Construction update
 

Pillars to support the first floor and central columns to support the roof have been partially poured at Parkway Station for the Railtrack Network Rail funded part of the Dart build. This is going to be a mighty long Dart station.
https://i.imgur.com/fLsZRZJ.jpg

Looking out from under the Gateway Bridge the curve of the bridge can be seen as can the viaduct to Parkway Station in the background.
https://i.imgur.com/r1mK9r8.jpg

I have been told by my contact on the Dart project that the ski slope which isn’t structural but purely cosmetic cost £1.25m.
https://i.imgur.com/dwETy13.jpg

Careful inspection shows the blue lighting strip which is attached to one side of the blade. It won’t be an easy task fixing a lighting fault and there isn’t a backup strip. It appears to be lit 24/7 which I assume will prolong its life.
https://i.imgur.com/LNFm9xW.jpg

The bridge at night
https://i.imgur.com/1LUhQ7j.jpg

At Central Station cladding is being attached to the side of the lower canopy. Using the roof of the station as a reference does anyone else think the multi story looks a bit wibbly wobbly?
https://i.imgur.com/Mn3t2Hq.jpg

southside bobby

More than likely booked on behalf of Gov but as they used to have a LHR service let's hope they liked the service LTN could offer and one for the future.

The Holiday Inn Express is indeed being used as a quarantine hotel. The occupied rooms can be identified by the open windows that open all of 3 inches. Inmates can be seen exercising along the thin part of the hotel car park between stands 16 and 19 watched over by guards.

Work has been taking place over recent weeks to install what looks like a flight simulator inside a former hangar. This hangar is due to be demolished to make way for the dual carriageway to Terminal 2 that can’t be funded despite planning permission being granted by the owners of the airport to itself. I am thinking this road could be a long way off seeing the empty hangar is being brought back to life.

Sorry are your reffering to Railtrack as the National Rail infrastructure company that has been Network Rail for around 20 years now or is it someone else?

Sorry yes Network Rail. They are funding the forecourt and concourse at a cost of £25m

LTNman

Which hangar and by whom?

Behind the former Monarch hangar 60 next to the motor transport hangar. It used to be occupied by Monarch as a store if memory serves me correctly. No idea who will use it. A pit was dug and now what looks like a flight simulator sits over the pit. There is a big label on it but I keep forgetting to slow down to read the label. When I did remember the hangar door was shut.

A pit below a Sim doesn't sound like a good idea to me, would be interested what the labelling says.

The label should say no access route to Terminal 2 for 8 years as that is the length of the new lease as the hangar sits right on the path of the road. https://www.aviongroup.aero/page/25/london.html

They are moving out of Gatwick and heading for Hangar 26. The Sim is an A320-200

Makes sense, I think Monarch used the facility, more potential work for it at LGW.

panels

The HIExpress. Driving the shuttle bus tomorrow, first time for months so will have a look. No problem with it being an overflow quarantine hotel just that it should be single purpose.

Pabley and LTNman, there are several A320 sims close to LGW so perhaps a move to LTN makes a lot of commercial sense as regards, amongst other things, less local competition.

Flight Safety Boeing built a purpose built building in 2008 and installed 4 flight simulators at Luton but they ended up at Farnborough after just a few years. This building became the Holiday Inn. Monarch and Britannia also had their own flight simulators years ago so this will be Luton’s first flight simulator in years. Actually it wouldn’t surprise me if they don’t get turfed out if LLAL find a way to fund the road despite this new lease agreement.

The site is actually inside an Enterprise Zone which might have made a difference.

Dart trials
 

The two Dart trains are on the tracks carrying out tests along its stretch!

From what I am hearing there is a great deal of relief that the Dart didn't open on time due to the airports lack of passengers meaning the Dart would be operating at a big loss as it has fixed costs that can't be changed.

Passenger totals for the financial year to March 31st 2021 was just 2,919,422 which is the lowest figure since 1997.

As the new link between the airport and station will now be run by the airport and not Thameslink, like the current bus service, will the train from the airport to the terminal be free, a bit like how it is at Birmingham and Gatwick North Terminal to the station monorails?

If not that's going to set a horrible presidence for those airports too.

Free? That's wishful thinking as it will be a chargeable service due to a £243m bill to pay off plus interest and operational costs. The service will not be run by the airport operator but by the Council via LLAL who will subcontract the operation to a third party via a tender. It could well end up being the UK's most expensive 1 mile journey with penalty charges for fare dodgers. I don't know if it has been granted yet but the Council has applied for a Transport and Works Act Order. The application will provide powers relating to the operation of the passenger transit system linking Luton Airport Parkway Station and the Central Terminal at London Luton Airport.

https://dart.llal.org.uk/wp-content/...t-May-2020.pdf

The more passengers that use the Dart the less the airport operator makes in drop off and car park fees, which they keep as part of the concession agreement with the Council. This might partially explain why despite their cheesy smiles about the Dart why they refused to put a penny towards it.

I am still not sure whether there has been an agreement made for the rail operators to sell a single ticket solution to the airport. I think the best LLAL can hope for is a 2 ticket solution but one fare paid at the railway station otherwise the Dart operator will be responsible for collecting rail tickets. The worst option is that tickets will have to be bought at the Dart stations for the Dart train.

There are plans for Parkway to be made an Oyster Card station but so far no agreement has been reached. Whether that could be extended to include the Dart is another question.

£243 million WTF?
Do you mean £24.3 million?

You could build a new airport for the first price you just mentioned!

It is indeed £243m and that might not be the final bill. It was meant to be £225m but with the Dart being finished at least a year late this has consequences. Another way of looking at it is that the time saving is costing £2.025m per second over the exiting bus service. Most people here will think that is worthwhile but it could end up being the final nail in the coffin over the Council’s financial links with its airport with the Government’s investigation into that link. The investigation was meant to conclude this month but has been extended to later on in the year. Maybe the Government doesn’t like what it sees and is digging deeper?

The Gatwick Monorail refurb allown was £48m a few years ago, couldn't find original cost so maybe £100m ? DART is twice as long as well.