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Almost everyone benefits.
Airlines see a better throughout journey for their passengers (which is why a number give away or sell discounted tickets for airport rail links). They also strengthen their competitive position - case studies are available on request.
Airports see a more environmentally friendly method of surface access (Stockholm Arlanda was allowed to build a third runway only if it built a railway to Central Stockholm; it opened in November 1999 and rock from the tunnels was used for the foundations for the runway); and less demand for car parks (they can use the space for higher-earning commercial and retail development).
Passengers see a more reliable, safer, less stressful form of access. Let someone else worry about the driving - and the parking!
Railways see valuable counter-peak and off-peak business, from people who tend to be high net worth individuals.
 Neighbours see a quieter form of transport (Oslo's new airport trains are the quietest in the world - quieter at 200 kph than existing trains at 160 kph), and fewer cars (the link to London City Airport is forecast to remove half a million car journeys a year. Heathrow Express forecasts that it will reduce traffic on Heathrow's roads by 3,000 vehicles a day and Brisbane's link will displace 10,000 road journeys a day).
The environment sees a more benign means of surface access. Many airport railways are electrically powered. Some have regenerative braking, feeding electricity back into the grid. Vehicles are long life, railways use space efficiently (they have a high capacity on a narrow right of way). |
Difficult. Heathrow Express and Hong Kong's Airport Express Line are excellent examples. Oslo's Airport Express is the fastest and quietest: it and Stockholm's Arlanda Express are known for excellence in marketing and customer service standards. Malpensa Express may have the most beautiful trains (as illustrated here) - but all of this is very subjective!