Talk:Skytrain (Miami International Airport)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Skytrain (Miami International Airport)/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Steelkamp (talk · contribs) 09:58, 13 November 2023 (UTC)

Hi. I will review this article. Steelkamp (talk) 09:58, 13 November 2023 (UTC)

Good article criteria

Well written

• The Skytrain was constructed as part of a $3 billion expansion project of the North Terminal... This can be simplified to The Skytrain was constructed as part of a $3 billion expansion of the North Terminal...
• Trains were built in Japan by... I suggest changing to The trains were built in Japan by...
• I'm confused by the starting date for the construction of the terminal. First, the article says The project began in 1998..., and later, the article says Construction on the new terminal began in March 2007... I'm confused.
• It began operations on September 15, 2010. Did the terminal open on the same date? When did the terminal open? Can this be added as well, to provide context.
• numbered D1 to D60. Is that meant to be D1 to D50? There are 50 gates and the route map in the infobox shows it ends at D50.
• The Miami-Dade Aviation Department, which owns the airport and the Skytrain, received an "Award of Merit" in 2011 for the construction of the Skytrain and the North Terminal's Regional Commuter Facility; it was awarded by Engineering News-Record in their annual "Best Projects" competition for construction projects in the Southeastern United States. I think this can be reworded to sound better. How about this: The Miami-Dade Aviation Department, which owns the airport and the Skytrain, received an "Award of Merit" from Engineering News-Record in 2011 for the construction of the Skytrain and the North Terminal's Regional Commuter Facility; it was awarded by Engineering News-Record in their annual "Best Projects" competition for construction projects in the Southeastern United States. This states the awarder earlier.
  • Also, what is the "Regional Commuter Facility"?
• Under the 'Incidents" section, the two paragraphs start with similar wording. This could be reworded to avoid repetition. One example of changing the wording could be replacing On September 27, 2023, Skytrain service was suspended due to structural damage in the system's infrastructure. with Skytrain service has been suspended since September 27, 2023, due to structural damage in the system's infrastructure.
• Optional: Times such as 5:00 am, 8:00 am and 8:00 pm can have a non-breaking space placed between the number and the am/pm, as per MOS:TIME.
• Headways between trains is two to three minutes... As headways is plural, the grammar here is incorrect. I suggest changing to The headway between trains is two to three minutes...

Verifiable with no original research

• and on December 25... Source says "by December 25".
• Optional: Reference 6 and reference 10 seem to not be paywalled like the article says.

Broad in its coverage

• Vehicles are powered by a 750 V DC electrical system. Is this using a third rail or overhead lines or some other kind of system?
• The vehicles seem to have rubber tires. This could be mentioned.
• Rolling stock includes 20 Crystal Mover cars, which are configured into five trains with four cars each, including two fixed married-pair vehicles. I think this can be expanded upon. Reference 9 seems to say that domestic passengers use one married pair and international passengers use the other married pair.
  • ...vehicle separate from other passengers. This can be expanded to say ...vehicle separate from other passengers but on the same train. or something similar. I didn't realise that the two types of passengers were on the single train until reading source 9.

Illustrated, if possible

• I'm glad to see all images have alt text.
• Optional: The article has room for more images. I suggest that File:Skytrain Station 3, approaching with opposing train.jpg be added. It gives a broader overview of the Skytrain's infrastructure.

