On Mon, 30 Jul 2007, Michael Hoffman wrote:

Peter Robinson wrote:
Michael Hoffman wrote:

Luton does not have a one-seat rail journey to the centre--you have to
take a shuttle to Luton Airport Parkway first.

Eh? Half FCC train stop at Luton Airport Parkway. Or am I missing the
point?

Graham Harrison said that all London airports have direct rail links to the
centre, as opposed to NYC where the "rail link" to two airports involves
getting a rail shuttle from the mainline rail station.

Actually, i think it was me who said that.

I was pointing out that Luton is not any better than that.

Using Google Maps' routes, Luton Airport Parkway to the terminal (well,
the bus station) is 1.5 miles, Howard Beach or Jamaica to JFK is 4.9. I
wouldn't say that was 'no better', but you're right, it's still not a
distance you'd want to walk, so it's a two-seat ride.

Recliner pointed out that "strictly speaking, therefore, Luton is no more
rail connected than Heathrow was before 1977", which is true - but even in
1977, Heathrow was only ~1.5 miles from Hatton Cross (assuming there was a
route more direct than via the A4). Hayes & Harlington and West Drayton
are both ~3.5 miles away, FWIW; Hounslow West is 4.4.

The distance at Luton is probably short enough that there's no
justification for a real rail branch into the airport, unlike at Stansted.
Unless someone decided to build a link from the MML to the Cambridge
branch of the ECML at Hitchin, in which case it would be on the way .

Speaking of Stansted, i wonder why the terminal was placed where it was;
if it had been at the southwestern corner of the airport, it would have
been close enough to Bishops Stortford station that a rail branch could
have been avoided, as at Luton. It would have been closer to the M11, too.

tom

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I'm not quite sure how that works but I like it ...