The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced it has selected the joint-venture firm Tutor Perini/O&G to design and build a new 2.5 mile elevated rail structure and three new stations to replace its existing AirTrain Newark on-airport mass transit system.

The Port Authority has now completed 80 percent of the procurement process needed to deliver a new modern and reliable automated people mover train system with this latest contract award. This is part of the Port Authority’s multi-phase procurement process to replace the current outmoded AirTrain system at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).

Upgrading EWR

The existing AirTrain Newark opened for service in 1996 and has become outdated and unable to accommodate growing air travel demand at the airport, where the Port Authority opened a new and much larger Terminal A in 2023 to replace the previous 50-year old terminal.

The Port Authority recently announced details of its EWR Vision Plan, aimed at accommodating increasing demand and evolving changes in the air travel industry, as well as enhancing the overall passenger experience.

Under the agency’s guidance and in line with the world-class standards set by the new Terminal A, the entire EWR will be reimagined with modern terminals and infrastructure, a more intuitive roadway network, and a redesigned taxiway network to accommodate more aircraft and reduce delays.

“Our major airports are the front doors of this region for the rest of the world and ensuring easy, reliable public transit to and from the airport is critical,” said Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton. “As we embark on the Newark vision plan, a new AirTrain is essential to both meeting increasing volumes at our airports and delivering a world-class passenger experience for Newark Liberty passengers.”

The Port Authority is delivering the new AirTrain Newark system through a multi-phase procurement process, separated into procurement phases for the building, manufacturing, delivery, and installation for the system technology, early works, guideway and stations, a maintenance and control facility, pedestrian connections, and demolition of the existing AirTrain. 

In December 2023 after a review process, the Port Authority selected Doppelmayer, a market leader in cable-propelled transport system, for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the automated people mover system. In summer 2024, Stantec was selected to design the new maintenance and control facility and the pedestrian connectors, and to decommission the existing AirTrain.

About Tutor Perini/O&G

Tutor Perini/O&G consists of Tutor Perini Corporation and O&G Industries Inc. which together will be the lead contractor for the project and will work as a joint venture. The joint venture firm has worked together on 11 large infrastructure projects nationwide, such as transportation projects for the Los Angeles Metro, Almeda Corridor Transportation Authority, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles International Airport, and Connecticut Department of Transportation.

As with all Port Authority capital projects, its contractors are mandated to create equitable economic opportunities. Tutor Perini/O&G has committed to making good-faith efforts to meet specific benchmarks around the hiring of minority-owned business enterprises, women-owned business enterprises, service-disabled veteran-owned business enterprises, and locally owned business enterprises. The firm is also required to develop a locally based workforce development program to hire program participants for future work on the new system’s design and construction.

Of the remaining procurement phases that have yet to be completed, the agency expects to award smaller packages related to the construction of the new AirTrain’s maintenance and control facility and the pedestrian connectors, and to decommission the current system.

Construction is expected to begin on the new AirTrain Newark system in 2025, with passenger service expected in 2030.