On 15 Feb 2003 at 23:14, Mike Gammon wrote: [snip] > Add to the misery the fact that they never completed proper rail or > road links to the damned place. I can get to YUL in 1 h 15 min. It > takes me 2 hrs to YMX. Except in the Cherokee ;-) > > Mike Gammon I was wondering when someone would mention the lack of effective transportation to YMX. I lived in Montr=E9al during the time when YMX was very active. In the winter it was a nasty place to get to, but in the summer, for me, it was an easy ferry ride across the Lac des Deux Montagnes, and a pleasant cross-country drive. I flew regularly - and in the summer, always enjoyed the drive to/from the airport. In the past few years I've seen the same thing happen here in KUL as happened at YMX and IAD. A huge and impressive airport has been built some 50kms south of the city. No one wanted to go there when it first opened, and many would take the short hop from the old airport at Subang to Singapore, in order to catch a long-haul connection. Just as ppl would go from Dorval to YYZ, rather than trek up to YMX. For a couple of years both airports operated here, because there was no rail link to KLIA. But, this has been corrected, and a fast and regular train does the trip from downtown KL to KLIA in about 30mins. In addition, Limo, Taxi and Bus services are available and reasonably cheap, and travel on major highways. With transportation in place, the old airport is now closed, and no one seems to mind the 50km ride to KLIA. It has pretty much disappeared from everyone's mindset. An airport is the first thing visitors see of a country or city, and KLIA impresses everyone. Unless Dorval has dramatically changed since the 80s, I don't think it would make the same impression as would a smart and spacious facility. IMHO, YMX was a great airport. It's only problem was the lack of a high-speed rail link to downtown, the South Shore, and maybe even YOW. The main problem with the PTVs was the drivers. Some rides could be smooth, others downright uncomfortable. Someone should have the sense to create the right infrastructure around YMX, and they should then close Dorval for good. --paul Paul S. Russell, just4airlines.com sdn. bhd. E-mail: paul@just4airlines.com Web: http://www.just4airlines.com/ Phone: +60 (0)3 5510 7063 Fax: +60 (0)3 5510 4249 Mobile: +60 (0)12 308 9734