FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message of Tue, 1 Jul 2014
22:38:02 in uk.railway, Clive Page writes
First Capital Connect has recently implemented two extremely passenger-
hostile measures at Luton Airport Parkway.

Firstly it has programmed the departures screens to remove trains
several minutes (I think 4 or 5) before the train is due to depart.
Displays on the platforms still show the train (mostly) but those in
the entrance hall and elsewhere do not are artificially censored.

Secondly it has covered all windows that overlook the tracks with
obscuring film. The apparent aim is to prevent passengers seeing what
is actually going on.

At this station trains are often switched from slow to fast lines or
vice-versa only just before arriving, and at certain times there may be
two trains to London due to leave at similar times from different
platforms with varying degrees of lateness, so that passengers
sometimes want to wait until they see a train arriving before deciding
which platform to use. Consequently canny passengers have been in the
habit of waiting in front of a convenient departure board or even
pausing on the footbridge so they can spot a train in the distance.
Both of these activities are deemed to be sinful by the management,
although I have *never* seen enough people doing this to form a
significant obstruction to the passageway let alone anything that could
be deemed in the slightes bit dangerous.

The FCC excuse has been that Luton Airport Parkway has "one of the
highest" accident rates, but the published figures show that in the
first half of 2014 the accident rate had already fallen considerably
below that in earlier years, well before they implemented the two
measures noted above.

Relevant URLs, please?


Is FCC unique in its attitude to censoring timely passenger information
on spurious elf-n-safety grounds?

I am pleased to see that a small-scale war has broken out: it is
obvious that some passengers have been scraping off bits of the
obscuring film on the footbridge so they can see out again, while the
management has attempted the odd repair. Given the relative numbers of
passengers and staff it is clear who is going to win.

It all seems completely batty and pointless to me. Most of us have a
device in our pockets which can show an uncensored departure board:

What apps does Clive suggest? Is London Underground covered?

having people run for the train while simultaneously glancing at their
fondle-slab is hardly going to improve safety.



There is a similar practice for several London Underground ticket halls.
At Farringdon, trains from the Circle/Hammersmith & City/Metropolitan
platforms, 1 and 2, disappear a couple of minutes before arrival.
I find myself interpolating the missing information.
I can't remember other examples, but do find the practice irritating.

I have added uk.transport.london to Clive's report, as I have not seen
another report of the practice.
--
Walter Briscoe

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

On Wed, 2 Jul 2014 07:02:57 +0100, Walter Briscoe
wrote:
Relevant URLs, please?

Realtimetrains is good, but as its data source is the signalling
system you have to beware of trains changing platforms at the last
minute. Good for working out platforms at Euston though.

For the Tube there are lots of apps.

Neil

--
Neil Williams. Use neil before the at to reply.

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

On 02/07/2014 07:02, Walter Briscoe wrote:
Relevant URLs, please?

I can't find anything online, but there are posters at the station
claiming an improvement from the start of 2014 (which can't be a result
of covering the windows etc as this wasn't done until this June). Here
is an extract from an email I got from the local station manager in
response to my complaint.

quote
The strategy for example for train drop off times and covering windows
is a proven science used throughout the rail industry. It has used a
simple science that if a customer cannot see a train they won't be able
to run for it. Our published timetables for example, clearly indicate
that to access the station here in a safe manner the customer should
arrive at least 7 minutes prior to the train departure. It is
unfortunate that many passengers do leave travelling until the last
minute and this is when we see the majority of our accidents.

Most of the recommendations have now been implemented and we have
already seen a drastic decrease in our passenger accidents which is
great news not only for the customer who passes through our station as
we have obviously made it a safer place to travel through, but also to
our staff who pass through it, plus of course benefits to the business.
Some of these projects, due to their success will be rolled out across
our network as good practise.
end quote

I think he means "practice". Fortunately FCC are about to lose the
franchise; unfortunately the incoming owners are likely to take on most
of the staff, especially the incompetent ones who won't be as employable
elsewhere.

