Luton-10
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LRT and the Council are in total panic. Having spent £71m on its application to government they are not even convinced by the merits of their own application. We now have the ludicrous situation where the council is pleading poverty while LRT has a bottomless pit of money to spend on self promotion and misinformation and are now even running a petition to expand the airport on the assumption that their application will fail.
The advertised claims include setting legal limits on pollution and environmental standards but failing to mention that this will not apply to aircraft movements.
That the near doubling of aircraft movements will be good for the environment and should be classed as green growth.
That they will create 11,000 jobs despite being unable to fill existing vacancies.
Charitable donations will rise.
What they don’t mention with their self promotion is that:
LRT had to be rescued with taxpayers money from going bankrupt.
LRT has lost £550m over the last 3 years while the airport operator makes large profits.
LRT no longer pays the council and only shareholder a dividend and has no plans to.
LRT’s spend on the Dart was 60% over budget.
LRT own auditors have stated that £260m of the £360m spent on the Dart is unrecoverable so is lost and will have to be paid back by LRT. This is more than the original planned cost.
LRT also fail to mention that LRT charitable donations has been reducing every year and are only half of what it was due to its interest payments on ever increasing debts.
LRT plan to destroy the majority of a major Luton public park and all of its officially recognised large County Wildlife Site including the cutting down of hundreds of trees so not so green.
That the Council’s own auditors are still refusing to sign off the Council’s audit from I think 2018 due to what they consider to be a fake airport valuation by LRT.
The advertised claims include setting legal limits on pollution and environmental standards but failing to mention that this will not apply to aircraft movements.
That the near doubling of aircraft movements will be good for the environment and should be classed as green growth.
That they will create 11,000 jobs despite being unable to fill existing vacancies.
Charitable donations will rise.
What they don’t mention with their self promotion is that:
LRT had to be rescued with taxpayers money from going bankrupt.
LRT has lost £550m over the last 3 years while the airport operator makes large profits.
LRT no longer pays the council and only shareholder a dividend and has no plans to.
LRT’s spend on the Dart was 60% over budget.
LRT own auditors have stated that £260m of the £360m spent on the Dart is unrecoverable so is lost and will have to be paid back by LRT. This is more than the original planned cost.
LRT also fail to mention that LRT charitable donations has been reducing every year and are only half of what it was due to its interest payments on ever increasing debts.
LRT plan to destroy the majority of a major Luton public park and all of its officially recognised large County Wildlife Site including the cutting down of hundreds of trees so not so green.
That the Council’s own auditors are still refusing to sign off the Council’s audit from I think 2018 due to what they consider to be a fake airport valuation by LRT.
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It’s called greenwash. Yes, they can fly aircraft that are more fuel efficient but when they intend to increase their fleet in huge numbers up goes the total emissions. It all comes down to whether the great traveling public are really interested but the lure of a cheap holiday is compelling.
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But given the choice where an airport is convenient and price is similar, more likely will go with the greener option.
Let's face it the whole green agenda is stalling now, no-one wants wind farms near them or Solar Panels as far as the eye can see.
Who would buy a second hand electric car now now real costs have come to light.
Let's face it aviation travel is back on a big upwards trend again, might as well do it in the best way as it isn't going to stop.
Let's face it the whole green agenda is stalling now, no-one wants wind farms near them or Solar Panels as far as the eye can see.
Who would buy a second hand electric car now now real costs have come to light.
Let's face it aviation travel is back on a big upwards trend again, might as well do it in the best way as it isn't going to stop.
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Many people are uneducated. A big supporter of airport expansion in Luton is the town’s large Bangladeshi population who believe what their imams tell them and who in turn get their information from the town’s Muslim councillors, who are equally uneducated. I guess the ones that are educated think their relatives will be allowed to settle in the U.K. for humanitarian reasons.
https://www.climaterealityproject.or...ing-bangladesh
https://www.climaterealityproject.or...ing-bangladesh
Despite producing only 0.56% of the global emissions changing our climate, Bangladesh ranks seventh on the list of countries most vulnerable to climate devastation
The data shows that from 2000 to 2019, Bangladesh suffered economic losses worth $3.72 billion and witnessed 185 extreme weather events due to climate change.
