Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport will launch their new, $1.5 billion AeroTrain passenger transport system that will shuttle passengers from the terminal to the gate. The new system is supposed to replace the airport’s aging 1960′s “mobile lounges.” While the new passenger transport system is supposed to improve transit for passengers, it appears a bit incomplete.
The new underground train system will have 29 cars, putting the average wait time at less than two minutes. The maximum speed is 42 miles per hour, with an average 1.2 minute time between stations. Dulles’s current system, the mobile lounge, is basically a slow giant bus that has the capability to dock to an aircraft – like a jetway. The new system opened to employees last week, and will open for passengers tomorrow.
Yet some passengers voiced concerns about the system, calling it “a huge waste of money,” since it does not service all of the airport’s terminals. The train, shaped as a flipped “J,” serves concourse A, B, C, and the main terminal, but not D – a key location for those flying United Airlines.
The Washington Post reports that the system will eventually form a loop, and serve terminal D, as well as new terminals, but a date has yet to be set for the project. So for those passengers heading to terminal D, they’ll still get to ride the mobile lounges.
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