What apps does Clive suggest? Is London Underground covered?

The app I use on my Android phone is a free one called simply "National
Rail" which I found on the Google Play site. It has a poor user
interface but is just about usable. It doesn't cover TfL services,
unfortunately, but there are plenty of other apps that do that; the one
I sometimes use is called London CityMapper.


--
Clive Page

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message , at 09:01:37 on Wed, 2 Jul
2014, Clive Page remarked:

What apps does Clive suggest? Is London Underground covered?

The app I use on my Android phone is a free one called simply "National
Rail" which I found on the Google Play site. It has a poor user
interface but is just about usable.

I use the FCC Android app, which at the time of writing has most of the
platform numbers at Kings Cross 30 minutes into the future and at Luton
Airport Parkway two hours into the future [although after an hour or so
the numbers thin out a bit].

The information is the same as he

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/ldbboard/dep/KGX
http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/ldbboard/dep/LTN

--
Roland Perry

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message , at 09:42:05 on Wed, 2 Jul
2014, Roland Perry remarked:
I use the FCC Android app, which at the time of writing has most of the
platform numbers at Kings Cross 30 minutes into the future

And now (at 0956) it's only got platforms for the trains up until 10.08,
plus for some reason the 10.35 to Leeds.
--
Roland Perry

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In article , (Clive Page)
wrote:

On 02/07/2014 07:02, Walter Briscoe wrote:
Relevant URLs, please?

I can't find anything online, but there are posters at the station
claiming an improvement from the start of 2014 (which can't be a
result of covering the windows etc as this wasn't done until this
June). Here is an extract from an email I got from the local station
manager in response to my complaint.

quote
The strategy for example for train drop off times and covering
windows is a proven science used throughout the rail industry. It
has used a simple science that if a customer cannot see a train they
won't be able to run for it. Our published timetables for example,
clearly indicate that to access the station here in a safe manner the
customer should arrive at least 7 minutes prior to the train
departure. It is unfortunate that many passengers do leave
travelling until the last minute and this is when we see the majority
of our accidents.

Most of the recommendations have now been implemented and we have
already seen a drastic decrease in our passenger accidents which is
great news not only for the customer who passes through our station
as we have obviously made it a safer place to travel through, but
also to our staff who pass through it, plus of course benefits to the
business. Some of these projects, due to their success will be
rolled out across our network as good practise.
end quote

7 minutes is utterly ridiculous!

I think he means "practice". Fortunately FCC are about to lose the
franchise; unfortunately the incoming owners are likely to take on
most of the staff, especially the incompetent ones who won't be as
employable elsewhere.

What apps does Clive suggest? Is London Underground covered?

The app I use on my Android phone is a free one called simply
"National Rail" which I found on the Google Play site. It has a poor
user interface but is just about usable. It doesn't cover TfL
services, unfortunately, but there are plenty of other apps that do
that; the one I sometimes use is called London CityMapper.

I use the Real Time Trains web site but I have a Windows phone so the range
of apps is more limited. I've not used anything for the Underground.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message , at 11:01:53 on
Wed, 2 Jul 2014, Paul Corfield remarked:
What is interesting about the 7 minute reference is that it refers to
"connection time* not the time from arriving at the station to
reaching the platform. I went to FCC's own timetable pdf booklet on
their website to check. The time parameter is shown in a box beside
the station name.

Here's the quote from their booklet.

"Please ensure you leave enough time to change trains. At most
stations you should leave at least ?ve minutes. At some stations a
longer connection time is required.

Which goes to show that FCC admit it's a problem station if you have to
allow two minutes longer to interchange due to the layout. Although even
the most pessimistic can't believe it takes 7 minutes to use an
overbridge. I wonder if these timings assume you have to go from the
arrival platform to the ticket hall (to discover the departure platform)
and then back again?

This will be indicated by a number
in a box within the timetable, e.g. 10 denotes that at least 10
minutes should be allowed to change trains."

Clearly the FCC station manager cannot read a timetable booklet. I
would have thought that was a fairly basic part of the skill set for
someone running a station.

