Luton Airport to charge for use of the transit system from the terminal building to the railway station.

[Luton]

I have just looked on BR Fares and there is a new "Luton Airport Parkway Dart (LPD)" destination and this is now showing fares from "Luton Airport Parkway Dart (LPD)" to "Luton Airport (LUA)" or vice versa for £2.40 Single or £4.80 Return (strangely the Return ticket gives you no discount over two Single tickets) which is ridiculous! They have got to be taking the mick charging for this monorail shuttle! It is ridiculous!

Does this mean they are actually going to charge to use this new monorail shuttle once it opens? This has to be a joke? How can they possible think it is acceptable to charge for an automated driverless monorail shuttle that takes you from the terminal building to the railway station in a few minutes?

All of the other ones (like Birmingham Gatwick Heathrow Stansted and in many other countries) are free of charge so they have seriously lost their mind if they think it is acceptable to charge for this! This sort of thing should be free! If Luton want to compete with other airports than this is a bad idea to charge for this!

It is also worth noting that the Arriva Buses (routes A and 100 and 757 services) which operate at least every ten minutes or more frequently and run 24 hours a day will actually be much cheaper than this monorail shuttle (they are already much cheaper than the Go Ahead London 888 shuttle bus which is £2.40 Single and £3.80 Return currently) and you can also walk it quite quickly too.

 

[alistairlees]

Maybe they want to pay for the costs of building it? Just a thought.

 

[CyrusWuff]

It's the same price as they're currently charging for the add-on for the shuttle bus from Luton Airport Parkway (LTN) to the Airport (LUA).

 

[baz962]

To be honest it wouldn't bother me. I live in Bedford and if I wanted a flight departing Luton , then I'm not going to be put off by a fiver and scuttle off to Heathrow or Gatwick. I would probably use it , even though I get the current shuttle bus for free.

 

[AlterEgo]

Does this mean they are actually going to charge to use this new monorail shuttle once it opens? This has to be a joke? How can they possible think it is acceptable to charge for an automated driverless monorail shuttle that takes you from the terminal building to the railway station in a few minutes?

You've answered your own question.

That sounds very convenient to me and definitely worth a couple of quid.

 

[Ianno87]

You've answered your own question.

That sounds very convenient to me and definitely worth a couple of quid.

Especially when you compare it to the price of parking at the terminal.

 

[py_megapixel]

Not sure why you're apparently so outraged by this. You've already paid a substantial amount for your flight and for the train ticket, and if you're really that bothered by the £2.40 then you could always just walk.

It's only a mile or so, not ideal with luggage but perfectly doable if you're able-bodied.

 

[skyhigh]

I'm surprised that you'd think a development costing £225 million would be free to use?

If it's the same cost as the existing shuttle bus, but faster and more convenient that seems pretty fair to me?

 

[Watershed]

It's certainly stingy compared to other airports. But it's a captive market. They're getting you to the terminal quicker, more frequently and more comfortably than the current bus. In that context I hardly think it's surprising they're continuing to charge.

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

Put simply it is to recover the cost of construction. By charging the passenger it will help keep the charges levied on airlines lower. In turn this will help these airlines offer eye catching cheap fares. Only when add ons like this get factored in do passengers see the real cost.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Put simply it is to recover the cost of construction. By charging the passenger it will help keep the charges levied on airlines lower. In turn this will help these airlines offer eye catching cheap fares. Only when add ons like this get factored in do passengers see the real cost.

Do people object to paying for the Stourbridge shuttle? OK, this has no driver or guard, but it's not like staff are the only cost of operation.

 

[edwin_m]

The publicity for this describes it as Direct Air Rail Transit, illustrated in the early days with photos of Dubai Metro. So I'd say it was always their intention to market it as something people would expect to pay for.

 

[Cdd89]

In terms of total cost of reaching the airport by train, Luton remains good value.

Heathrow was mentioned as a better value comparative, but an off-peak Oyster PAYG Adult journey on TfL Rail from Paddington to Heathrow is £7.10 more than a journey from Paddington to an equivalent Zone 6 destination as a premium to pay for the use of HAL’s infrastructure.

 

[30907]

All of the other ones (like Birmingham Gatwick Heathrow Stansted and in many other countries) are free of charge

Gatwick Heathrow and Stansted are internal to the airport, so that leaves
Birmingham which is about 1/4 the length of Luton - not much longer than the walkway at Manchester.
The only mainland Europe airport-station shuttle I know of is the Düsseldorf monorail, and that definitely isn't free. Do you have an actual example?

 

[Bletchleyite]

The main reason why is similar to the main reason why the bus was chargeable - Luton is an airport served only by low cost carriers, and to be competitive to them it is necessary to keep the arrival/departure fees low, hence the airport, to remain profitable*, needs to charge passengers for stuff. It's the same reason why I'm near-certain it was the first airport to introduce drop-off fees for cars, though part of that was also to do something about the awful traffic congestion it suffered prior to the approach road being dualled.

It wouldn't entirely surprise me if it was also in part to discourage people parking in the station car park for flights and clogging it up (this certainly used to be a quite good value option - also true at Birmingham but it's huge there).

* Profitable not for an evil capitalist empire, though the contractor that operates it will to some extent, but rather for Luton Borough Council who own it.

 

[MikeWh]

(strangely the Return ticket gives you no discount over two Single tickets) which is ridiculous!

Given the majority of people will be making one way journeys, does this matter?