It has been estimated that by 2050, one in every seven people in Bangladesh will be displaced by climate change. Specifically, with a projected 19.6 inch (50 cm) rise in sea level, Bangladesh may lose approximately 11% of its land by then, and up to 18 million people may have to migrate because of sea-level rise alone.
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I am surprised that no one has commented on this post from a few weeks ago. I have heard that the contractor was kicked off site as its employees routinely used company machinery to break into the recovered cars and vans and were spotted loading up their loot into other vehicles. Seems it was seen as a perk of the job.
But given the choice where an airport is convenient and price is similar, more likely will go with the greener option.
Let's face it the whole green agenda is stalling now, no-one wants wind farms near them or Solar Panels as far as the eye can see.
Who would buy a second hand electric car now now real costs have come to light.
Let's face it aviation travel is back on a big upwards trend again, might as well do it in the best way as it isn't going to stop.
Let's face it the whole green agenda is stalling now, no-one wants wind farms near them or Solar Panels as far as the eye can see.
Who would buy a second hand electric car now now real costs have come to light.
Let's face it aviation travel is back on a big upwards trend again, might as well do it in the best way as it isn't going to stop.
I hope for their sakes you are wrong.
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So a carbon copy of the burnt out MSCP 2 is to be built but with sprinklers. The existing car park demolition is running late and is now expected to be completed in May. Seems the insurance company had the last word, as the replacement would have been uninsurable but what about MSCP 1?
https://planning.luton.gov.uk/online...=SAK8B7KG05100
https://planning.luton.gov.uk/online...=SAK8B7KG05100
Last edited by LTNman; 21st Mar 2024 at 08:32.
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AI will be a bigger worry for our kids and theirs in getting jobs which we do now.
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So a carbon copy of the burnt out MSCP 2 is to be built but with sprinklers. The existing car park demolition is running late and is now expected to be completed in May. Seems the insurance company had the last word, as the replacement would have been uninsurable but what about MSCP 1?
Worth noting that just like the last one, the car park is a permitted development.
https://planning.luton.gov.uk/online...=SAK8B7KG05100
Worth noting that just like the last one, the car park is a permitted development.
https://planning.luton.gov.uk/online...=SAK8B7KG05100
Time will tell whether CP1 gets same treatment, and who pays for that?
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AI will be a bigger worry for our kids and theirs in getting jobs which we do now
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As per Fire Officer report.I strongly recommend that an appropriate AFSS be included in the design of any new or replacement MSCP and that you give serious consideration to retrofitting AFSS in your other existing MSCPs.
Time will tell whether CP1 gets same treatment, and who pays for that?
Time will tell whether CP1 gets same treatment, and who pays for that?
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Fortunately for them that they didn’t have to bail out a council owned company to the tune of £199m or fund a Council transport link for £360m with borrowed money that most of the town’s population will never use. Only that has happened in Luton.
Last edited by LTNman; 21st Mar 2024 at 07:50.
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East Midland Railways has announced the upgrade of the Luton Airport Express fleet. The rail operator says the trains will be upgraded to provide better facilities for commuter, leisure and airport passengers including new 2+2 seating throughout the trains in a mixture of airline style and bay seats, luggage racks, charging points and new passenger information systems.
This is the same announcement that was made in 2019 when they won the franchise but was never implemented. The trains will still suffer from no carriage walk through, as individual trains will still be attached to each other to form 8 carriage units.
At the moment Luton is in the unique position where the trains on the express service are inferior to the standard commuter service that uses 2+2 seating and has full 12 carriage access to all passengers.
There has been no announcement regarding how many years this upgrade will take to complete but using the first announcement made in 2019 we are already at year 5 with not one train yet completed.
