New Orleans Airport Rail Link

[Jeff Smith]

PROPOSAL: [url=https://www.nola.com/news/business/new- ... e.amp.html[NOLA.com[/url]

What's next for bustling New Orleans airport? A 21st Century rail link, leaders say.

With the $1.3bn North Terminal now universally lauded, the airport's leaders are targeting light rail and links to New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
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Dolliole is keen to remind people of how hard the terminal project was to get across the finish line because he is now pushing for the airport's next big set of upgrades, the centerpiece of which he hopes will be a new light rail link between the new terminal and the old one, now referred to as the "South Campus."



The grand vision for the airport's new master plan — a constantly evolving 20-year program — would be to have an electrified light railway that runs from the North Terminal to a hub for train, bus and other transport on the south side of Airline Highway, across from the South Campus. There, passengers would disembark and take another train to the city's central station near the Caesars Superdome, or head north to Baton Rouge or to other regional rail destinations.

Dolliole and other boosters say the new transit system is more than a "nice to have" for visitors. It is essential to accommodate the airport's growth, where 5,000 people already work daily — especially given plans to upgrade South Campus facilities to draw in new cargo operators and other businesses and create thousands more jobs.
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[Tadman]

I lived there for five years and the new airport is such a boondoggle. We "needed it". Well we didnt' remember to put in freeway access nor move the rental car facility, so you have to bush whack it to the freeway or take a 20+ minute ride to a rental car. Kind of crazy.

But well over half the airport traffic is tourism, so why isn't there a rapid transit link to the french quarter, especially in a city that counts their streetcars as a key heritage icon? I've asked myself this before. As linked map shows, it would be relatively easy as the CN runs straight downtown from the airport and there is lots of former trackage now used as access roads.

Given that this is a government project in Louisiana, they'll completely screw it up and make it colossaly expensive. But it's still a good idea. There are very few cities in the world that see this volume of tourist traffic going to one concentrated place (FQ and warehouse district).

Also this nonsense about the planned high speed to Baton Rouge is just that. The two projects should not be comingled. The Baton Rouge train should be a locally-operated 90-120 minute commuter train using gallery cars and rebuilt SD70's on CNIC under FRA regs, while the airport streetcar should be an FTA operation using Boston Green Line-like cars that can run to Union Station on a track adajacent to CNIC, then downtown on NORTA trackage.

[west point]

Someone correct me but doesn't the former KCS track join CN somewhat SW of what is called the south campus? As far as street car or light rail to downtown NOL didn't the street cars at one time follow the median of Airline Drive to almost the old south terminal?

[R36 Combine Coach]

Thinking more along the lines of UP Express.