New LaGuardia AirTrain Could Break Ground in 2020

Update: The project has now received the final FAA approval.

Getting to LaGuardia airport in East Elmhurst in Queens, NY is not the easiest trip. Driving there is hell, especially during the current construction. If you’re looking at public transportation then buses are your only option. And if there’s traffic, buses are not the best solution.

But a new plan could give travelers a better option. Port Authority executive director Rick Cotton provided new details of the agency’s proposed LaGuardia AirTrain, which would connect the Queens airport to the LIRR’s Mets-Willets Point Station via a new 1.5-mile shuttle train corridor. Cotton said the Port Authority projects between 6 million and 10 million people would use the AirTrain annually, and he promised that the link to the LIRR would be “seamless,” with glass-enclosed elevators and special features to accommodate travelers with luggage, special needs or young children.

The project is in its early environmental review stages but hopes to break ground by 2020, Newsday reports. It will move along with the upgrade construction underway at LaGuardia.

Officials estimate 30-minute travel time between LaGuardia and Penn Station. That’s a bit improbable in my opinion, but likely one of the best options. The proposed route goes east from LaGuardia, towards Long Island, to connect to LIRR. Then you head back west towards Penn Station.

We’ll see if it breaks ground in 2020 as expected.