 

[Andrew1395]

It’s £5 to drop off and pick up passengers at the terminal. Luton has spent a lot of money expanding the terminal infrastructure, i expect they will want to recoup every penny they can from that investment.

 

[swt_passenger]

We’ve known it was chargeable for a while, it’s all discussed early on in the infrastructure thread:

Luton DART and Luton Airport Parkway Updates

I see work has been ongoing for a few months now at Luton Airport Parkway station for a new station building shell on the east side of the station, and raised tracks going up towards the airport. Is there any further information about estimating opening dates, where and how the new track will...

www.railforums.co.uk

The details of a penalty fare system were mentioned back in August.

Penalty Fares on the Luton Airport Passenger Transit System

SI 2021/907 makes rules about the LAPT and penalty fares thereon. They are in rather less detail than the corresponding provisions on National Rail. A few notable points: The Penalty Fare is set at £25 If a Penalty Fare is paid on the spot in full the passenger is not required to give their...

www.railforums.co.uk

And er, it isn’t a monorail.

 

[takno]

Luton airport is an awful tip. The charge for the bus (and associated messing around with tickets) has always been the cherry on the top, so it's not surprising they would bring it over to the monorail. Other London airports are available.

For international comparison, the only monorail I can think of that charges is JFK. That's a fair bit longer but also a fair bit more expensive.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Luton airport is an awful tip.

As a former (very) frequent user, it's really not. It's not as pretty as LHR T2/T5, but it is a pretty workable airport, and does have a few advantages, e.g. the simple approach to luggage (chuck it on a van and drive it over) means very quick delivery.

 

[Haywain]

Luton airport is an awful tip. The charge for the bus (and associated messing around with tickets) has always been the cherry on the top, so it's not surprising they would bring it over to the monorail. Other London airports are available.

If you don’t like the airport, don’t use. It’s incredible how many of the critics of the airport are actually repeat/serial users. And, by the way, it’s not a monorail.

 

[takno]

If you don’t like the airport, don’t use. It’s incredible how many of the critics of the airport are actually repeat/serial users. And, by the way, it’s not a monorail.

I don't use the airport, apart from the odd occasion when it gets booked for me. That's why I said there are other London airports available. I also quite often walk to airports and wouldn't be greatly put out to walk to Luton.

Realistically this particular bit of chiselling isn't actually any worse than the extra fare all the buses and the tram have to charge at Edinburgh airport, and presumably a whole bunch of other ones. It's just that the directness of it sticks in the craw a bit more at Luton somehow.

 

[Starmill]

Normally I don't subscribe to the principle of "if you don't want to pay for it, don't use it" when it comes to basic local transport.

However. In the case of an airport, if this were to be a chargeable service... is there really a social need for a free transfer between a railway station and an airport terminal?

Someone who can afford to pay for a flight and a railway ticket to Luton Airport Parkway can afford to pay £2.40 for this service.

If you've booked a flight and a train ticket and you take the view that it's still outlandish to pay for the transfer, walking is likely to continue to be permitted yes?

If you don’t like the airport, don’t use. It’s incredible how many of the critics of the airport are actually repeat/serial users. And, by the way, it’s not a monorail.

It reminds me of the people who are furiously angry at the £5 fee to use the pick up and drop off area at Manchester Airport.

It was introduced first and foremost to limit the time strictly to 5 minutes (it is £6 if you exceed this) because people were taking libraries with the capacity in the pick up area, and also to reduce the congestion on the road leading into it because the queue of cars was regularly blocking other traffic including service traffic, buses etc etc.

And yet people rage at the fee while still paying it and declining to use the free alternative in a short stay car park because it's too far away from the terminal.

 

[londonboi]

No different to paying for the bus you get just now then. These things cost money to run and maintain.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I think I'll have far less problem paying for an automated monorail that operates multiple times an hour van for a bus which I have spent a significant part of my life waiting for or indeed before the approach roads were made dual carriageway and significantly faster travelling on. I will say this though, I hope the monorail continues to accept the excellent value for money Luton travelcard.

 

[ivorytoast28]

The only mainland Europe airport-station shuttle I know of is the Düsseldorf monorail, and that definitely isn't free

The Pisa "people mover" seems a similar airport shuttle idea to this as well from the airport to the central station and costs 5 euro each way despite being only 1.4km in distance, makes this luton one seem like a bargain and is definitely better than a bus

 

[185]

IMO it should be included in all tickets sold to Luton Airport Parkway - no add-ons, no supplements, just put the relevant £2ish fare onto all tickets sold to LAP - less messing about upon arrival. Perhaps the gateline could be moved back to the terminal with an extra booking office there.

 

[PG]

It was introduced first and foremost to limit the time strictly to 5 minutes (it is £6 if you exceed this) because people were taking libraries with the capacity in the pick up area,

Must have been very long queues if a single book wouldn't suffice...

 

[edwin_m]

IMO it should be included in all tickets sold to Luton Airport Parkway - no add-ons, no supplements, just put the relevant £2ish fare onto all tickets sold to LAP - less messing about upon arrival. Perhaps the gateline could be moved back to the terminal with an extra booking office there.

There will be people who go to the Parkway but aren't going to the airport.

 

[Ianno87]

IMO it should be included in all tickets sold to Luton Airport Parkway - no add-ons, no supplements, just put the relevant £2ish fare onto all tickets sold to LAP - less messing about upon arrival. Perhaps the gateline could be moved back to the terminal with an extra booking office there.

As for "messing about", will Contactless payments be accepted?