Don't get me started on the skill sets exhibited...
--
Roland Perry

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message , at 04:40:15
on Wed, 2 Jul 2014, remarked:

7 minutes is utterly ridiculous!

Although Luton Airport Parkway station is particularly awkward, with
multiple sets of escalators to get to the overbridge and then the
"platform bingo" mentioned by the OP, made worse because it's not
organised as islands.

Committing yourself to a platform too far in advance is setting yourself
up for a fall (literally, if FCC are to be believed).
--
Roland Perry

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message , at 12:55:42 on
Wed, 2 Jul 2014, Paul Corfield remarked:
"Please ensure you leave enough time to change trains. At most
stations you should leave at least ?ve minutes. At some stations a
longer connection time is required.

Which goes to show that FCC admit it's a problem station if you have to
allow two minutes longer to interchange due to the layout. Although even
the most pessimistic can't believe it takes 7 minutes to use an
overbridge. I wonder if these timings assume you have to go from the
arrival platform to the ticket hall (to discover the departure platform)
and then back again?

I suspect the timings are set for people who are encumbered and need
to use lifts or struggle with stairs. As an airport station that seems
a reasonable assumption

Why are airline passengers *changing* trains at Luton Airport Parkway?

and it also gives FCC a "get out clause" if
people miss trains. I've never been to Luton Airport but as it's a
relatively new station I assume there are lifts to every platform.

It's a bit odd to picture because the ticket office and entrance is at
ground level but above that there's a mezzanine floor with
shop/toilets/seating that opens out to platform 4 (northbound fast)
which like all the platforms is raised above ground level.

A lift from ground to mezzanine, which continues up to the overbridge.
From the overbridge there are lifts down to platforms 1 and 2/3.
--
Roland Perry

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
04:40:15 on Wed, 2 Jul 2014, remarked:

7 minutes is utterly ridiculous!

Although Luton Airport Parkway station is particularly awkward, with
multiple sets of escalators to get to the overbridge and then the
"platform bingo" mentioned by the OP, made worse because it's not
organised as islands.

Committing yourself to a platform too far in advance is setting
yourself up for a fall (literally, if FCC are to be believed).

OIC. I've never made the acquaintance of Luton Airport Parkway station.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message , at 08:15:56
on Wed, 2 Jul 2014, remarked:

I've never made the acquaintance of Luton Airport Parkway station.

I used it quite a bit for catching Easyjet flights to Europe. But the
rail service northwards (to Nottingham etc) is pants, especially at
unsocial hours, so I drove down the M1 more often than taking the train.

Several combination trips too. For example driving to Luton Parkway then
catching the train to Getwick, returning to the car park via Luton
Airport and the shuttle bus; and the opposite way round that circle. It
just depends on the airline schedules.
--
Roland Perry

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 04:40:15 -0500, rosenstiel wrote:

7 minutes is utterly ridiculous!

At my normal station the total distance kerb to up platform edge is about
15 metres.

3.6 mm / sec ... that must be approaching snail speeds, and possibly not
from the right side.

I must admit, sometimes it takes me 2 or 3 minutes to get a ticket from
one of the 3 machines.

--
Denis McMahon,

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message , at 15:46:59 on Wed, 2 Jul 2014,
Denis McMahon remarked:
7 minutes is utterly ridiculous!

At my normal station the total distance kerb to up platform edge is about
15 metres.

That's one of the issues with Luton Parkway - the distance between the
kerb and the platform that newbies will be heading for: the most distant
platform 1.
--
Roland Perry

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
08:15:56 on Wed, 2 Jul 2014, remarked:

I've never made the acquaintance of Luton Airport Parkway station.

I used it quite a bit for catching Easyjet flights to Europe. But the
rail service northwards (to Nottingham etc) is pants, especially at
unsocial hours, so I drove down the M1 more often than taking the
train.

Several combination trips too. For example driving to Luton Parkway
then catching the train to Getwick, returning to the car park via
Luton Airport and the shuttle bus; and the opposite way round that
circle. It just depends on the airline schedules.

