| AeroTrain
Pulls Into Station at Dulles in 2009 |
By Katie Murphy
Observer Staff Writer |
| Construction on the first station of AeroTrain, the new
train system at Washington Dulles International Airport, is
nearing completion, moving the airport one step closer to
the more convenient and efficient transport of passengers
between the main terminal and concourses. |
| As of Friday, Sept. 15, passengers can now check out the
train car, which is on exhibit at the airport and features
a virtual reality tour video, which explains how the system
will work. |
| The new metro-style system will have three stations and
29 cars, which travel at 42 miles per hour. The estimated
waiting time between cars is about 1.9 minutes with a travel
time of 72 seconds between stations. |
| James Bennett, president and CEO of Metropolitan Washington
Airport Authority, said this should be a great improvement
to the current mobile lounge system, which has an average
wait time of about four minutes. The train will run completely
underground, and it is scheduled to open by 2009. |
| Construction on the system began with the train's maintenance
station, which is located behind the main terminal on the
east side of the airport. |
| From there, the train runs north to the main terminal, where
it begins a loop around the airport. The train will run in
a "J"-shaped when it first opens, but the plan is to have
the entire system loop in the future. |
| Construction is almost final on the first station, which
is located at concourse C, with escalators, stairs and the
major framework in place. |
| Bennett said the station's architecture is reminiscent of
the original 1962 Eero Saarinen designed main terminal. He
said the walls have a slight slant outward as they reach the
ceiling, forming the same trapezoidal shape. |
| The station has two tracks that run on either side, with
outside doors for unloading and inside doors for loading.
|
| Bennett said this should help passengers get on and off
the train in an efficient, organized manner. He said because
the system is underground, when the passengers unload, the
incline up the escalators to a platform that will take them
to the Concourse. |
| The current design has this station slightly behind the
concourse. Bennett said this is because they will eventually
build a new concourse directly above the station, but that
is not for any time soon. |
| Bennett said the AeroTrain's maintenance facility has space
for 24 train cars inside the building and 20 cars in the yard,
as well as storage for parts and supplies. He said the upper
level is the operations control center. |
| The trains have "rubber tire" cars, which are smaller models
that allow the trains to navigate through smaller spaces and
makes less noise than a normal "steel wheel" car, he said.
|
| The main terminal station will be built 60 feet below ground
on the airfield side of the main terminal and span the entire
length, he said. It will be 54,500 square feet with a station
on the east and west sides of the building. |
| Bennett said the main terminal also would have a new security
mezzanine that will provide an expanded security area to screen
passengers more efficiently and alleviate congestion on the
ticketing level. |
| In 2000, the airport began the $3.4 billion renovation and
expansion of the airport. The completed projects so far include
two daily parking garages, which were completed in 2002 and
2003, and reconstruction of runways 12 to 30, which was completed
in summer 2004. |
| They have also finished passenger walkways with moving sidewalks
connecting the garages to the main terminal and the main terminal
to concourse B, which were completed in November 2004. The
improvements also included new permanent Z-gates at the terminal,
completed in August 2005, and construction of the new airport
traffic control tower completed in October 2005. |
| Projects currently underway include expanding concourse
B to have an additional 12 gates by 2008 and the addition
of a fourth and fifth runway. The fourth runway will be the
airport's third parallel north/south runway. It is scheduled
for completion in 2008. An environmental impact study on the
fifth runway has just been completed. |
| In 2005, Dulles serviced 27 million passengers with 509,000
aircraft take-offs and landings. Both broke Dulles' all-time
record. After the new expansions are complete, Bennett said
Dulles should be able to handle 55 million passengers. |
