What are Automated People Movers and where can you find them?
Have you ever wondered what they call that typical trains in airports? The official name is ‘Automated People Mover’, this term is used for fully automated and driverless transit systems. In first instance, an Automated People Mover looks like a regular metro or subway-train, but if you look better you’ll see that these trains have rubber tyres instead of regular train wheels. The advantage of rubber tyres instead of rails is a faster acceleration and shorter braking distance, which is ideal for short rides and also for longer distances at an airport.
What are Automated People Movers used for?
Automated People Movers are used for those short rides to transfer a relatively large group of about 300 passengers per ride in a small timescale. In this way, passengers can travel faster between terminals, concourses and gates. This will lead to a shorter minimum connecting time and a shorter origin to destination time. The shorter the time passengers need to travel, the better their travel experience will be. For airports, the travel experience of passengers is very important. Airports want to be the preferred transit airport for as many passengers as possible to generate more income.
Where can Automated People Movers be found?
Nowadays, Automated People Movers can be found all over the world in large airports which handle a lot of (transfer)passengers such as Dubai International Airport, Atlanta Airport and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Some of those airports use an APM at the landside and some at the airside of the airport. On the airside, they can be used by passengers to transfer between terminals, concourses or gates. On the landside, the system can be used to transfer between the terminal and the parking, public transportation centre or sometimes directly to the city centre.
When was the first Automated People Mover introduced?
The first Automated People Mover which was implemented at an airport was the Tampa International Airport People Mover in 1971, developed by Adtranz (which is now Bombardier Transportation). Because of the success of this system, two years later in 1973, the second Automated People Mover system opened at Seattle-Tacoma Airport. In the first two decades, the Automated People Mover system was only used in the United States. In the 90s, the first Automated People Movers were introduced in Asia and Europe. In Asia, the first APM opened in 1990 at Singapore Changi Airport and Europe followed one year later when an APM system was introduced at London Stansted Airport.
Automated People Movers manufacturers
There are about a dozen manufacturers which produce Automated People Mover systems, Bombardier and Mitsubishi have the largest market share in this industry. In all airports over the world, there are in total 58 Automated People Movers. Some airports have two or sometimes even three People Movers. In the following list, all Automated People Mover systems can be found.
Airport Code | Airport Name | APM Name | Year (Re)Starting Operation | Manufacturer | Model | Airside/ Landside |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ATL | Hartsfield- Jackson Airport | ATL Skytrain | 2009 | Mitsubishi | Crystal Mover | Landside |
The Plane Train | 1980 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Airside | ||
PEK | Beijing Capital Airport | Terminal 3 People Mover | 2008 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Airside |
DXB | Dubai International Airport | Dubai International Airport Mover | 2008 | Mitsubishi | Crystal Mover | Airside |
2016 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 300 | Airside | |||
LAX | Los Angeles Airport | Airport Metro Connector | Under Construction | n/a | n/a | n/a |
ORD | O’Hare Airport | Airport Transit System | 1993 | Matra | VAL | Landside |
LHR | Heathrow Airport | ULTra | 2011 | n/a | n/a | Landside |
The Transit (Terminal 5 Transit) | 2008 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 200 | Airside | ||
HKG | Hong Kong Airport | Hong Kong International Airport Automated People Mover | 1998 | Mitsubishi | Crystal Mover | Airside |
CDG | Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport | CDGVAL | 2007 | Siemens | AirVAL | Landside |
2E Line LISA | 2007 | Siemens | AirVAL | Airside | ||
DFW | Dallas/ Fort Worth International Airport | Skylink | 2005 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 200 | Airside |
CAN | Baiyun International Airport | Guangzhou Metro | 2010 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Landside |
FRA | Frankfurt Airport | The Squaire Metro | 2011 | Leitner-Poma | MniMetro | Landside |
SkyLine | 1994 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Airside | ||
CGK | Soekarno-Hatta Airport | Soekarno-Hatta International Airport People Mover | 2017 | PT Len Industri | n/a | Landside |
SIN | Changi Airport | Changi Airport Skytrain | 1990 | Mitsubishi | Crystal Mover | Airside |
ICN | Incheon International Airport | Shuttle Train | unknown | unknown | unknown | Airside |
