate and offering a solution — sort of — with the idea of building an AirTrain-type connection to the 7 train at Willets Point in Queens.
But if we are going to solve this problem, we should do it right.
Instead of a train to an already-mobbed Flushing line and its 16 local stops, the better approach is to extend the N/Q terminus in Astoria, so we can have a true one-seat ride and eight stops to “the city.”
While the 7 is one of the most fun and interesting lines to travel, and you would get to see a baseball stadium that may someday host a true major league team again, it makes little sense to shuttle people and their bags a mile and a half in the wrong direction only to have them get off and hop on a subway.
It might cost more and need some serious political muscle, but the appeal of the one-seat ride to the heart of Manhattan would ease traffic, reduce pollution and make our travels more civilized.
But we shouldn’t completely shelve the LaGuardia AirTrain idea. We should extend the JFK AirTrain to connect to its sister Queens airport.
This would take traffic off the Van Wyck and make New York into a hugely appealing superhub for airlines.
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I remember the original plan to build the Airtrain from JFK to LaGuardia. From the LIRR system map below, you can see how little a connection to the Willets Point station will do to connect with the system. It's almost irrelevant, with the 7 subway line virtually offering the same service.
If they were able to build to Jamaica meanwhile, not only with it connect virtually all of the LIRR system to LaGuardia, but a rail connection to Brooklyn (either by subway or LIRR) would be possible as well. Far more people would benefit.
http://web.mta.info/lirr/Timetable/lirrmap.htm