page_title: DFW Skylink
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: DFW Skylink / History
caption_attribution_description: English: skylink
context_page_description: Skylink is an automated people mover operating at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. It is an application of the Bombardier Innovia APM 200 system manufactured by Bombardier Transportation, and continues to be maintained and operated by Bombardier. When it opened in 2005, it was the world's largest airport train system. Sixty-four Skylink trains are in service at DFW Airport.
context_section_description: Skylink was developed as a replacement for the Airtrans (part of which was later operated as American Airlines' TrAAin System), the airport's original people mover system that connected airport facilities and parking lots. It served the airport for 31 years from 1974–2005 and transported a quarter of a billion passengers between DFW's then four terminals and employee facilities, logging a total of 97 million miles (156,000,000 km) over the lifetime of its fleet. As DFW became a large connecting hub for flights, Airtrans was noted for being slow with its top speed of 17 mph (27 km/h) and following a uni-directional counter-clockwise loop located inside security for Terminals A, B, and C and outside security to other areas, was inefficient in moving passengers. The system was decommissioned soon after Skylink opened as a modern replacement and the old guideways were left in place throughout the airport.
  Skylink guideway construction began in the fall of 1999 and took place with limited interruption of aircraft traffic. Contractors worked during overnight hours for 3 years – when airline gates were unused – arriving on site, completing work and removing equipment each morning before returning gates to an airline.
  The system made its public debut at DFW International Airport on June 25, 2004, where it then began a rigorous testing period. It was opened to the public on May 21, 2005, and is completely automated. Skylink trains run every two minutes and travel at speeds up to 35–37 mph (56–60 km/h).
  In 2015, after a decade of service Skylink transported over 141 million people, travelling over 32.4 million fleet miles.
caption: Skylink operating in 2008 in the older blue livery before the airport's 2015 refresh to orange.
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