Incheon Airport Maglev | 2016 | Hyundai-Rotem | ECOBEE | Landside | ||
DEN | Denver International Airport | Denver International Airport Automated Guideway Transit System | 1995 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Airside |
BKK | Suvarnabhumi International Airport | Suvarnabhumi Automated People Mover | Under Construction | n/a | n/a | n/a |
JFK | John F. Kennedy Airport | AirTrain JFK | 2003 | Bombardier | Innovia Metro | Landside |
KUA | Kuala Lumpur International Airport | KLIA Aerotrain | 1998 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Airside |
SFO | San Francisco International Airport | AirTrain | 2003 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Landside |
MAD | Madrid Barajas International Airport | Madrid Barajas Airport People Mover | 2005 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Airside |
LAS | McCarran International Airport | McCarren International Airport Automated People Mover | 2012 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Airside |
SEA | Seattle-Tacoma International Airport | Satellite Transit System | 1973 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Airside |
LGW | London Gatwick International Airport | Gatwick Airport Transit | 2010 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Landside |
TPE | Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport | Taoyuan International Airport Skytrain | 2002 | Bombardier | Innovia Metro | Airside |
MEX | Benito Juárez International Airport | Aerotrén | 2007 | Doppelmayr | Cable Liner | Landside |
MCO | Orlando International Airport | Orlando International Airport People Mover | 2017 | Mitsubishi | Crystal Mover | Landside |
1981 | Mitsubishi | Crystal Mover | Airside | |||
1990 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Airside | |||
2000 | ||||||
MUC | Munich Airport | PTS | 2016 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 300 | Airside |
MIA | Miami International Airport | SkyTrain | 2010 | Mitsubishi | Crystal Mover | Airside |
Concourse E Mover (MIA e Train) | 2016 | Leitner- Poma | MiniMetro | Airside | ||
MIA Mover | 2011 | Mitsubishi | Crystal Mover | Landside | ||
PHX | Sky Harbor International Airport | PHX Sky Train | 2014 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 200 | Landside |
EWR | Newark Liberty International Airport | AirTrain Newark | 1996 | Bombardier | Innovia Monorail | Landside |
IAH | George Bush International Airport | Skyway (TerminaLink) | 1999 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Airside |
Subway (Inter-terminal Train) | 1981 | WED Transportation Systems | WEDway | Landside | ||
FCO | Leonardo da Vinci- Fiumicino Airport | SkyBridge | 1999 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Airside |
SVO | Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport | Sheremetyevo interterminal transit | Under Construction | n/a | n/a | n/a |
YYZ | Toronto Pearson International Airport | LINK Train | 2006 | Doppelmayr | Cable Liner | Landside |
MSP | Minneapolis- St Paul International Airport | C Concourse People Mover | 2004 | Poma-Otis | Hovair | Airside |
Minneapolis- St. Paul Airport Trams | 2001 | Poma-Otis | Hovair | Landside | ||
DOH | Hamad International Airport | Hamad International Airport Mover | 2016 | Doppelmayr | Cable Liner | Airside |
CAI | Cairo International Airport | Cairo International Airport Automated People Mover | 2012 | Leitner-Poma | MiniMetro | Landside |
PA | Salgado Filho International Airport | Aeromovel | 2013 | Coester | Aeromovel | Landside |
BOG | El Dorado International Airport | El Dorado International Airport People Mover | Planned | n/a | n/a | n/a |
CVG | Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport | Cincinnati Airport People Mover | 1994 | Poma-Otis | Hovair | Airside |
PIT | Pittsburgh International Airport | Pittsburgh International Airport People Movers | 1992 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Airside |
SMF | Sacremento International Airport | SMF Automated People Mover | 2011 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Airside |
KIX | Kansai International Airport | Wing Shuttle | 1994 | Niigata Transys | Automated Guideway Transit | Airside |
DUS | Dusseldorf Airport | Dusseldorf SkyTrain | 2002 | Siemens | Overhead Monorail | Landside |
ZHR | Zurich International Airport | Skymetro | 2003 | Poma-Otis | Hovair | Airside |
BHX | Birmingham International Airport | AirRail Link | 2003 | Doppelmayr | Cable Liner | Landside |
TPA | Tampa International Airport | SkyConnect | 2018 | Mitsubishi | Crystal Mover | Landside |
Tampa International Airport People Movers | 1971 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Airside | ||
LGA | LaGuardia Airport | AirTrain LaGuardia | Proposed | n/a | n/a | n/a |
OAK | Oakland International Airport | Coliseum- Oakland International Airport Line | 2014 | Doppelmayr | Cable Liner | Landside |
STN | London Stansted Airport | Stansted Airport Transit System | 1991 | Bombardier | Innovia APM 100 | Airside |