With all the talk of JFK and LGA and the need for a one seat ride to mid-town I was wondering which cities have the best one-seat into the center of the city.

The Airport Express in HKG might take the cake. Not only is it a super easy one seat ride from Hong Kong & Kowloon, with a short walk from the station into the terminal, but you can actually check your bag at the train station in town and then you don't have to drag it on the train - not sure it gets much more seamless than that.

If you count outside the US, the best is probably HKG with their downtown check-in / bag drop off.

SEA has a one seat ride on Link Light Rail. https://www.soundtransit.org/Schedules/Link-light-rail

Some folks will complain its a bit of a long walk to the link station from the airport terminal. Its not the shortest walk, but its dictated by the terminal's v-shape design.

ORD good access but far too many stops on the Blue Line; in an ideal world they would have Express service.

MDW orange line is very good.

ATL MARTA works very well.

Haven’t ridden the new rail at DEN yet but I assume it works well.

Can you beat AMS? Barely 15 minutes from terminal to Centraal Station on the express train.

The 300km/h Shanghai Pudong Maglev train must beat them all! 8 minutes to do 30km

http://www.shanghai-airport-transfer.co ... -train.htm

DCA on Metro. BART from SFO, of course depending on the terminal.

SLC light rail. 10-15 minute ride to downtown. Walk from train to security is equal to or less than the walk from security to gate. $2.50 fare.

Oslo is quite good.

fcogafa wrote:

The 300km/h Shanghai Pudong Maglev train must beat them all! 8 minutes to do 30km

http://www.shanghai-airport-transfer.co ... -train.htm

If the station in town was better located or had more options I would agree, but last time I was there it was pretty hard to get to from Pudong or the central area.

In the US, O’hares blue line, Cleveland’s RTA & SFO’ Bart are all great options which can get you to multiple points in the city... Outside of the US the Narita Express & heathrow express are other great options.

fcogafa wrote:

The 300km/h Shanghai Pudong Maglev train must beat them all! 8 minutes to do 30km

http://www.shanghai-airport-transfer.co ... -train.htm

It doesn’t take you to downtown though. Both my bases at FRA and HAM have decently fast links but it’s just regular commuter trains and not as clean as HK. Sydney is in the same league although it’s surprisingly expensive for the service it provides.

BWI has several whether you want to go into Baltimore proper (light rail, Amtrak, or MARC) or south to DC (Amtrak or MARC), compared to SFO/OAK on BART the prices are a steal for the distance traveled and I enjoy using any of them for my almost-yearly to Baltimore.

Zurich: just take the elevator down to the platform and the train ride to the central Hauptbahnhof is probably just ten minutes.

CPH is pretty good.

In North America, YYZ is probably the best. Four trains per hour all day, one seat, 25 minutes, three stops, comfortable seats, Wifi, and I think power as well. About the only knock on it is the price (IINM $12.35 CAD each way if you buy a return, about $9.60 US at the current exchange rate), and even that is pretty reasonable all things considered.

Well it’s NOT DUB anyway

GVA. Out the arrivals door, hang a left, walk 200 meters, the train station is there linking you to all of Switzerland. In reverse, Swiss has some options for cheking luggage, but it's gotten harder due to security requirements.

If you want downtown GVA, hang a left out of customs, up the escalator, 50 yard walk: FREE buses to all passengers (just punch a button for your free ticket before going through customs) to anywhere in Geneva within a 90 minutes reach (which is not saying much. The canton is a postage stamp)

Vienna: ÖBB RailJet (High Speed Intercity Train) to Hauptbahnhof takes 18 Minutes, IIRC
Frankfurt: S-Bahn to Hauptbahnhof takes ~11 Minutes
Munich: S-Bahn to Hauptbahnhof takes ~30 Minutes

STL light rail has stations at both terminals and easy ride to town. Frequent and takes aboit 35 minutes.

LHR & LGW are very very easy! Can’t beat the Heathrow and Gatwick express services!

PSU.DTW.SCE wrote:

Haven’t ridden the new rail at DEN yet but I assume it works well.

DEN's University of Colorado A-Line is only seven stops, 37 minutes, and US$9 from the airport to Denver Union Station. Fast, quiet (except for when the horn is blown during at-grade crossings), clea,n and easy to use. Ticketing system is Euro-like where one buys a ticket (at the machine or on the app) and board (sans turnstiles and such) via the honour system and ticket inspectors roam the trains. The ticket also acts as a regional fare ticket so it can be used on the entire system all over the Denver Metro area.

