Now there are planes and trains at Miami Airport.
The Concourse D skytrain debuted Wednesday, whisking passengers from one end of the mile-long concourse to the other within five minutes for connections to flights, baggage claim, stores, restaurants and passport control.
The skytrain has stations at four main areas of Concourse D; its four-car trains can transport up to 9,000 passengers per hour. The same type of trains is in use at airports in Atlanta, Singapore, Washington Dulles, Dubai and Hong Kong.
The new system cuts walking time by 70% for domestic connections and by 34% for international connections in Concourse D, which handles more than 20 million passengers a year.
The opening of the skytrain is one of the final milestones for Miami’s North Terminal development program. So far this year, Concourse A and 16 gates were renovated and reopened; the regional commuter facility for American Eagle regional flights opened, and gates D-16, D-20 and D-33 opened.
Six of the terminal’s 50 gates remain to be opened in 2011.
Also opening next year will be the a 72-lane federal inspection area and greeter’s lobby, and a baggage-handling and delivery system capable of screening and transporting 8,400 bags per hour on 10 miles of conveyor belts from the check-in area to the 50 gates.