LUTON -8
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I understand that a household name internet retailer named after a long river is looking at warehousing options on the site of the airport enterprise zone. No idea if this is for an 'air hub' though.
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I was told warehouse, but I guess it could be offices, or even both?
Plenty of space to build an 'air hub', but the land has a downward gradient, so would need infilling.
Plenty of space to build an 'air hub', but the land has a downward gradient, so would need infilling.
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Wonder how much, if any, of Century Park will be airport related. As the airport will be the landlord it will create an income stream but I will lose my park due to the access road.
When I say airport related I am talking about offices etc as the ground drops away so much that the top of mature trees are below the airport boundary
When I say airport related I am talking about offices etc as the ground drops away so much that the top of mature trees are below the airport boundary
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Transform.
Just seen on the Airports website "Transform" an update on the airport for 2017.
There is a classic comment from Nick Barton that reads as follows.
"The road Network into the Airport was more fragile than any modelling had suggested.
It took 23 corrective actions to put it right"
So I guess one person is happy that we will not have the tailback chaos of last year-
Dream on Mr B
Just seen on the Airports website "Transform" an update on the airport for 2017.
There is a classic comment from Nick Barton that reads as follows.
"The road Network into the Airport was more fragile than any modelling had suggested.
It took 23 corrective actions to put it right"
So I guess one person is happy that we will not have the tailback chaos of last year-
Dream on Mr B
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This was things like removing the speed bump, the pedestrian crossing on the approach road and putting up mobile signs offering free parking in the long term car park. Despite all of the 23 corrected actions the traffic queue still extended to Capability Green just before Christmas.
No doubt the modelling did not see a problem with just a single drop off lane, a horseshoe bend in the drop off lane, putting in 4 pedestrian crossings in the drop off lane or a duel carriageway where most of the traffic wants to feed into a single lane, none of which has been corrected.
No doubt the modelling did not see a problem with just a single drop off lane, a horseshoe bend in the drop off lane, putting in 4 pedestrian crossings in the drop off lane or a duel carriageway where most of the traffic wants to feed into a single lane, none of which has been corrected.
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Wise words from City AM
Luton Airport Parkway station: Let's fast-track new rail connections to the airport to cut journey times from St Pancras station to 30 minutes | City A.M.
As pointed out by City AM there are 144 East Midland trains a day that don't stop at Parkway so there is no cost to the public purse by introducing at least 4 non stop trains an hour from St Pancras that are passing the station anyway, so I really can't see this not happening.
The travel time for the single non stop train per hour at the moment is just 22 minutes. I have used that train many times and it seems that no sooner have I sat down than the train is arriving. With the new Mass Transit System in place from 2021 it will be a game changer and will make Stansted and Southend seem like airports in the middle of the back and beyond with regard to slow train services to London.
At the moment only Luton and Gatwick offer overnight trains to and from London. It's just that rubbish shuttle bus service that lets the side down, which is not helped by the latest price increase to £2.10. I think I read somewhere this it is the dearest bus service in the UK for a journey of just a mile but probably offers best value when the bus takes half an hour to get to the terminal in peak traffic.
Luton Airport Parkway station: Let's fast-track new rail connections to the airport to cut journey times from St Pancras station to 30 minutes | City A.M.
As pointed out by City AM there are 144 East Midland trains a day that don't stop at Parkway so there is no cost to the public purse by introducing at least 4 non stop trains an hour from St Pancras that are passing the station anyway, so I really can't see this not happening.
The travel time for the single non stop train per hour at the moment is just 22 minutes. I have used that train many times and it seems that no sooner have I sat down than the train is arriving. With the new Mass Transit System in place from 2021 it will be a game changer and will make Stansted and Southend seem like airports in the middle of the back and beyond with regard to slow train services to London.
At the moment only Luton and Gatwick offer overnight trains to and from London. It's just that rubbish shuttle bus service that lets the side down, which is not helped by the latest price increase to £2.10. I think I read somewhere this it is the dearest bus service in the UK for a journey of just a mile but probably offers best value when the bus takes half an hour to get to the terminal in peak traffic.
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Wise words from City AM
I don't know how many times I need to post this, but it is not as simple at EMT just stopping additional trains at Luton Airport Parkway!
There is NO ROOM on the current trains to accommodate the additional passengers boarding at LTN Parkway!
Unlike Thameslink which is getting new trains and adding new capacity to the line, the last new trains EMT received was around 2004 when the Meridian trains arrived and has been no new capacity added in that time. There are also no orders or plans to buy/add additional trains for the foreseeable future. It usually takes around 5 years from ordering trains for them come on-line.
It's even in doubt if the electrification of the line north of Bedford to Wellingborough. Kettering and Corby is going ahead (which was earmarked to be completed by 2019), as no new electric trains are available to run along this route, and the electrification of the Great Western line from Paddington to the west is running behind schedule and over budget.
