Plans to replace the Interterminal AirTrain at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey are nearing completion, as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey recently selected Stantec to design key facilities for to the $2 billion passenger transportation project.
Stantec’s work on the project includes the design of a maintenance and control facility, connections between the AirTrain and Terminals B and C, and the decommissioning of the current AirTrain. The various components of the project require a large team with different disciplines working together, says Kevin Doyle, vice president and US aviation sector leader at Stantec.
“It’s a diverse group of projects that we can work on at this airport over the life of this program,” he says.
The existing AirTrain, which opened in 1996, is a monorail-style people mover on an elevated guide that connects airport terminals, parking and a train station where passengers can connect to NJ Transit trains or Amtrak. Port Authority leaders say the existing AirTrain carries about 12 million passengers a year but is nearing the end of its useful life.
The Port Authority plans to replace the current AirTrain with a 2.5-mile automated passenger transportation system.
Facility design comes with a number of limitations, says Ken Anderson, Stantec’s vice president and civic sector leader. They will have to comply with the operating parameters of the AirTrain itself and of the spaces available within the facility. The area is also a flood zone, which adds challenges and must meet safety and functionality requirements.
“So this one has all these great parameters that allow us to challenge ourselves and really think creatively about how we put this all together, but also create a beautiful state-of-the-art facility,” says Anderson.
In December, the Port Authority announced that it had selected German cableway system manufacturer Doppelmayr Group to design and build the system to transport people and their vehicles, then operate it for 20 years. The contract is worth $570 million for the system and then an estimated $385 million for operation and maintenance.
Doppelmayr builds rail-based but rope-powered automated people movers. Its past projects in the United States include the Aria Express streetcar in Las Vegas and the Oakland Airport Connector in California. The technology is part of what makes the project exciting to work on, Anderson says.
The Port Authority plans to open the new AirTrain in 2029. A request for qualification is open for contractors interested in being pre-qualified for project work orders.
The project is part of the airport’s wider redevelopment plans. Its new 1 million square meter Terminal A opened last year. The Port Authority has also taken preliminary steps to improve regional connectivity at the airport railway station and is working on a master plan for development up to 2065.
“This project is one of many pieces of the puzzle for the redevelopment of Newark Airport,” says Doyle. “We’re playing a very important role for us, but it’s small compared to what the next 20 years hold for the airport.”