General

These are the comments I came up with today. I will have another look at the article tomorrow. Steelkamp (talk) 14:59, 13 November 2023 (UTC)

Thank you for your comments. I've addressed most of them already and I'll provide feedback on the rest:

• Concourse D has only 50 gates, despite the fact they are designated from D1-D60. (I fixed the typo in the route map template.) Some numbers are skipped, for example, there's no Gate D13, D59, etc.
• It's hard to say exactly when the new terminal opened, given the way it was constructed. Technically, the "old" terminal never formally closed; the new terminal was just built on top of and around it while the old one was still being used. I thought about mentioning this in the article, but given the detailed timeline of the various phases in which parts of the new terminal opened, I decided to omit it entirely since I didn't want to go too far off-topic. In my research, I learned that the first phase of the new terminal construction was completed in 2009, which included 3 of the 4 Skytrain stations. The Skytrain opened in late 2010, but the entire terminal was not completed until some time in 2011 (haven't been able to find an exact date).
• The Regional Commuter Facility (RCF) is the most western part of the terminal at Gate D60 which serves regional flights for American Eagle. I mentioned this facility in the section about the award because I wanted to note that the award was given for recognition of both projects, not just the Skytrain. Although details about the RCF itself may be going off-topic.
• Trains are powered by third rails (as seen in this photo), however, I haven't been able to find a source that confirms this. I chose to omit this detail as per WP:OR.
• I added the photo you mentioned, although unfortunately there aren't many relevant photos uploaded to Commons. Also all 3 photos were taken outside Station 3. Photos published by the Miami-Dade Aviation Department should be in public domain (as per {{PD-FLGov}}), but I haven't found any relevant photos on the airport's website or elsewhere.

–Dream out loud (talk) 11:15, 14 November 2023 (UTC)

I've added more comments above. Putting the review on hold now for you to complete the suggested changes. Steelkamp (talk) 05:06, 15 November 2023 (UTC)

For Refs 6 and 10, I updated their subscription status to "limited". If you attempt to read multiple articles on the Miami Herald's website (I think 3 or more), you will be eventually be prompted with a paywall. Regarding the seperation of passengers between the two vehicles, I moved all these details to the beginning of the "Technology" section and rewrote it. I don't think it's as relevant for the "Service" section and seems to cause confusion if it's mentioned in both sections.

I think I've addressed everything. Please let me know if there is anything I missed. Thank you for reviewing! –Dream out loud (talk) 08:57, 15 November 2023 (UTC)

Also I want to note that I'm removing the "Operating speed" from the infobox. Sources note that the trains are capable of a maximum speed of 50 mph (80 km/h), but given the short distance between stations, there's no way they can actually reach those speeds. I haven't found a reliable source that notes the actual operating speed of the trains. –Dream out loud (talk) 10:03, 15 November 2023 (UTC)

Just to confirm what I stated above using calculations: The trains accelerate and decelerate at 0.97 m/s². To reach speeds of 80 km/h would take about 23 seconds, and in that time frame it would have traveled about 257 m. To get from 80 km/h back to 0 would take another 23 seconds, during which the train would have traveled 514 m total. Considering the entire route is only 1120 m long with 4 stations spaced evenly apart, it's not possible for trains in regular service to reach their maximum speed and slow down to 0 between stations.

Using satellite view on Google Maps, I measured the distance between Stations 2 and 3 to be about 320 m. With equal acceleration and deceleration rates, the train would have to stop accelerating exactly halfway between two stations (after traveling 160 m), which takes about 18.2 seconds, giving trains a maximum service speed of 63.4 km/h. Of course, all of this would be too much original research, but I just wanted to include it here for the sake of the article. –Dream out loud (talk) 08:00, 16 November 2023 (UTC)

I think this is good enough to pass the review now. Steelkamp (talk) 03:37, 17 November 2023 (UTC)

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Bruxton talk 15:52, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

(

• Comment or view
• Article history

)

Skytrain at Miami International Airport

• ... that a train runs along the roof (pictured) at Miami International Airport? Source:
  • Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Young Girls (painting)

Improved to Good Article status by Dream out loud (talk). Self-nominated at 09:14, 19 November 2023 (UTC). Post-promotion hook changes for this nom will be logged at Template talk:Did you know nominations/Skytrain (Miami International Airport); consider watching this nomination, if it is successful, until the hook appears on the Main Page.

