The Airtran is a simple shuttle train that takes you from the airport to the Newark train station. I believe it is free, and it takes about 10 minutes.

>From that station you have three options: 1.) N.J. Transit train (and possibly Amtrak) to a PATH station where you can transfer to the PATH subway. The PATH subway can take you all the way to downtown Manhattan if that's where you're headed. 2.) N.J. Transit train all the way to Penn Station, where you can transfer to a Manhattan subway or bus. 3.) Amtrak train all the way to Penn Station

1.) is the least expensive, but will also take the longest. I do not recommend it. The last time I made this choice it took 3 hours to get from the airport to our lodging in the Village. 2.) and 3.) are pretty much equivalent in time and cost. You should choose the train system which has the best schedule for your needs. If you time everything right, the trip should take a little more than an hour.

During the day, the N.J. Transit trains and Amtrak run quite frequently, every 20 or 30 minutes. Later on a night, you can wait an hour or more between trains. Plan accordingly.

Joel, in Chicago