It's not very accessible by public transport from Cambridge (or Ely) though,
is it?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message , at 12:07:24
on Wed, 2 Jul 2014, remarked:

I've never made the acquaintance of Luton Airport Parkway station.

I used it quite a bit for catching Easyjet flights to Europe. But the
rail service northwards (to Nottingham etc) is pants, especially at
unsocial hours, so I drove down the M1 more often than taking the
train.

Several combination trips too. For example driving to Luton Parkway
then catching the train to Getwick, returning to the car park via
Luton Airport and the shuttle bus; and the opposite way round that
circle. It just depends on the airline schedules.

It's not very accessible by public transport from Cambridge (or Ely) though,
is it?

No it isn't. So my focus for any future trips would change to Stansted/
Gatwick rather than Luton/Gatwick. I was only using Luton when East
Midlands didn't have a suitable flight and because it was on the M1/MML
corridor.

East Midlands Airport seems to be struggling these days without BMIbaby
and Easyjet. Although Flybe has taken over some routes the only flight
to Amsterdam is now a useless 1pm out and 4pm back [both local time].
--
Roland Perry

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

On 02/07/2014 18:59, Roland Perry wrote:
[Luton Airport]
It's not very accessible by public transport from Cambridge (or Ely)
though, is it?

No it isn't. So my focus for any future trips would change to Stansted/
Gatwick rather than Luton/Gatwick. I was only using Luton when East
Midlands didn't have a suitable flight and because it was on the M1/MML
corridor.

If you're getting a GN train to King's Cross, then I'd think Gatwick and
Luton airports are more or less much of a muchness in terms of onward
travel - though no shuttle bus at Gatwick of course.


East Midlands Airport seems to be struggling these days without BMIbaby
and Easyjet. Although Flybe has taken over some routes the only flight
to Amsterdam is now a useless 1pm out and 4pm back [both local time].

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

On 02/07/2014 12:55, Paul Corfield wrote:

I suspect the timings are set for people who are encumbered and need
to use lifts or struggle with stairs. As an airport station that seems
a reasonable assumption

Though perhaps not with the kinds of air passengers using Luton. If you
can afford to take a heavy bag, you can afford not to be flying Wizz
from Luton.

Nothing says "Welcome to Britain" more than the recorded messages
telling you how to use the escalators, presumably for the benefit of
Johnny Foreigner who has never before encountered such things in his
primitive Continental homeland.


--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In article , (Mizter T) wrote:

On 02/07/2014 18:59, Roland Perry wrote:
[Luton Airport]
It's not very accessible by public transport from Cambridge (or Ely)
though, is it?

No it isn't. So my focus for any future trips would change to Stansted/
Gatwick rather than Luton/Gatwick. I was only using Luton when East
Midlands didn't have a suitable flight and because it was on the M1/MML
corridor.

If you're getting a GN train to King's Cross, then I'd think Gatwick
and Luton airports are more or less much of a muchness in terms of
onward travel - though no shuttle bus at Gatwick of course.

Cambridge to Luton Airport via King's Cross is a bit of a long way round and
charged as such. You can do train to Hitchin, then bus, then coach but you
might as well get the coach through from Cambridge.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

Several combination trips too. For example driving to Luton Parkway
then catching the train to Getwick, returning to the car park via
Luton Airport and the shuttle bus; and the opposite way round that
circle. It just depends on the airline schedules.

It's not very accessible by public transport from Cambridge (or Ely) though,
is it?

NatEx have coaches from Cambridge to Luton Airport every two hours
from 02:20 to 20:20. They take about 1:35. Seems reasonably
accessible to me.

Ely is harder. The Cambridge train station is a long way from the
coach station, so it's not a very good place to change. The coach
stops at the Hitchin train station, but you can't get there from Ely
without changing at Letchworth. Or you could take the train to
Stansted airport and the coach from there.






