Transit Authority
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Q: Whatever happened to “the Train to the Plane”?
A. The Train to the Plane, as the A train to JFK was known, fell victim to better A express service. Beginning in 1978, the Train to the Plane gave riders an express ride to JFK airport for $3.50, when A express service was provided only during rush hour. The special train offered a nonstop ride through the borough to the Howard Beach station. The JFK express, as it was also known, operated with three 75-foot-long cars instead of the usual eight cars. As the subway system improved from its nadir of a quarter-century ago, transit officials continued to increase express service, first by adding midday express trains in 1988. The Train to the Plane was canceled in 1990 to allow for more express A trains.
With all the hype about Red Hook, why is it still so hard to get there?
The closest subway stations to Red Hook are Smith and 9th Street and Carroll Street. Since Red Hook is largely landfill, neither a subway nor an elevated train can be built in there. New York City Transit will eventually extend the B61 bus line into the areas by the waterfront, but the most dramatic expansion will come on the water. Though New York City Water Taxi has yet to make good on its announcement last year that it would expand service in Red Hook, the coming of Ikea in 2006 will surely change that.
