Plans to replace the inter-terminal AirTrain at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey are moving forward with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's selection of Stantec to design key facilities for the $2-billion people mover project.

Stantec’s work on the project includes design of a maintenance and control facility, connections between the AirTrain and Terminals B and C and decommissioning of the current AirTrain, says Kevin Doyle, firm vice president and U.S. aviation sector leader. “It’s a diverse group of projects that we get to work on at this airport through the life of this program,” he says.

The amount of the Stantec contract was not disclosed.

The existing AirTrain, which opened in 1996, is a monorail-style people mover on an elevated guideway linking three airport terminals, parking and a train station where passengers can connect to NJ Transit or Amtrak trains. Port Authority leaders say the existing AirTrain carries about 12 million passengers per year, but it is approaching the end of its useful life. 

The Port Authority plans to replace the current AirTrain with a 2.5-mile elevated guideway automated people mover system. 

Designing the facilities comes with a number of constraints, says Ken Anderson, vice president and civic sector leader at Stantec. These include meeting operational parameters for the AirTrain itself and spaces available within the airport facility. The area is also a flood zone and needs to meet requirements for safety and functionality. 

“So this one’s got all these great parameters that allow us to challenge ourselves and really think creatively on how we bring all this together, but also create a beautiful state-of-the-art facility,” Anderson says. 

In December, the Port Authority announced it selected German ropeway system maker Doppelmayr Group to design and build the people mover system and its vehicles, and then to operate it for 20 years. The contract is worth $570 million for the system and then an estimated $385 million for operation and maintenance. 

Doppelmayr builds automated people movers that are rail-based but rope-propelled. Its past U.S. projects include the Aria Express tram in Las Vegas and the Oakland Airport Connector in California. The technology is part of what makes the project exciting to work on, Anderson says. 

The Port Authority anticipates opening the new AirTrain in 2029. A request for qualifications is open for contractors that seek to be prequalified for work on the project. 

The project is part of wider redevelopment plans at the airport. Its new 1-million-sq-ft Terminal A opened last year. The Port Authority has also taken preliminary steps to enhance regional connectivity at the airport train station and is working on a master plan for development through 2065. 

“This project is one of the many puzzle pieces for Newark Airport’s redevelopment,” Doyle says. “We’re playing a very big role for us, but it’s small in comparison to what the next 20 years holds for the airport.”