--
Regards,
John Levine, , Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. http://jl.ly

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In article , (John Levine)
wrote:

Several combination trips too. For example driving to Luton Parkway
then catching the train to Getwick, returning to the car park via
Luton Airport and the shuttle bus; and the opposite way round that
circle. It just depends on the airline schedules.

It's not very accessible by public transport from Cambridge (or Ely)
though, is it?

NatEx have coaches from Cambridge to Luton Airport every two hours
from 02:20 to 20:20. They take about 1:35. Seems reasonably
accessible to me.

If you can stand coaches. I'm not keen.

Ely is harder. The Cambridge train station is a long way from the
coach station, so it's not a very good place to change. The coach
stops at the Hitchin train station, but you can't get there from Ely
without changing at Letchworth. Or you could take the train to
Stansted airport and the coach from there.

Or take the guided busway to Trumpington Park and Ride (via a tour of
Addenbrookes Hospital) and get on the coach there. Otherwise take a bus into
the city centre from the station and walk from Drummer St to Parkside.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 23:06:59 +0100, Mizter T
wrote:
If you're getting a GN train to King's Cross, then I'd think
Gatwick and
Luton airports are more or less much of a muchness in terms of
onward
travel - though no shuttle bus at Gatwick of course.

But possibly the inter terminal shuttle which is not really any
quicker.

Neil

--
Neil Williams. Use neil before the at to reply.

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message , at
23:45:22 on Wed, 2 Jul 2014, Arthur Figgis
remarked:
Nothing says "Welcome to Britain" more than the recorded messages
telling you how to use the escalators, presumably for the benefit of
Johnny Foreigner who has never before encountered such things in his
primitive Continental homeland.

At Kings Cross they have those creepy front-projected cardboard cut-outs
telling you *not* to use the escalators if you have baggage.

And getting back to FCC, and patronising announcements, they now play a
message about how to open the doors. Apparently you have to press the
illuminated button, who'd a thunk-it?
--
Roland Perry

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message , at 23:06:59 on Wed, 2 Jul 2014,
Mizter T remarked:
[Luton Airport]
It's not very accessible by public transport from Cambridge (or Ely)
though, is it?

No it isn't. So my focus for any future trips would change to Stansted/
Gatwick rather than Luton/Gatwick. I was only using Luton when East
Midlands didn't have a suitable flight and because it was on the M1/MML
corridor.

If you're getting a GN train to King's Cross, then I'd think Gatwick
and Luton airports are more or less much of a muchness in terms of
onward travel - though no shuttle bus at Gatwick of course.

Somehow, the trip to Luton via London feels "wrong". Although there's a
bus from Hitchin to the airport if the time of day is right.

The question of course is how many destinations does Luton offer that
Stansted doesn't. Gatwick generally opens up a whole new set of
possibilities.
--
Roland Perry

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message , at 23:29:48 on Wed, 2 Jul
2014, John Levine remarked:
NatEx have coaches from Cambridge to Luton Airport every two hours
from 02:20 to 20:20. They take about 1:35. Seems reasonably
accessible to me.

Ely is harder. The Cambridge train station is a long way from the
coach station, so it's not a very good place to change.

Indeed, I'd have to allow at least 3/4hr from home to the coach stops in
Cambridge.

The coach stops at the Hitchin train station, but you can't get there
from Ely without changing at Letchworth.

The xx.30 semi-fasts stop at Hitchin, but a change at Cambridge is
necessary because the Kings Cross trains from Kings Lynn are fast
Cambridge-KX.

Or you could take the train to Stansted airport and the coach from
there.

But it's an hour to Stansted Airport (more or less) so two and half
hours, plus the latency of the change at Stansted isn't very attractive.
--
Roland Perry

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
23:45:22 on Wed, 2 Jul 2014, Arthur Figgis
remarked:
Nothing says "Welcome to Britain" more than the recorded messages
telling you how to use the escalators, presumably for the benefit of
Johnny Foreigner who has never before encountered such things in his
primitive Continental homeland.

