When I used to sit on the Passenger Services Sub-committee I used to ask what contingency plans existed to get passengers into and out of the airport if the tunnel was blocked. I guess today I got my answer...
Passenger Services Sub-committee? Ah yes - that interesting bunch of individuals who used to think that a portakabin would make a nice Domestic Terminal...
LTN isn't the only airport to be connected to the 'outside' world by a road tunnel. There have been vehicle fires and breakdowns in the Heathrow Road Tunnel that have brought similar chaos to LHR (in the case of a vehicle fire, they can't use the other bore for obvious safety reasons).
True, there's an alternative service road tunnel that connects LHR's Central Terminal Area with the south side Perimeter Road but it's not available for 'public' use because of security (it's northern portal is within the RZ).
The fact that the rest of Luton and South Beds ground to a halt is
nothing to do with LTN or LLAO but - yet again - is entirely due to the lack of earlier adequate road planning and construction by the morons in LBC and Beds CC (and the same thing happens every time the M1 is closed at Junction 10 or 11).
So don't blame LTN - blame the thoroughly inept local highway authorities!!!
