This article is about the former New York City Subway service between JFK Airport and Manhattan. For the intra-airport people mover presently operating at JFK, see AirTrain JFK.
The JFK Express, advertised as The Train to The Plane, was a limited express service of the New York City Subway, connecting Midtown Manhattan to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK Airport). It operated between 1978 and 1990. Passengers paid extra, premium fares to ride JFK Express trains. Its route bullet was colored turquoise and contained an aircraft symbol.
Passengers purchased premium-fare tickets on board, and an onboard transit clerk on each train punched passengers' tickets.[1] In addition, there were transit police officers aboard to provide protection for travelers.[1] The initial fare was $3.50,[2][3] and the fare for the shuttle bus was $1.00.[4] On January 1, 1979, airline and airport employees were provided a discounted book of twenty tickets, selling for $25.[4] On July 3, 1981, the fare was raised from $4 to $5.[5] When the service was discontinued in 1990, the fare was $6.75.[1]
JFK Express – train and bus loop fares (with regular subway fare)
date
to JFK Airport via JFK Express
from JFK Airport via JFK Express
from JFK Airport via A train
JFK Airport Loop Express Bus only
regular subway fare
September 23, 1978
$3.00
$3.50
$1.20
$1.00
.50
June 28, 1980
$3.40
$4.00
$1.50
$1.20
.60
July 3, 1981
$4.25
$5.00
$1.80
$1.50
.75
January 2, 1984
$5.10
$6.00
$2.00
$1.80
.90
January 6, 1986
$5.50
$6.50
$2.25
$2.00
$1.00
January 1, 1990
$5.60
$6.75
?
?
$1.15
Rolling stock
The JFK Express used R46s exclusively for most of its existence,[6][7] although near its end R44s were used after major service changes took place on December 11, 1988.[8][6] The trains were initially three cars long or 225 feet (69 m) in length.[1][6][9] They later were four cars long or 300 feet (91 m) long, half the length of a typical B Division train.[6][10][11] The cars featured luggage racks for airport-bound passengers.[1]
History
Introduction
1978 brochure
In spring 1978, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) reached out to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to join a study evaluating long-term transportation improvements to JFK Airport. In summer 1978, the two agencies worked out the details for a service running to the Howard Beach station on the IND Rockaway Line. The station was renamed Howard Beach—JFK Airport, and a transfer terminal to shuttle buses was built. Since air passengers were perceived to be more sensitive to the quality of service, and less sensitive to fare levels, it was decided to operate a special service to Howard Beach at a fare of $3.50, fifty cents cheaper than bus service operated to the airport by Carey Bus Lines. It was decided to have the route operate via the Sixth Avenue Line instead of the Eighth Avenue Line due to its proximity to the economic center of Midtown Manhattan, to Herald Square, Rockefeller Center, and hotels along 50th Street. In addition, 57th Street–Sixth Avenue station provided an optimal terminal for the service as it was underutilized.[4] The MTA announced plans for an "experimental" subway–bus service between Manhattan and JFK Airport on June 27, 1978.[12]
The JFK Express attracted 25 percent of the market for travel between Manhattan and JFK Airport, and increased the share of trips to the airport by public transportation. While the MTA received $2.63 million in revenue from the service, it cost $6.5 million to operate it, meaning an operating loss of $3.9 million. The cost of operating the service was $3 million greater than expected due to the decision to have railroad clerks collect tickets on board the train, and due to the service's expanded hours of operation to 2 a.m. during the Carey Bus strike from June 27 to July 23, 1979.[14][15] On November 4, 1979, the schedule of service was modified to have trains run every 30 minutes between 5 and 6 a.m., every 20 minutes from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and every 24 minutes from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.[4]
Modifications
Within a few years of its inauguration, the service was being criticized as a poor use of resources.[16] The JFK Express proved to be unsuccessful, seeing low ridership in part because the service did not actually serve any airline terminals, but rather transferred passengers to a shuttle bus service that was several hundred yards from the station.[17] In May 1980, the MTA executive director, John Simpson, recommended that the express train be discontinued, stating that ridership on the line stabilized at 1.3 million yearly riders, and the yearly deficit rose to $2.5 million. In June 1980, members of the MTA board voted to make the JFK Express a permanent service, stating that a mass transit link to JFK Airport was necessary.[18]
In June 1983, the New York City Transit Authority, along with other service changes, planned to change service on the JFK Express. The JFK Express would have been extended to Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street, and the $5 fare and the special guard would be eliminated, making it like any other subway line. Trains would be 8 cars long instead of 4 cars long, and the headway between trains would be 18 minutes, instead of 20 minutes.[19][20] The shuttle bus fare would be reduced to 75 cents, the same as the subway fare; a passenger traveling between the airport and any subway stop except Howard Beach would pay $1.50 in total.[20] The proposal was still being reviewed in January 1984; it never came to fruition.[21]
At times, regular passengers were allowed on the trains and no fares were charged due to disruptions on other services; this included the 1988 closure of the Williamsburg Bridge, when trains on the BMT Nassau Street Line and BMT Jamaica Line were rerouted. Between December 11, 1988, and October 29, 1989, on weekday evenings between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m., passengers were allowed to ride the JFK Express between 57th Street and 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center without paying the extra fare as it was the only service running between these two stations during those times.[22] Some passengers paid the extra fare to get to Aqueduct Racetrack during racing days, when the JFK Express would stop at Aqueduct Racetrack station.[23]
Discontinuation
In October 1989, the NYCTA proposed eliminating the JFK Express, citing that it had not attracted enough passengers. At the time 3,200 passengers were using the train per day, down from a high of between 4,000 and 5,000 passengers that used it at the beginning of the service's operation.[24][25]: 3.14 The executive vice president of the NYCTA, George Miller, said that eliminating the service would save $7 million a year and free 144 transit workers and 12 subway cars for more cost-efficient subway runs. It was determined that 47 percent of the riders of the JFK Express were commuters from Howard Beach and the Rockaways who were willing to pay for the premium service. Trains were running every hour by this point.[24]
On October 29, 1989, the IND 63rd Street Line opened and the JFK Express was extended to 21st Street–Queensbridge, skipping Roosevelt Island.[6][26][27] This extension was short-lived, as service was discontinued on April 15, 1990, due to low ridership, with as few as 3,200 riders per day.[1][28][17] The bus service, connecting the Howard Beach–JFK Airport station and the airport proper, continued after JFK Express service ended, and was the only link between the airport and the Howard Beach station at the time.[1][29]: 15 Passengers preferred the A train, which was cheaper and ran more often.[1] Ridership on the A to the airport increased after the discontinuation of the JFK Express; in 1995, about 1 million passengers used the A to the airport.[25]: 3.14
^ abcdeLinder, Bernard (December 2008). "Sixth Avenue Subway Service Changes". New York Division Bulletin. 51 (12). Electric Railroaders' Association: 2–4. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
^Chiasson, George (April 2003). "The R-44 Story"(PDF). New York Division Bulletin. 46 (4). Electric Railroaders' Association: 5. Archived from the original(PDF) on May 4, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