At Kings Cross they have those creepy front-projected cardboard
cut-outs telling you *not* to use the escalators if you have baggage.

And getting back to FCC, and patronising announcements, they now play
a message about how to open the doors. Apparently you have to press
the illuminated button, who'd a thunk-it?

That might be because the current buttons aren't up to the PRM spec. Once
the 365s are all refurbished that might change,

--
Colin Rosenstiel

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

wrote in message
...
In article , (Clive
Page)
wrote:

On 02/07/2014 07:02, Walter Briscoe wrote:
Relevant URLs, please?

I can't find anything online, but there are posters at the station
claiming an improvement from the start of 2014 (which can't be a
result of covering the windows etc as this wasn't done until this
June). Here is an extract from an email I got from the local station
manager in response to my complaint.

quote
The strategy for example for train drop off times and covering
windows is a proven science used throughout the rail industry. It
has used a simple science that if a customer cannot see a train they
won't be able to run for it. Our published timetables for example,
clearly indicate that to access the station here in a safe manner the
customer should arrive at least 7 minutes prior to the train
departure. It is unfortunate that many passengers do leave
travelling until the last minute and this is when we see the majority
of our accidents.

Most of the recommendations have now been implemented and we have
already seen a drastic decrease in our passenger accidents which is
great news not only for the customer who passes through our station
as we have obviously made it a safer place to travel through, but
also to our staff who pass through it, plus of course benefits to the
business. Some of these projects, due to their success will be
rolled out across our network as good practise.
end quote

7 minutes is utterly ridiculous!

for granny with luggage (nor unreasonable at an airport station) it would
seem perfectly reasonable

but it is, of course, ridiculous to use such an outlier for the average
person

tim

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message , at 11:00:34 on Thu, 3 Jul
2014, tim..... remarked:
7 minutes is utterly ridiculous!

for granny with luggage (nor unreasonable at an airport station) it
would seem perfectly reasonable

Everyone keeps overlooking that the 7 minutes in question is from
*platform* to *platform*. Not from kerbside to platform.

How many grannies (with or without luggage) are *changing* trains at
Luton Airport Parkway?
--
Roland Perry

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at 23:29:48 on Wed, 2 Jul
2014, John Levine remarked:
NatEx have coaches from Cambridge to Luton Airport every two hours
from 02:20 to 20:20. They take about 1:35. Seems reasonably
accessible to me.

Ely is harder. The Cambridge train station is a long way from the
coach station, so it's not a very good place to change.

Indeed, I'd have to allow at least 3/4hr from home to the coach stops
in Cambridge.

The coach stops at the Hitchin train station, but you can't get there
from Ely without changing at Letchworth.

The xx.30 semi-fasts stop at Hitchin, but a change at Cambridge is
necessary because the Kings Cross trains from Kings Lynn are fast
Cambridge-KX.

Apart from the 10.11 and 16.06 from Ely which form the 10.30 and 16.25 from
Cambridge and call at Hitchin (and the 17.07 and later trains from Lynn
which do the same), connection times at Cambridge from Ely into the xx.30
and xx.55 are not good. That is why I suggested that taking the bus from
Cambridge railway station to Drummer Street and getting the airport coach
from Parkside would be as quick.

Or you could take the train to Stansted airport and the coach from
there.

But it's an hour to Stansted Airport (more or less) so two and half
hours, plus the latency of the change at Stansted isn't very
attractive.
--
Roland Perry


--
Colin Rosenstiel

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message , at 05:16:25
on Thu, 3 Jul 2014, remarked:
The coach stops at the Hitchin train station, but you can't get there
from Ely without changing at Letchworth.

The xx.30 semi-fasts stop at Hitchin, but a change at Cambridge is
necessary because the Kings Cross trains from Kings Lynn are fast
Cambridge-KX.

Apart from the 10.11 and 16.06 from Ely which form the 10.30 and 16.25 from
Cambridge and call at Hitchin (and the 17.07 and later trains from Lynn
which do the same), connection times at Cambridge from Ely into the xx.30
and xx.55 are not good. That is why I suggested that taking the bus from
Cambridge railway station to Drummer Street and getting the airport coach
from Parkside would be as quick.