General: Article is new enough and long enough
New enough: Long enough:

Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Adequate sourcing: Neutral: Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:

Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
Cited: Interesting:

Image: Image is freely licensed, used in the article, and clear at 100px.
Freely licensed: Used in article: Clear at 100px:

QPQ: Done.

Overall: QPQ done, no problems with the nom or the article. Great hook, nice job. — MaterialWorks 01:17, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

Peer review

Skytrain (Miami International Airport)

I've listed this article for peer review because it is at GA status and I feel that I have expanded the article with as many sources as possible and the subject is comprenhensively covered. I plan to nominate it for FA status in the near future.

Thanks, –Dream out loud (talk) 16:47, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

@Dream out loud this has not seen any activity in three weeks. Perhaps it's time to close it? RoySmith (talk) 14:55, 3 June 2026 (UTC)

This page was not in my watchlist for some reason so I missed the most recent comments! Please keep this open for now while I address that additional comments. –Dream out loud (talk) 17:57, 3 June 2026 (UTC)

Three more weeks; it looks like there's no more progress to be made so I'm going to close it. RoySmith (talk) 01:19, 28 June 2026 (UTC)

HurricaneZeta

FYI I added this to {{FAC peer review sidebar}}. HurricaneZeta^C 21:12, 20 March 2026 (UTC)

YuniToumei

Hi, User:Dream out loud! Belated congrats to the GA! I've gone through and done some light copyedits. You are welcome to ask me about any changes I've made here. I unliked some links which I thought were overlinked. In particular, you should try to avoid seas of blue like you had at carbon-fiber membrane, which suggests that the term as a whole would be a clickable link. And here's some other comments from my side :) YuniToumei (talk) 13:07, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

• Currently, the article is inconsistent in using single spaces or double spaces. Make sure to check in the image alt text as well when you go through to make them consistent. YuniToumei (talk) 13:07, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

   Done –Dream out loud (talk) 13:31, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

• File:Miami Airport Skytrain map.png in the infobox is missing alt text.YuniToumei (talk) 13:07, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

   Done - also updated to new official 2026 map –Dream out loud (talk) 15:25, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

• A $6.3 billion capital improvement program [...] to be used exclusively by American Airlines. What source supports this sentence? In particular I did not find the $6.3 billion figure in refs 2 and 3 which are at the end of the next sentence. YuniToumei (talk) 13:07, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

   Done A newer, official source (published after completion) noted the total cost of the CIP as $6.5 billion. I included the newer cost since the previous source from several years earlier likely uses an outdated value. Both sources are cited in the beginning of the paragraph. –Dream out loud (talk) 14:14, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

• The award was given to MDAD for [...] the North Terminal's Regional Commuter Facility. (In footnote b) Maybe give a brief description of what that facility is, as it is not mentioned elsewhere in the article. Something like "The award was given to MDAD for [...] the Regional Commuter Facility, a building which [is/does xyz]. YuniToumei (talk) 13:07, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

   Done –Dream out loud (talk) 13:28, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

• After $4.2 million of emergency repairs, service resumed on March 29, 2024 between Stations 2, 3, and 4. What source supports this sentence? In particular I did not find the $4.2 million figure in refs 19 and 20 at the end of the next sentence. YuniToumei (talk) 13:07, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

   Done - added additional citation –Dream out loud (talk) 13:51, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

• Station 1 remained closed as it had greater damage and required "more extensive repair", which involved refilling the concrete in the damaged piers and wrapping the pier caps in a waterproof carbon-fiber membrane. The second ref for this sentence, ref 20, is currently a youtube video and primary. Is there any better source to back up these facts? YuniToumei (talk) 13:07, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

  I have not be able to find another source that mentions the specific technical details of the repairs made. This Youtube video with an interview of the airport's CEO seems to be the only source mentioning this. I added a time code to the url and the citation itself to precisely note where in the video it is mentioned. –Dream out loud (talk) 16:00, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