Boston - it is even free. Silver Line to South Station.

LHR? Piccadilly line and Crossrail (soon)

InnsbruckFlyer wrote:

Vienna: ÖBB RailJet (High Speed Intercity Train) to Hauptbahnhof takes 18 Minutes, IIRC
Frankfurt: S-Bahn to Hauptbahnhof takes ~11 Minutes
Munich: S-Bahn to Hauptbahnhof takes ~30 Minutes

The CAT train goes to Mitte closer to city center and has fewer stops from VIE but more expensive than rail jet

ARN is 20min train with rides every 15-20min.
HEL is 30min train with ride every 5min.
Cannot recall OSL and MUC travel time but both are good too.
MAD is ok.
At VNO rides are not often but convenient.

Stockholm: Airport Express from Central Station to Arlanda takes about 20 minutes. Tickets are pricey, but there are good deals if you buy them well in advance.

ZRH and GVA both great really. Marco Polo in Venice has the must fun one via water bus, though the walk to the boats maybe not so short (I forget).

I know SLC was good for my wife when she had business there. Her parent company was downtown and the train dropped her by the hotel or by her work.

Although it's not a train, YTZ has a bus that goes to downtown Toronto in 15 minutes depending on traffic.
Also, I agree with HKG, it's a very fast and easy ride.

BGY has a direct bus service from the airport to the old town, Città Alta, that stops at the train station on the way! That is pretty good!

I would add PDX, LIS, BKK to the list.

As others have stated, ZRH and GVA. Fast, frequent, nonstop heavy rail to the city center, and in the case of GVA it's free! ZRH --> Haubtbahnhof might be free too, I don't remember.

Canada Line between downtown Vancouver & YVR

ZRF->Hbh is certainly not free. I think prices have to be factored into the discussion as well. OSL, for example, is a joke. The train ride to downtown literally costs more than many flights to OSL. Heathrow Express is very close and totally useless if you have to continue your journey from Paddington by tube or bus or whatever.

I'm surprised no one (that I noticed) has mentioned Newark. Super-convenient almost one seat ride to Midtown Manhattan. But yeah, SFO, YYZ, SLC, DCA best in North America in my opinion.

All the answers can be found at this website.

http://urbanrail.net/

All the metro, trolley, light rails, subways around the world. I forgot Sydney is another one seat ride to downtown or the Opera house.

BAWLGW wrote:

LHR & LGW are very very easy! Can’t beat the Heathrow and Gatwick express services!

Sure you can. It's stupid expensive for public transport. I'll take the tube.

Cubsrule wrote:

In North America, YYZ is probably the best. Four trains per hour all day, one seat, 25 minutes, three stops, comfortable seats, Wifi, and I think power as well. About the only knock on it is the price (IINM $12.35 CAD each way if you buy a return, about $9.60 US at the current exchange rate), and even that is pretty reasonable all things considered.

I'd argue YVR is up there too, trains every 6-9 mins, $3 going to YVR and $9 from YVR, about 25 mins to city centre.

Surprised BKK hasn't been mentioned yet. Great connection from the airport and reasonable transfers to lots of desirable areas, but as it's Bangkok, plenty of areas where you have to get a taxi from the station and Bangkok traffic is something else.

In Japan, FUK works well since the airport is literally in the middle of the city, and thus, it's a 10 mins ride (max) to central Fukuoka. NGO is also great with uSky trains, 28 mins to Nagoya Stn. CTS is also a one-train ride to Sapporo Stn, as is SDJ (Sendai Airport in Northeast Japan).

I can't really say either airports in Tokyo has "very exceptional" one-seat train ride, though. NRT has Keisei, which is faster but only goes to Ueno/Nippori and required a change of train to "downtown" areas like Shinjuku or Tokyo Stn. area. Although JR Narita Express is a one-seat ride to Tokyo Stn. and Shinjuku, it's painfully slow (1 hr+ to Shinjuku Stn.). Meanwhile, HND maybe close to central Tokyo, but neither Keikyu/Toei Subway (Running as a single commuter/subway line), which only goes to Shinagawa, with its station near central Tokyo somewhat away from the main strip. The monorail only goes up to Hamamtsucho, again requiring a change of train to go to Tokyo Stn. or Shinjuku.

