PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - LUTON -8
Thread: LUTON -8
View Single Post
Old 27th Nov 2015, 14:00
  #2996 (permalink)  
Freq El Al Passenger
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: UK
Posts: 20
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
There is no way a monocable gondola system is going to be suitable for the numbers of passengers that will be rocking up at Parkway at peak times. They can only fit about half a dozen people with luggage, and if 50-70 pax turn up at the station on a single train, it's going to take a good ten minutes or more to get everyone through - assuming an optimistic frequency of 45-60 seconds per gondola (they will inevitably cheap out and won't have anything like the number of gondolas required for that). They're also relatively slow - nice if you're marketing a tourist attraction - a nuisance if you're desperate to catch a flight.

Worse, they have to close down with even the most moderate gust of wind (even ones that won't affect the aviation) so a fleet of replacement buses will needed on standby - more cost.

Realistically they're going to need a 2-cable or even 3-cable system, or even a full-blown aerial tram (which has its own engineering difficulties) - yet more cost that could prove prohibitive.

Probably the best place to terminate such a system would be the roof of the multi-storey car park. And how badly would it affect the control tower's view? Could always use the tower as a pylon!
Freq El Al Passenger is offline