• The first phase of the North Terminal opened to the public in November 2009; three Skytrain stations and approximately 5,000 feet (1,500 m) of train guideway were constructed at the time, and its completion was scheduled during the second construction phase the following year. What does "its" in "its completion" refer to here? To the "North Terminal"? Or the "train guideway"? With "its" being placed after the interjecting phrase about the skytrain stations and the train guideway this does not read well. Can you rephrase the sentence (maybe split it up in two) to make the relations here clearer? YuniToumei (talk) 13:07, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

   Done –Dream out loud (talk) 16:24, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

• with four trains in service during rush hours from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Do rush hours really last for twelve hours a day? That's more than half of the operating time of the system. YuniToumei (talk) 13:07, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

  Yes it does last for 12 hours, as noted in the reference. Remember this is an intra-airport transit line and most of the airport's flights are between 8 am and 8 pm (unlike an urban transit line which would only have a few hours of peak traffic a day). I also changed "rush hours" to "peak hours" which it also says in the source and seems to be a more accurate term. –Dream out loud (talk) 13:58, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

  Neat! That does sound better :) YuniToumei (talk) 21:10, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

• Trains are powered by a 750 V DC electrical system via power rails along the guideway sidewalls, which transmit power from two ground-level substations. This sentence is missing a ref. I see this seems to be described in Hunyh and Mokhtech (2001). Please add a corresponding inline citation. YuniToumei (talk) 13:07, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

   Done –Dream out loud (talk) 14:19, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

• The Incidents section is currently cited by two citations for the whole paragraph. It would be better if the individual facts could be backed up by inline citations. YuniToumei (talk) 13:07, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

   Done –Dream out loud (talk) 16:16, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

RoySmith

I have serious concerns about the sourcing. A lot of this is sourced directly to publications of the Miami-Dade Aviation Department or to the airport website. Some sources which at first glance appear to be industry publications are really just marketing outlets, i.e. Suppliy Chain Digital ("We offer a comprehensive suite of solutions, including media, events, research, and data services, designed to deliver valuable insights, foster innovation, and drive collaboration across the industry"). "All Skytrain stations now open at Miami airport after concrete cracks repaired" in the Miami Herald is an interview with the CEO of the airport. Even the two entries in the bibliography which appear to be papers in academic journals are a problem. Daniel McFadden (Miami International Airport (MIA) – Overcoming Challenges Related To Huge Capital Improvement Programs) and Huy Huynh (The World Gateway Terminal—Miami International Airport Automatic People Mover) are both principals of Lea+Elliott, one of the engineering firms who worked on the project. I see one source from examiner.com, which based on the WP:RSN discussion appears to be a blog.

I am sorry to have to say it, but the sourcing here falls well short of the standard required by WP:HIGHQUALITY. — Preceding unsigned comment added by RoySmith (talk • contribs)

I have to disagree with most of your comments. WP:HIGHQUALITY states that the article content must be "verifiable against high-quality reliable sources", so you seem to be implying that these sources are unreliable and/or of poor quality. Is the airport's website or Miami Herald unreliable? Are the magazines or academic journals of poor quality? I'm not sure I understand your argument here. I attempted to use third-party sources whenever possible, but for some content, the only option was to cite MDAD or the airport itself. The Miami Herald article you mentioned was used to cite the phrase "more extensive repair" and the date that the station reopened; the fact that there's a couple quotes from the airport's CEO is irrelevant. As far as the two academic journal papers, I also don't see the issue here. The authors were involved in the design of the system, but their reports were published in a third-party technical journal. Regarding Examiner.com, I know that some of their content includes blog posts, but the article that I have cited was, in fact, written by a professional journalist (feel free to look him up). Unless you have specific concerns that the sources are violating WP:NPOV, then they should be fine. I have written several feature articles and have not had issues with similar types of sources being used. I am open to hearing feedback from other editors about these sources.

