Luton-10
Surely the full Dart fare is not being charged for the emergency shuttle buses ?
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There is no signage, including white boards, I could find inside or outside the terminal to say the Dart is not running. These would-be Dart passengers are just arriving at the Dart station where they are confronted by yellow barriers.
Passengers then have to turn around and join a very long queue to catch a shuttle bus to Parkway. From the end of the queue to Parkway I am estimating it is taking around a minimum of an hour. Queue Marshals are informing passengers that they can catch the A bus that stops outside Parkway but they have to pay again. Dart tickets are still being sold for £4.90 each way.
Greenline coaches, owned by Arriva, are providing the shuttle but there are long gaps between coaches and the coaches have nowhere near the capacity of the old bendy buses.
Shuttle bus travel times also being impacted by traffic congestion. This is the Holiday Inn roundabout.
This image was taken today at 05:30 shows traffic the length of Old Airport Way that passes the airport hotels. This is still quicker than New Airport Way, which was the original shuttle bus route that predates the Dart.
Passengers then have to turn around and join a very long queue to catch a shuttle bus to Parkway. From the end of the queue to Parkway I am estimating it is taking around a minimum of an hour. Queue Marshals are informing passengers that they can catch the A bus that stops outside Parkway but they have to pay again. Dart tickets are still being sold for £4.90 each way.
Greenline coaches, owned by Arriva, are providing the shuttle but there are long gaps between coaches and the coaches have nowhere near the capacity of the old bendy buses.
Shuttle bus travel times also being impacted by traffic congestion. This is the Holiday Inn roundabout.
This image was taken today at 05:30 shows traffic the length of Old Airport Way that passes the airport hotels. This is still quicker than New Airport Way, which was the original shuttle bus route that predates the Dart.
Last edited by LTNman; 13th Oct 2023 at 08:15.
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Staff will be struggling to get to work and passengers are no doubt missing flights. It is a complete disaster for the airport. The only good points are that this didn’t happen in the summer peak and that the terminal isn’t handling the planned 21.5 million passengers, if I remember that figure correctly. So who thought of that idea?
Last edited by Pain in the R's; 13th Oct 2023 at 05:53.
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I have been looking at the multistory car park fire in Liverpool to see how long it took to start demolishing the structure. It took 11 months for work to start. I hope that is not the case at Luton, as a rebuild could take close to another year.
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news...nally-15442355
I think regardless of the Public Inquiry results that are due today I am not expecting the airport to increase capacity to 19m anytime soon.
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news...nally-15442355
During the first five months following the fire, there were detailed discussions with insurers of both the building and vehicles alongside a series of detailed structural assessments and reports.
My guess is that there is likely nobody left in the airport top management who has any understanding of the operations side, particularly for coming up with any useful and helpful innovation on the spot at moments like this. They are all clones, fixated on financial forecasts, telling everyone from their offices that they still have to stick to agreed budgets for both cost and revenue, because that's all that is important ...
I believe the Bendy-Buses that used to link with the rail station were given away to Ukraine just a couple of months ago. Maybe they can ask for them back ?
I believe the Bendy-Buses that used to link with the rail station were given away to Ukraine just a couple of months ago. Maybe they can ask for them back ?
A 50-seat coach with one main door is utterly unsuitable for shuttling people a distance of slightly over a mile.
Couldn't buses with multiple doors be sourced instead ?
Couldn't buses with multiple doors be sourced instead ?
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Early days yet so let’s wait and see. Remember my visit was day one. The issue with the GreenLine buses is that luggage can’t go inside the cabin and has to go underneath so adding to the turnaround time. Also that passengers don’t seem to be allowed to stand meaning a 56 seat coach carries just 56 passengers. I think many passengers are walking the mile as the quickest option. Not great today in the rain, as passengers are arriving without coats.
Last edited by LTNman; 13th Oct 2023 at 09:47.
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I try to look after passengers on the Bedford to Bletchley railway line. We have had rail replacement coaches for 11 month taking 2-3 times as long as trains but normal fares are being charged. We have asked for low platform buses but been told none available.
So what in airport are doing is in line with current practice elsewhere.
