Some would say that LLAL aka the Council is reaping the reward for a history of putting its own interests first by ignoring local residents and other communities when it comes to deciding its own planning applications. This gave it confidence to build the Dart with no questions asked to save 2 minutes on the scheduled travel time at a cost of £281m when the exiting Thameslink service cost nothing.
Without DCO approval for airport expansion the Dart will be a white elephant but with DCO approval the Dart will be needed if the airport is expanded. The question then becomes why did LLAL fund the Dart half way to Terminal 2 rather then letting a new concessionaire take on the whole project at their risk rather than the Council taxpayers carrying the risk and who will never get to use it.
We know what the existing concessionaire thought about funding the Dart. They didn’t want to know as they need passengers to arrive by car as they get to keep drop off and car park charges.
Last edited by LTNman; 24th Jun 2021 at 15:21.