Also, for future reference, please make sure to include a signature at the end of your talk page posts so we can properly reference the user and date/time of comments. –Dream out loud (talk) 14:26, 24 April 2026 (UTC)

WP:RS starts out with "Articles should be based on reliable, independent, published sources ...". My core complaint is that the sources I mentioned above are not independent. RoySmith (talk) 15:15, 24 April 2026 (UTC)

Out of all the references cited in the article, only some of them are not independent. But that doesn't inherently mean that they cannot be considered reliable. See WP:ABOUTSELF which states "Self-published and questionable sources may be used as sources of information about themselves, usually in articles about themselves or their activities". –Dream out loud (talk) 17:43, 24 April 2026 (UTC)

ZKang123

Allow me to give a few broad comments, given I've worked on plenty of transport-related articles. I personally recommend checking with Airtrain JFK, which I felt is a very exemplary article on an airport APM.

• "One of three APMs at MIA" – First, I will like to know what are the other two APMs at MIA. This might also give better context to this APM system. Is that also constructed part of the $6.5 billion capital improvement program?
• As RoySmith suggested, I strongly recommended including more secondary sources. For myself, I see some places where secondary sources could be added, like the $6.5 billion capital improvement program. I felt there should be some local news coverage of the airport's construction. I also have similar problems for Sengkang LRT line, btw (and it ended up not being a successful FAC, unfortunately, despite my efforts). But personally, I felt it's fine for describing technical information. If you need to describe claims, like "more extensive repair", I would also attribute that (e.g. In an interview, the CEO said "more extensive repair" would be needed...)
• Understandably, this is a short APM that has run since 2010. But I can't help but feel there are still a few things missing. Like the article still seems incomplete. I just want to make sure: is what's presented in the article derived from all available sources you can find? Maybe also it's because of the longer paragraphs in the "System" section, with each subsection only having one or two large paragraphs.
• Also, are there more details of the construction, or besides the delays, there aren't really any major challenges? I would imagine the endeavour might have involved closing some parts of the terminal to facilitate the construction. It's fine if there aren't any.
• And also... is it known where the trains are stored? Like is there a sort of a depot or stabling yard? I see the track layout hints of a storage yard at Station 3.
  • Rechecked and saw it mentioned: The system's maintenance and storage facility,...
• I recommend adding pictures of the platforms in the list of stations, as what I've done for Sengkang LRT and other transport articles.

 Done –Dream out loud (talk) 19:54, 4 June 2026 (UTC)

• The prose still needs a bit more work to be up to professional standard. Some sentences also tend to be rather long, like:
  • "The North Terminal project was originally managed by American Airlines; however, following a series of schedule delays and budget overruns, project management was transferred in 2005 to the Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD), the Miami-Dade County government agency that operates MIA."
  • "The first phase of the North Terminal opened to the public in November 2009; three stations and approximately 5,000 feet (1,500 m) of guideway were constructed at the time, and the remainder of the Skytrain construction was scheduled for completion the following year."
  • "The Skytrain was recognized in 2011 when MDAD received an "Award of Merit" for its construction from Engineering News-Record's annual competition for best construction projects in the Southeastern United States."
  • I will give a closer look into the prose tomorrow and try to diagnose.
• I felt actually you could also have mentioned the two other systems in the Systems section too, and I would move that map from the infobox to this section. Maybe you can actually crop the part that's just the Skytrain and place that in the infobox, but have the larger map included in the Systems section.
• I see the artworks also mentioned in the history; I would actually shift and describe the artworks under Systems too as an "artwork" section.

 Done –Dream out loud (talk) 16:38, 5 June 2026 (UTC)

These are some of my preliminary comments. I hope to see it at FAC, but at the moment, there are just a few more things that needs to be properly diagnosed.--ZKang123 (talk · contribs) 13:20, 10 May 2026 (UTC)

Lead:

• Due to the building's length, the Skytrain was built to facilitate the transport of passengers and reduce walking times. – Due to the building's length, the Skytrain was built to reduce walking times for passengers.