Over in Seoul, A'REX is decent (It's definitely quicker than riding those "limousine bus" with unpredictable Seoul traffic), with the main problem being Seoul Stn. not exactly located right at Seoul's (original) city center (i.e. Jongno, or even Myeongdong aka tourist central), and definitely not Gangnam.

Even HKG's Airport Express is not 100% "without problem". Yes, it's fast, and in-city check-in is very convenient. Kowloon Stn., however, is quite a bit away from where the hotels are in Kowloon (Tsim Sha Tsui area or for those travelers looking for cheaper options, Mong Kok/Yau Ma Tei) unless you're staying at the Ritz-Carlton above the station. Hong Kong Station is right at the business heart of Hong Kong and is close to most hotels in Central, though.

Over in Taiwan, the new Taoyuan Metro line is a huge improvement for access to TPE, with quick express trains running straight to Taipei Stn., although for most people they probably still have to change to another subway line for 1 or 2 stations. KHH (in Kaohsiung) is directly connected to the subway Red Line that takes people to most places that they have to head to (Sanduo Area, Kaohsiung Station, and even Zuoying Station to connect to Taiwan HSR).

Cleveland's RTA Red Line connects CLE to Tower City Center in downtown via light rail.

USAirKid wrote:

SEA has a one seat ride on Link Light Rail. https://www.soundtransit.org/Schedules/Link-light-rail.

Perhaps one of the "best" if you have no luggage, otherwise not. The narrow light rail cars are cramped even if you are carrying nothing and there are no luggage racks.

Turns out a lot of airports have good public transportation options. Case closed.

twinotter wrote:

USAirKid wrote:

SEA has a one seat ride on Link Light Rail. https://www.soundtransit.org/Schedules/Link-light-rail.

Perhaps one of the "best" if you have no luggage, otherwise not. The narrow light rail cars are cramped even if you are carrying nothing and there are no luggage racks.

I do this all the time with luggage with no problem. The cars are standard light rail size, no more narrow than any other rapid transit cars. There are also open areas for luggage it you want to put you suitcase here.

I’ve taken the SEA light rail to the airport with a full size backpacking backpack in its duffel bag with no complaints at all. I find it plenty convenient.

There is a complementary cart that goes back and forth for those who find the walk long. But then it’s technically not a one seat ride. I walk to the terminal.

Does JFK have a one-seat ride to downtown? The JFK AirTrain connects to the LIRR or to the E/A lines. Is that one seat...or two?

Songshan Airport is ridiculously close to Central Taipei, and from what I remember, the metro station is right underneath the terminal. You can even spot planes on the ramp from inside the train before it goes underground into the station.

EIN is pretty convenient. No rail but frequent bus services. Line 400 is the Airport Express bus that goes straight from the airport to the central station. Line 401 is the regular bus that has several stops on the way, very convenient if you need to be somewhere else in the city. Both busses go every 10 minutes. Line 400 takes about 20 minutes, 401 is 5 minutes longer. Line 20 connects the High Tech campus, Veldhoven and Best to the airport and runs every half hour except for sundays. Veldhoven and Best are each 15 minutes by bus.

We also have the AirExpressBus that goes from EIN to Amsterdam and takes about an hour and a half.

A new bus station is under construction just outside the terminal. In the meanwhile a temporary bus stop is being used not much further but it's outside with no shelter for the rain. The new bus station be under the parking garage. When it's finished you can get there dry no matter how hard it rains.

hvusslax wrote:

CPH is pretty good.

i Agree to that one with both intercitytrains, Øresundstrains ( train system to Sweden) and Metro

German/Swiss airports are the best. IMO the best connectivity is provided in an airport with

- Long-distance trains to other cities
- Suburban/urban trains to the city center and other areas
- Bus services (if necessary)
- No special supplement to reach the airport (we are in 2018!)

So the airport is completely linked to a national rail system. All at so convenient frequencies that you don't even bother to think about how to get in or out at any time.

IMO they tick the box with high marks: Amsterdam, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Köln, Genève, Zürich, Copenhagen. Those are all airports exceptionally well connected by train and where you are about 10-15 minutes to the city center on a standard city public transportation ticket. Munich is already too far from the city and too expensive.

I disagree about Oslo or Stockholm. Those have dedicated train services that have special airport supplements. IMO far from ideal.

It's got to be MME!!! Such a frequent service and really popular with the locals!