As demand for air transportation grows, many large international airports have faced serious congestion in recent years. People have realized that transportation systems connecting airports with other areas are crucial to handling large volumes of passengers, and Taiwan's Chiang Kai-shek International Airport is no exception. European international airports over the past 25 years have made the use of high-speed rail transit systems a priority solution to their transportation problems.
Generally speaking, airport rail systems can be divided into three major categories: traditional, urban rapid transit and exclusive rail systems -- each with its advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage of a traditional rail system is the low construction costs, as air and rail passengers jointly share most of the railway networks. Examples include the systems of Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands, Frankfurt Airport in Germany and London's Gatwick Airport in England. The disadvantage of such systems is that they ignore the needs of air passengers, who may have a lot of luggage. So it's important to modify the existing train system to make it more convenient for air passengers, otherwise they won't use it.
An urban rapid transit rail system is an extension of a city's rapid transit system. The Piccadilly Line, which connects London's Heathrow Airport and urban areas, serves as a good example. The advantage of the system is that air passengers can easily reach most areas of a city through the existing rail networks. The disadvantage is that air passengers are mixed with regular ones. As with traditional rail systems, it does not accommodate the needs of air passengers for space and information.
An exclusive rail system is a dedicated high-speed railway that connects an airport to a neighboring city's commercial hub. Examples are the Airport Express of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) and the Nankai Airport Line of Japan's Kansai International Airport. These railways are considered high-passenger-volume systems. Although these systems move passengers at high speeds and with few stops, their construction costs are very high. When analyzing the necessity of such a railway, a key factor is the percentage of air passengers who use a city's downtown area as their starting or terminal point. Generally speaking, a dedicated railway is worthy of consideration if the number of passengers at an airport exceeds 2 million a year.
Several factors have to be considered when designing an international airport transit system.
First: getting passengers from the airport to neighboring urban areas. The strategy for an airport's rapid transit service is to provide fast and frequent services. A successful high-speed rail transit network has to offer transit to many other areas -- in addition to its high speed that reduces commuting time.
Second: linking an airport with national transportation systems. Generally speaking, rail transit links outside urban areas are mostly national networks, which do not solely target air passengers. Take New Tokyo International (Narita) Airport for example. The Narita Express extends from the airport to important transit stations in downtown Tokyo -- such as Ueno, Tokyo and Shinjuku Stations -- connecting with the Shinkansen Line, subways and other national railways. Therefore, we should consider connecting the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation's (THSRC, 台灣高鐵) railway in western Taiwan to CKS Airport. This would not only improve the airport's accessibility and services but also reduce the pressure to build another international airport in central or southern Taiwan.
Third: the connection and integration between an airport and its neighboring rail stations. Apart from its connections to outside networks, convenient entry and exit at the airport after passengers arrive is another key point. The design of Hong Kong's airport is a good example of integrating the airport itself and its rail transit system. The rail platforms are divided into upper and lower levels. After departing passengers arrive at the airport by train, they only need to walk across to the check-in hall on the same, upper, level. For arriving passengers, after they collect their baggage, they can walk straight to the train platform on the same, lower, level and leave the airport directly. As a result, the system effectively transfers huge numbers of passengers entering and leaving Hong Kong -- and reduces the walking distances inside the airport.
Fourth: check-in strategies and facilities for "in-town check-ins" that closely complement each other. For example, London started its in-town check in services in 1999. It's estimated that, of passengers using the 19 air routes that offer the service, about 85 percent to 90 percent of them actually use it.
The key to the successful check-in services outside airports lies in the coordination between airline and railway operators on the basis of the effective distribution of their overall costs. In addition, baggage security and tracking systems should be handled appropriately.
In conclusion, after the Evertransit International Development Corp (
Chang Yu-hern is a professor in the Department of Transportation and Communication Management Science at National Cheng Kung University.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
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