Pittsburgh International Airport People Movers

Pittsburgh International Airport People Mover System
Landside Terminal station of the People Mover system
Overview
Other name	Pittsburgh Airport Tram
Status	Closed
Owner	Allegheny County Airport Authority
Line number	2 lines
Locale	(PIT) Pittsburgh International Airport
Termini	Landside Terminal Airside (Midfield Terminal)
Stations	2
Website	https://flypittsburgh.com/
Service
Type	Automatic Transit System
System	Pittsburgh International Airport
Services	2 stops (2 trains run both directions)
Train number(s)	2 trains
Operator(s)	Alstom
Depot(s)	1 (located at the Landside Terminal)
Rolling stock	3 cars per train (2 sets each)
Daily ridership	21,917.8082 (divided by passengers annually)
Ridership	8 million passengers annually
History
Commenced	1990
Opened	October 1, 1992
Closed	November 18, 2025
Technical
Line length	2,600 feet
Number of tracks	2
Character	Underground guideway
Minimum radius	Curves slightly after maintenance shop and near Airside Terminal (near ends of tunnel)
Electrification	Central rail
Operating speed	32 mph (51 km/h)
Signalling	Computerized
Highest elevation	1,202 airport elevation (below ground unknown)
Maximum incline	0°

The Pittsburgh International Airport People Mover was a fully automated people mover system at Pittsburgh International Airport in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Designed and installed at a cost of $14 million by AEG-Westinghouse (later Alstom), it operated in two parallel tunnels to connect the former Landside Terminal with the Airside Terminal.

History

The Pittsburgh International Airport People Mover entered service upon the opening of the new Midfield Terminal on October 1, 1992, using Westinghouse C-100 vehicles (now known as Alstom Innovia APM 100).

To handle increasing passenger traffic, a $9.5 million improvement project was undertaken by Adtranz in 1999. ^[1] A total of two cars were added to the people mover system; one was added to each train, turning each two-car train into a three-car train. The stations were then expanded to accommodate the extra cars. The project also included refurbishing of the original cars.

Beginning in 2014 and ending in 2016, the second, $11-million project to the tram system was done by Bombardier (now Alstom) as the system was beginning to age. Components like underframes, floors, climate control, and lighting were updated during this project. ^[2]

A major airport remodeling project, unveiled in 2017, proposed eliminating the tram entirely, as the new Landside Terminal was planned to connect directly to the existing Airside Terminal. Construction began in 2021 and was completed in 2025, resulting in the People Mover being permanently decommissioned and removed from passenger service.

References

1. Pitz, Marylynne (1999-09-29), "Passengers take airport project in stride", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , pp. C1, retrieved November 20, 2008
2. "Pittsburgh Int'l Rolls Out Renewed Train System | Airport Improvement Magazine". airportimprovement.com. November 2016. Retrieved 2024-02-29.