LTN will be a very solid proposition in 18 months' time, for budget airline customers. The terminal now matches or betters STN but is much closer with far better onward connections. The final 'hurrah' will be the end of the wretched bus connection with its fiddly cash charge and miserable staff. (They should just make it a free shuttle and stick 50p on the train fares, the improved feedback scores would be well worth the cost).
Originally Posted by
Mr Optimistic
4 car service !? Back to the 1990s. And yes there isn't much luggage space. I think it's only 30mins on the standard Thameslink trains so a bit puzzled as to the advantages of an 'express'. But 4 car trains better not have any other station stops!
Indeed, I am puzzled as to why they want an Express-branded service now, just months after the introduction of a new timetable that gives Luton Airport a fantastic spread of fast, direct services into several key London stations on spacious new 8 or 12-carriage trains (with plenty of luggage space, albeit uncomfortable seats). The advantages of the Luton Express will be even more marginal than the Gatwick Express, which runs trains that are mostly empty except for the odd tourist or expense-account customer who knows no better.
Originally Posted by G-AZUK
Same kind of Dilemma going south at Victoria where you can get the Southern or the Gatwick express. My guess is airport passengers will naturally gravitate to the 'express' service as they do at Gatwick, without realising the same TOC operates a far cheaper 2 stop service, its just painted green and has a different platform.
Yes, although the Southern and GatEx platforms are virtually side by side at both ends so you can easily compare the next few departures and weigh the cost of the 'faster' express. At St Pancras it's a 5-minute walk with luggage and two sets of escalators/stairs between the different platform areas and each areachas indicator boards that ignore the other so you can't find the next train except by checking apps on your phone. That makes it much easier to con people into the express service while ignoring the existence of a perfectly good (and presumably much cheaper) alternative two floors below.