So what in airport are doing is in line with current practice elsewhere.
One wonders what is happening to all the pax who are missing flights due to inability to get to the airport. Are they being told to pay for fresh, on the day tickets ? Are they being told the next flight with seats available is 3 days away ?
Meanwhile it appears the airport is making no effort to communicate sensibly with those with cars trapped inside. There are emergency management contractors who specialise in mobilising staff to come and do this sort of thing, but that of course costs and airport management will say they have no budget for that. Your insurance company will even introduce you to them. BBC article :
Luton Airport fire: Users of fire-hit car park 'left in limbo' - BBC News
Meanwhile it appears the airport is making no effort to communicate sensibly with those with cars trapped inside. There are emergency management contractors who specialise in mobilising staff to come and do this sort of thing, but that of course costs and airport management will say they have no budget for that. Your insurance company will even introduce you to them. BBC article :
Luton Airport fire: Users of fire-hit car park 'left in limbo' - BBC News
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Planning application granted
19m expansion has been approved this lunchtime by the secretary of state
Decision - gov.uk
Decision - gov.uk
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One wonders what is happening to all the pax who are missing flights due to inability to get to the airport. Are they being told to pay for fresh, on the day tickets ? Are they being told the next flight with seats available is 3 days away ?
Meanwhile it appears the airport is making no effort to communicate sensibly with those with cars trapped inside. There are emergency management contractors who specialise in mobilising staff to come and do this sort of thing, but that of course costs and airport management will say they have no budget for that. Your insurance company will even introduce you to them. BBC article :
Luton Airport fire: Users of fire-hit car park 'left in limbo' - BBC News
Meanwhile it appears the airport is making no effort to communicate sensibly with those with cars trapped inside. There are emergency management contractors who specialise in mobilising staff to come and do this sort of thing, but that of course costs and airport management will say they have no budget for that. Your insurance company will even introduce you to them. BBC article :
Luton Airport fire: Users of fire-hit car park 'left in limbo' - BBC News
This will take months.
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19m expansion has been approved this lunchtime by the secretary of state
Decision - gov.uk
Decision - gov.uk
As I have said before 19m only allows scale up of 319/320 to 320/321s
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I try to look after passengers on the Bedford to Bletchley railway line. We have had rail replacement coaches for 11 month taking 2-3 times as long as trains but normal fares are being charged. We have asked for low platform buses but been told none available.
So what in airport are doing is in line with current practice elsewhere.
So what in airport are doing is in line with current practice elsewhere.
Contract is to get you from A to B only.
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What infrastructure upgrades? There isn’t any as far as I am aware. This was just a case of putting more passengers through the front door.
This doesn’t help Southend although I doubt Luton will implement it anytime soon.
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So Southend has to live off Luton and cannot sit on it's own two feet?
No, that's just a bureaucratic approach to cover messing about. They will know from entrance/exit cameras what was in the car park, especially as many will be prebooked. They can walk around, surely, to identify which vehicles are undamaged, which are repairable, and the remainder which are written off. They can be craning the undamaged ones off the top floor today. They can set up a telephone call point to co-ordinate all this with owners. If they can be bothered.
They can walk around, surely, to identify which vehicles are undamaged
A London Luton Airport spokesperson said: "We understand the distress this incident has caused for our car parking customers, and that many are still anxious for more detail.
"We are sorry that we have not been able to respond as quickly as we would have liked. We have contacted all customers who have booked with us directly and are working hard to provide more details as soon as possible. However, this a complex, and ever-changing situation and as the car park cannot be accessed safely, we are unable to confirm the condition of any individual vehicle at this time. We are working with APCOA Parking and the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB) who will co-ordinate with the various vehicle insurance companies."
"We are sorry that we have not been able to respond as quickly as we would have liked. We have contacted all customers who have booked with us directly and are working hard to provide more details as soon as possible. However, this a complex, and ever-changing situation and as the car park cannot be accessed safely, we are unable to confirm the condition of any individual vehicle at this time. We are working with APCOA Parking and the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB) who will co-ordinate with the various vehicle insurance companies."