Looking at Transport Direct, starting *now* they recommend changing at
Cambridge for a Hitchin train then catching the 787 coach. 2hrs 6mins.

Next quickest is catching a train to Stevenage and getting the #100 bus
from there. 2hrs 22mins.

Going via St Pancras is 2hrs 44mins.
--
Roland Perry

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
05:16:25 on Thu, 3 Jul 2014, remarked:
The coach stops at the Hitchin train station, but you can't get there
from Ely without changing at Letchworth.

The xx.30 semi-fasts stop at Hitchin, but a change at Cambridge is
necessary because the Kings Cross trains from Kings Lynn are fast
Cambridge-KX.

Apart from the 10.11 and 16.06 from Ely which form the 10.30 and 16.25
from Cambridge and call at Hitchin (and the 17.07 and later trains from
Lynn which do the same), connection times at Cambridge from Ely into the
xx.30 and xx.55 are not good. That is why I suggested that taking the bus
from Cambridge railway station to Drummer Street and getting the airport
coach from Parkside would be as quick.

Looking at Transport Direct, starting *now* they recommend changing
at Cambridge for a Hitchin train then catching the 787 coach. 2hrs
6mins.

Next quickest is catching a train to Stevenage and getting the #100
bus from there. 2hrs 22mins.

Going via St Pancras is 2hrs 44mins.

Huh? Looking at Webtis, I get 2hrs 28mins at 11:52 from Ely, and that
includes the usual ludicrous connection allowance from the Cross to St
Pancras, in this case 42 minutes. You could do it in 23 and arrive over half
an hour earlier in under 2 hours at 13:48 via EMT. Off the 11:25 from Ely
you could get there at 13:21 if you can get to St Pancras in 10 minutes.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message , at 06:01:57
on Thu, 3 Jul 2014, remarked:

Going via St Pancras is 2hrs 44mins.

Huh? Looking at Webtis, I get 2hrs 28mins at 11:52 from Ely, and that
includes the usual ludicrous connection allowance from the Cross to St
Pancras, in this case 42 minutes. You could do it in 23 and arrive over half
an hour earlier in under 2 hours at 13:48 via EMT. Off the 11:25 from Ely
you could get there at 13:21 if you can get to St Pancras in 10 minutes.

Hmm, Transport Direct is padding the change in London to an admittedly
ludicrous almost one hour. Plus there's 17 minutes from the station to
the airport (does your calculation include that?)
--
Roland Perry

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
06:01:57 on Thu, 3 Jul 2014, remarked:

Going via St Pancras is 2hrs 44mins.

Huh? Looking at Webtis, I get 2hrs 28mins at 11:52 from Ely, and that
includes the usual ludicrous connection allowance from the Cross to St
Pancras, in this case 42 minutes. You could do it in 23 and arrive over
half an hour earlier in under 2 hours at 13:48 via EMT. Off the 11:25
from Ely you could get there at 13:21 if you can get to St Pancras in 10
minutes.

Hmm, Transport Direct is padding the change in London to an
admittedly ludicrous almost one hour. Plus there's 17 minutes from
the station to the airport (does your calculation include that?)

No. I must admit I was looking at train times to Luton Airport Parkway
station only. The coach times are to the airport.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 11:00:34 on Thu, 3 Jul
2014, tim..... remarked:
7 minutes is utterly ridiculous!

for granny with luggage (nor unreasonable at an airport station) it would
seem perfectly reasonable

Everyone keeps overlooking that the 7 minutes in question is from
*platform* to *platform*.

I only overlooked it because the information wasn't in the post that I
replied to.

Not from kerbside to platform.

How many grannies (with or without luggage) are *changing* trains at Luton
Airport Parkway?

