As more and more airports are becoming congested, airport operators and airlines are increasingly turning their attention to connecting rail links in a quest to relieve congestion. This paper classifies air-rail links into shared and dedicated connections according to the service range, but the former shows some limitations in terms of travel time. By analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of air-rail links abroad, we conclude that air-rail links can be an efficient way to address ground transportation problems. In addition, it can be used as an essential tool to increase an airport's catchment area. Finally, with the introduction of the development situations of air-rail links in large-scale domestic airports, the authors argue that it's necessary to specifically analyze characteristics of the ground access, and adopt different rail links concerning the different conditions of airports. And then the possible use of rail links in Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY) is discussed.
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