Plans For Train From JFK To

The quarter-century battle for a direct train-to-the-plane rail line, linking lower Manhattan with JFK Airport, may soon be over. Governor George Patakis announcement on Wednesday of a new route had city and state officials cheering, and Queens politicos jeering.
Patakis plans call for a $6 billion underground extension of the LIRR service from its last stop on Atlantic Avenue to Lower Manhattan, via a tunnel under the East River.
The new subway system would provide a one-seat ride to the JFK Airport, via the Jamaica Center station, while creating a 40% faster ride for LIRR commuters. Pataki said that the plans also had the potential to provide a future East River connection for the busy E train.
According to the governors plans, the extended rail line would be expected to carry 100,000 passengers per day, and can be operational by 2013, if construction begins in 2006.
"This improved air-rail service will strengthen the competitiveness of JFK, our regions premier international airport and be an important economic engine for our area," said Pataki.
Not everybody is cheering the new proposals. Queens elected officials are waiting very carefully for details of the transportation plans.
Although Queens Borough President Helen Marshall is an outspoken advocate of one-seat access to and from the boroughs airports, she is still waiting for the public review process. Her spokesman, Dan Andrews, said she wants more information and details concerning the physical and economic impacts.
City Council Transportation Chairman John Liu was more direct with his assessment. While the project was "fantastic" for LIRR commuters and airport travelers, he said it was meaningless for Queens residents.
"For a small fraction of the money Governor Pataki is willing to splurge on his suburban favorites, Queens residents could be provided with more transportation options," said Liu. "Governor Pataki needs to remember that we are his constituents too."
State Senator Toby Stavisky noted that the Governors transportation proposal is not a clear one-seat ride for air commuters. Instead, she called it a "train-to- the-train-to-the-plane" commuter system. Another major concern, she said, is how to finance the project.
With the MTA already asking the city, state and federal governments for fiscal assistance, she asked how the governor will raise adequate funding for the project.
Sam Samuels, spokesman for the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, said that his organization had also not seen any details of the governors proposal. Its prime interest, he said, was the projects effectiveness in Jamaicas economic development, job opportunities for area residents, as well as enhancing Jamaicas historic role as a transportation center.