https://stoplae.org/council-leader-t...port-spending/
https://stoplae.org/the-dart-link-lu...g-225-million/
The aim is to get 34% of those 18 million to use the Dart. With a return fare costing £1.90 each way on the shuttle bus the maths don’t really add up as the debt will have yearly interest charges applied of several million and then there is the maintenance contract cost to consider plus any staff employed on the Dart. No wonder the rail operators, network rail and the airport operator all said no to any funding leaving it to the council to fund.
SLAE certainly ask the questions the council would prefer not to answer. The Council have always claimed their plans for a second terminal was not the motivation for spending £225 million for the first part of the Dart to T1. They claim it is being built to reduce traffic but fail to mention that if a second terminal is built, using their own figures, road traffic will increase by 70% despite the Dart.
There is no doubt the Dart is a game changer for Luton, as the shuttle bus is a nightmare, but seeing the airport has reached capacity without it why are they spending £225 million? Its construction is all about serving a second terminal but the council is so dishonest they will never admit the truth.
The Council is planning to spend £460 million on the Dart, the new airport access road, and the DCO that is required for a planning application to government. Bad news for the council if they don’t get planning permission as it will have been money wasted.