 Done –Dream out loud (talk) 19:43, 4 June 2026 (UTC)

• Three of the stations reopened in March 2024, and the full system resumed service in August 2025. – ...and full services commenced in August 2025

 Done –Dream out loud (talk) 19:43, 4 June 2026 (UTC)

History:

• In 1989, American Airlines made a decision to create an airline hub at MIA for its flights to Latin America and the Caribbean. A $6.5 billion capital improvement program was started in 1994 to expand the facilities at MIA, which included the construction of a new passenger terminal to be used exclusively by American Airlines. It would benefit to explain a little how American Airlines have influence over developments at MIA. Like, it seems to imply the MIA is under American Airlines' control. Also, I would have said "made a decision" -> "decided"
• Ah, I see the further context later on. But I would still clarify firsthand how the construction project got approval in the first place.
• Known as the North Terminal, the new facility would ultimately consolidate four of the airport's seven pier-finger concourses into a single mile-long (1.6 km) linear concourse, which would allow for more daily aircraft operations per gate. – This new facility, known as the North Terminal, would ultimately consolidate four of the airport's seven pier concourses into a single mile-long (1.6 km) linear concourse. This arrangement would allow for more daily aircraft operations per gate.

 Done –Dream out loud (talk) 16:54, 5 June 2026 (UTC)

• To reduce connection times, an automated people mover (APM) was planned to transport passengers along the terminal's roof.[5] It was designed with a level of service goal for domestic passengers to complete their connection within 30 minutes after entering the terminal. This would decrease walking distances by 70 percent for domestic connecting passengers and 40 percent for international connecting passengers, with 60 percent of all terminal passengers using the system daily. Information here is getting quite repetitive, especially the second and third sentences. Maybe An automated people mover (APM) was planned to reduce connection times by transporting passengers along the terminal's roof. This system was designed to allow domestic passengers to complete transfers within 30 minutes of entering the terminal, while reducing walking distances by 70 per cent for domestic passengers and 40 per cent for international passengers. Approximately 60 per cent of terminal passengers were expected to use the system daily.
• to exercise the trains' tires would say "test" instead of "exercise"

I think "exercise" is more appropriate here, and that's the term that the source uses. Testing implies that the vehicles were being operated to ensure they functioned properly; in actuality, the testing was already complete and the trains were only operated to keep them functional until they could be delivered. If the trains sat idle on the tracks for years, they would inveitably experience more issues once they would resume operations, as the mechanics need to be "exercised" to work in the long run. I added quotes to the word and did minor changes to the sentence in the meantime. –Dream out loud (talk) 16:54, 5 June 2026 (UTC)

• Construction of the terminal was contracted to the joint venture of Parsons–Odebrecht and began in March 2007. A bit awkward. Might say The contract for the terminal's construction was awarded to Parsons–Odebrecht joint venture, and construction began in March 2007. Also, I would include the contract value here. In fact, I would include contract values if sources state as such.

 Done Haven't found the construction contract value, but I'll continue looking for it. –Dream out loud (talk) 17:32, 15 June 2026 (UTC)

• During an inspection in May 2023 by whom? And similarly for an engineering investigation.. Who did the engineering investigation?

 Done –Dream out loud (talk) 16:54, 5 June 2026 (UTC)

• had previously been identified "previously" is quite redundant here

 Done –Dream out loud (talk) 16:54, 5 June 2026 (UTC)

• By early September 2023, engineers had discovered "accelerated deterioration" of the piers. Might attribute the quotes here

 Done –Dream out loud (talk) 16:54, 5 June 2026 (UTC)

• Following the investigation, a county-contracted engineer ultimately recommended – The investigation ultimately recommended...

 Done –Dream out loud (talk) 16:54, 5 June 2026 (UTC)

Will comment further.--ZKang123 (talk · contribs) 11:22, 11 May 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback. Apologies on the delayed response. I'll begin reviewing this week. –Dream out loud (talk) 17:59, 3 June 2026 (UTC)