How many anybodies are doing this?

tim

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

wrote in message
...
In article , (John Levine)
wrote:

Several combination trips too. For example driving to Luton Parkway
then catching the train to Getwick, returning to the car park via
Luton Airport and the shuttle bus; and the opposite way round that
circle. It just depends on the airline schedules.

It's not very accessible by public transport from Cambridge (or Ely)
though, is it?

NatEx have coaches from Cambridge to Luton Airport every two hours
from 02:20 to 20:20. They take about 1:35. Seems reasonably
accessible to me.

If you can stand coaches. I'm not keen.

a coach back at 2pm beats sitting in the airport until first train (with
onward connection) at 6pm any day :-)

tim

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message , at 14:50:21 on Thu, 3 Jul
2014, tim..... remarked:
7 minutes is utterly ridiculous!

for granny with luggage (nor unreasonable at an airport station) it
would seem perfectly reasonable

Everyone keeps overlooking that the 7 minutes in question is from
*platform* to *platform*.

I only overlooked it because the information wasn't in the post that I
replied to.

One should really take the effort to read rather more of a thread before
replying.

Not from kerbside to platform.

How many grannies (with or without luggage) are *changing* trains at
Luton Airport Parkway?

How many anybodies are doing this?

Almost none. It would be for example the handful of people from outer
suburban stations who chose to change to an InterCity service (eg for
Leicester and beyond) there, rather than the more obvious Luton or
Bedford.
--
Roland Perry

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

In message , at 15:25:16 on Thu, 3 Jul
2014, tim..... remarked:
NatEx have coaches from Cambridge to Luton Airport every two hours
from 02:20 to 20:20. They take about 1:35. Seems reasonably
accessible to me.

If you can stand coaches. I'm not keen.

a coach back at 2pm beats sitting in the airport until first train
(with onward connection) at 6pm any day :-)

Did you mean "am" [twice]?
--
Roland Perry

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 15:25:16 on Thu, 3 Jul
2014, tim..... remarked:
NatEx have coaches from Cambridge to Luton Airport every two hours
from 02:20 to 20:20. They take about 1:35. Seems reasonably
accessible to me.

If you can stand coaches. I'm not keen.

a coach back at 2pm beats sitting in the airport until first train (with
onward connection) at 6pm any day :-)

Did you mean "am" [twice]?

Oops

tim

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 14:50:21 on Thu, 3 Jul
2014, tim..... remarked:
7 minutes is utterly ridiculous!

for granny with luggage (nor unreasonable at an airport station) it
would seem perfectly reasonable

Everyone keeps overlooking that the 7 minutes in question is from
*platform* to *platform*.

I only overlooked it because the information wasn't in the post that I
replied to.

One should really take the effort to read rather more of a thread before
replying.

But even if I had done so, it was still someone's speculation that the
spokesman had used this "connections" time as the "walk from the TO"
time. He could have meant what he said (and it is co-incidence that the
numbers are the same)

Not from kerbside to platform.

How many grannies (with or without luggage) are *changing* trains at
Luton Airport Parkway?

How many anybodies are doing this?

Almost none. It would be for example the handful of people from outer
suburban stations who chose to change to an InterCity service (eg for
Leicester and beyond) there, rather than the more obvious Luton or
Bedford.

Precisely. So even more likely that he meant what he said

tim

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

On Thu, 3 Jul 2014 08:24:21 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:
And getting back to FCC, and patronising announcements, they now
play a
message about how to open the doors. Apparently you have to press
the
illuminated button, who'd a thunk-it?

The number of times I have seen people nearly miss their stop by not
doing so causes me to think otherwise. Particularly on Pacers where
they are not obviously located. And an airport train/station will
probably have a disproportionate number of first time passengers.

Neil

--
Neil Williams. Use neil before the at to reply.

FCC censoring information at Luton Airport Parkway
 

On Thu, 3 Jul 2014 10:04:42 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:
The question of course is how many destinations does Luton offer
that
Stansted doesn't.

Don't know, but it does offer the option of easyJet rather than
Ryanair to many destinations.

Neil

--
Neil Williams. Use neil before the at to reply.