Airport Javelin
| Airport Javelin | |
|---|---|
| File:Airport Javelin Train.jpg | |
| Overview | |
| Locale |
Koiwai Westminster County, Federal District |
| Termini | |
| Stations | 2 |
| Service | |
| Type | Rapid transit |
| System | Koiwai Area Regional Rail System |
| Operator(s) | Koiwai Department of Transportation |
| Rolling stock | Proprietary trainsets. |
| History | |
| Opened | 2/25/10 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | |
| Track length | |
| Character | Underground, at grade |
| Track gauge | Standard Gauge |
| Minimum radius | |
| Operating speed | 100 mph average |
| Highest elevation | |
| Route layout | |
Airport Javelin is an express train service from Koiwai Decker Reginrauve International Airport to Koiwai Central Station in downtown Koiwai operated by the Koiwai Area Regional Rail System, a service of KDOT. It was opened by Governor Freesia King in 2010. It uses the INR Capital Corridor for the majority of its route.
Trains leave Central Station every 15 minutes 24 hours a day, and there is matching service from the airport. The service uses specially designed trainsets. The passenger cars feature LCD video screens. The monitors are mostly used for advertising purposes, but also show upcoming departures at the airport, and weather and headline news provided by SBC. The trip between downtown and the airport takes approximately 30 minutes.
History
When the Ivalician government reorganized national airport flight slots distribution to international carriers in 2000, the moves recentered international flights to Ivalice from abroad at Londinium Skorcolum International Airport and Koiwai Decker Reginrauve International Airport. With Reginrauve Airport suddenly carrying a much greater percentage of international traffic volume, the main point of access from the city, National Route 104, quickly came to carry much more traffic, eventually topping its operational capacity so much, that traffic jams extending the length of the highway began to occur.
Rather than expanding the highway, and thereby creating an additional chance of traffic problems getting worse, national transportation officials, in coordination with the Koiwai Department of Transportation launched an initiative to build a spur line from the INR Capital Corridor main line to the airport in order to reduce congestion on the highway.
Construction of the Airport Rail Link spur line began in early 2002. Construction was mainly done as upgrade works to mostly unused freight trackage in the city's eastern suburbs, particularly an old partially abandoned line that was used to transport construction materials for the airport to a nearby construction site. The rights of way were double-tracked and electrified with overhead catenary, at a cost of 876 million intos. Trainsets were purchased from Bombardier Transportation in 2004, with delivery beginning in 2009. The line was officially inaugurated on February 26, 2010.
Route
The Airport Javelin line runs from Koiwai Central Station in Downtown, travelling underneath eastern downtown in the Koiwai Union Tunnels. After emerging in Malcolm Gardens, the Airport Javelin diverges from the Capital Corridor travelling southbound towards a separate right-of-way parallel to the Skyline Freeway. It continues from that point to the airport terminal station. The line shares tracks with the INR Capital Corridor and Diamond Coast Services in the Union Tunnels between Central and Malcolm Gardens, and from there to the point of divergence. Airport Express trains do not service any stations along the route except the two terminals.
Fare Structure
Airport Express fares, despite being a part of the KARRS network, are drastically more expensive than Randgriz and Setsuna line trips. A one-way trip is is 15i online, 20i at ticket offices and machines, and 22.50i if purchased onboard. Same-day return tickets are 25i. One month return tickets are 50i, good for a maximum of four trips within 30 days of purchase. Tickets are available for purchase at all RTS Koiwai stations, KARRS Stations equipped with Ticket Vending Machines, Koiwai Central Station, and Randgriz City Charing Boulevard Station. Discounts are given to groups of more than three people.
Due to the expensive price of the Airport Express trains, many travelers choose to use the RTS Koiwai's Yellow line, connecting the same stations as the Airport Express, or a Airport Flyer Express bus from downtown.