A check-in area was planned for the first floor where the newsagents is today. With the nightmare traffic conditions at peak periods it was never going to work as there would have been delays in getting the baggage to the aircraft.
But it was always planned for a 'people-mover' (or 'horizontal lift' as the then CEO called it) up to the airport which is why there is a second bore through the tunnel. A lack of faith (but not by the airport) curtailed this.
I saw planning applications for the 2 buildings that where proposed for the site that the station was built on. A plan showed the public safety zone running along the front of the station entrance, which is why it was built at a 45-degree angle to the railway line. The building was built to the maximum size in the pocket of land that was available. This is why there are so many short escalators in the building to get to the platforms and not one long one.
Correct. The PSZ use to be a fat triangle with the point on the end of the runway and the station was designed to abut up to one of its edges. During its construction, the DoT (as it was then) changed the design of PSZs to be a long slender triangle with its base at the runway end.
From memory the car park was given an exemption as it is inside the zone.
Also correct.