This is the same announcement that was made in 2019 when they won the franchise but was never implemented. The trains will still suffer from no carriage walk through, as individual trains will still be attached to each other to form 8 carriage units.
At the moment Luton is in the unique position where the trains on the express service are inferior to the standard commuter service that uses 2+2 seating and has full 12 carriage access to all passengers.
There has been no announcement regarding how many years this upgrade will take to complete but using the first announcement made in 2019 we are already at year 5 with not one train yet completed.
Last edited by LTNman; 21st Mar 2024 at 07:52.
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East Midland Railways has announced the upgrade of the Luton Airport Express fleet. The rail operator says the trains will be upgraded to provide better facilities for commuter, leisure and airport passengers including new 2+2 seating throughout the trains in a mixture of airline style and bay seats, luggage racks, charging points and new passenger information systems.
This is the same announcement that was made in 2019 when they won the franchise but was never implemented. The trains will still suffer from no carriage walk through, as individual trains will still be attached to each other to form 8 carriage units.
At the moment Luton is in the unique position where the trains on the express service are inferior to the standard commuter service that uses 2+2 seating and has full 12 carriage access to all passengers.
There has been no announcement regarding how many years this upgrade will take to complete but using the first announcement made in 2019 we are already at year 5 with not one train yet completed.
This is the same announcement that was made in 2019 when they won the franchise but was never implemented. The trains will still suffer from no carriage walk through, as individual trains will still be attached to each other to form 8 carriage units.
At the moment Luton is in the unique position where the trains on the express service are inferior to the standard commuter service that uses 2+2 seating and has full 12 carriage access to all passengers.
There has been no announcement regarding how many years this upgrade will take to complete but using the first announcement made in 2019 we are already at year 5 with not one train yet completed.
Realistically these units were not the best fit for this part of their network. However, at the time of securing them, they were probably the best available to tick boxes, get into service quickly and come under the best leasing costs.
Althought not the worst operator on the network, it has taken EMR far longer than it should have to improve the customer experience, inparticularly its interiors across the tired fleet which it had as part of its franchise commitment. Such a shame really, as this is always an instant win and dumbs down many other issues that arise operationally or otherwise.
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Ryebridge, who are always given the contracts at the airport for any groundwork, are laying concrete in the mid term car park by the entrance. Ryebridge seem to be using just one man and his dog so progress is at a crawl.
Meanwhile, work has started again on dismantling MSCP 2. I would estimate that around 60% of the car park has had its framework and floors removed after just over 11 weeks.
Nothing further has happened to a second temporary drop off area inside the CTA since my last report.
Meanwhile, work has started again on dismantling MSCP 2. I would estimate that around 60% of the car park has had its framework and floors removed after just over 11 weeks.
Nothing further has happened to a second temporary drop off area inside the CTA since my last report.
Last edited by LTNman; 21st Mar 2024 at 18:01.
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Having just used LTN for midday flights with infants in tow for a change all I can say is what a miserable experience the airport was despite arriving two hours ahead of flight. Midterm drop off by taxi as close as taxi driver could get to terminal. Walk in the rain from midterm drop off to bus stop that had no shelter to wait for overcrowded bus that initially takes you further from the terminal to turn around, Walk in the rain from bus drop off to terminal. Bag drop off counters unable to accept bags that other airports can thus requiring taking bags to excess baggage. Endless taped off chicane maze just to get to security despite being a quiet time of day. Last call boarding call made almost 40 minutes before departure. No escalator or lift, only an assault course of many flights of stairs with pushchairs to get to holding pen with no seats for allocated gate. Standing in rain to board aircraft via stairs. Made the whole LTN airport experience all very grim and unfit for purpose with young children, I’m sure the experience for any other physically challenged passengers must be similarly grim. Next flight I’m probably going to vote with my feet again and take the train to LGW despite LTN only being down the road for me.