When trains leave Wellingborough they are already full and usually only standing room at Bedford, and they are then standing in the vestibules all the way to London. It is exactly the same leaving London, where is the room for these additional passengers supposed to come from?!
One of the key priorities of Network Rail and future franchises according to the DfT is to improve journey times on the Midland Mainline as it has some of the slowest journey times per mile, compared to other intercity routes in the UK. They are improving the tracks and removing bottlenecks at certain junctions. Adding additional stops on the fast track at LTN Parkway causes another bottleneck.
The Corby to London train currently stops at Luton hourly, maybe this could be moved to Parkway, but then means the towns main station no longer has an express service and I am sure the council will be unhappy with that.
Why is there this sudden urge for EMT trains to stop at Parkway when the Thameslink trains currently serving the station take around 30 mins and comparable to Gatwick Express and far quicker than the Stansted Express. They only call at St Albans and Harpenden!
Im looking on National Rail website now and the following Thameslink trains take 30-32 mins!
12.07 - 32 mins
12.21 - 30 mins
12.37 - 32 mins
12.51 - 30 mins
(Plus 3-4 other trains taking 40-47 mins) and 1 EMT train too.
Last edited by gilesdavies; 9th Feb 2017 at 11:23.
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Anyone know if this is another new based plane for easyjet. With both routes in August being in the early rush hour could this be an extra plane with more routes coming to fill the afternoon spaces or is it gaps that were in the schedule. Didn't think there would be 4 morning spaces tho?
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The fast lines between Luton and St Pancras are full - or at least they will be when the extra East Midlands Trains long distance service is added. Its not simple for trains to make an extra stop - while they are standing they block the line, and headways (time between trains) are already at the minimum - with the line as busy as it is stopping one train just slows down the following one, and the following one, and the following one... And as Giles Davies rightly says, in the morning there is no room on EMT trains heading south to London, not is there any space on northbound services in the afternoon. The notion of adding time to long distance services, in order to save less than ten minutes on a trip between London and Luton is crazy, especially when the suburban service is (a) more frequent and (b) has more capacity. If Luton Airport Parkway needs more rail capacity, maybe a more viable solution is to make some of the Thamelink services non-stop on the slows, with some of them cutting out startions to the south.
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So for August 2017
Isle of Man
07:00 - 08:15
8:45 - 9:55
Both the Monday and Friday have the same flight.
Zadar
Wednesday
06:20 - 09:50
10:30 - 12:00
Saturday
07:05 - 10:35
11:15 - 12:45
So that's 4 empty slots before? I though that the schedule was pretty much full.
Isle of Man
07:00 - 08:15
8:45 - 9:55
Both the Monday and Friday have the same flight.
Zadar
Wednesday
06:20 - 09:50
10:30 - 12:00
Saturday
07:05 - 10:35
11:15 - 12:45
So that's 4 empty slots before? I though that the schedule was pretty much full.
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As FR are moving flights to STN and will be down to four based as previously stated from five a/c the available slots were sure to be snapped up.
EZY I am sure would be more than happy to fill the gap left behind before anybody else gets them!
EZY I am sure would be more than happy to fill the gap left behind before anybody else gets them!
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The Corby to London train currently stops at Luton hourly, maybe this could be moved to Parkway, but then means the towns main station no longer has an express service and I am sure the council will be unhappy with that.
With regard to extra EM trains stopping at Parkway what we are talking about is an extra 2 trains an hour if the Luton service was moved to Parkway. If all trains stopped it would then not block the fast lines but more importantly it would spread out extra demand to London and give Parkway direct trains to more towns and cities up north that are not directly connected to Parkway.
Also not all passengers want to interchange at St Pancras. Two Thameslink trains an hour stop at every station to Wimbledon picking up those who do not live near a major station while four trains an hour also cross London as they head for Gatwick and Brighton.
Next year sees London Bridge reopen again to Parkway passengers but more importantly Farringdon has been rebuilt as a major interchange station for the Crossrail line linking east and west London which will remove many of the passengers from St Pancras.
While clearly demand will increase, with at least 10 trains an hour stopping in each direction and 12 car Thameslink trains being introduced weekly I have not heard of new franchise requirements restricting capacity due to potential overcrowding.
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I love the return of IOM, just checked Senior Race day during TT, that must be almost full already!............... No I can sit almost anywhere but at almost £150 one way!
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The posts from EastMids and gilesdavies are both spot on. In addition EMT do not have the right type of carriages for short case laden journeys. Each carriage has only 2 single doors at each end, very restricted loading/unloading. That set up would be tolerated for trains from the north.EMT would not want airport passengers London to Luton. The stopping time at Parkway would make the timetable unworkable. I remember back in the 1970s fast trains to the north were not advertised at St. Pancras as stopping at Luton even though they did,to pick up only. Can people be kept of EMT trains ? Yes the tickets issued at Luton are for Thameslink trains only. As already stated fast Thameslink trains are 30 mins.