A new connection method is opening at Luton Airport, with an Air-Rail link opening tomorrow in a preview service. It’s dubbed the DART (Direct Air-Rail Transit).
Luton Airport DART system – Image, Luton Airport
The DART connects Luton Airport Parkway station on the National rail network to Luton Airport using a cable-hauled transit system. It will be replacing the shuttle bus that currently operates between the train station and the airport, connecting the 1.4-mile-apart areas together.
In its preview operation, it will operate four hours a day, scaling to 24 hours a day in a month.
However, it comes at a cost to use.
Currently, shuttle bus fares cost £2.40 for a single, with a return fare of £3.80. When the DART goes into full operation, a single fare will cost £4.90.
There will be concessions for Luton residents, as well as free travel for holders of concessionary travel passes, disabled blue badge holders and airport workers (you can hit this page to find out about concessions).
Those coming by train (either via East Midlands Railway or Thameslink will need to ensure that their tickets are marked “Luton Airport”, which will include a ride on the DART. Tickets marked “Luton Airport Parkway” will not include the transit to the airport.
And yes, there’s a price difference.
To Luton Airport Parkway
To Luton Airport
It’s going to be more important than ever to ensure you have the correct through ticket, or else, you’ll be paying extra at the gateline at Luton Airport.
Has anyone been out there?
Geoff Marshall has been out with his camera, and has cut together a video).
It’s a welcome change, but it should have been fee-free to use
High-quality transit is a good thing – let us make no bones about this. If it aids a passenger with step-free access and the ease to glide from one transit to another, I’m all for it.
But this should have been free at the point of use – rather than having to enforce fares and fare gates, which will cause a friction point (especially if the passenger fails to buy the correct ticket, and has to be directed to a ticket machine to buy the add-on fare to/from the airport).
From a passenger point of view – it’s penny-pinching at best. At worse, it’s just another surcharge (as I’ve noted in my article about the JFK AirTrain pricing).
And again, unless you want to hike between the airport and the train station with heavy baggage (or have all the time in the world), you’ll be using it if you’re travelling to Luton Airport by train.
Although if you’re being dropped off by car, you’ll need to factor in a fee of up to £5, depending on how far you want to walk.
Airports will always make their money – be it through development fees, drop-off fees, parking, duty-free shopping or transit to and from a train station.
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This is a welcomed change as this has been the main reason I’ve avoided Luton. Geoff Marshall’s Youtube channel has a good video on this… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3eMyjyZ6Aw
But yes, it should be free. Unlike Gatwick, SFO, MIA or any other city that has a similar connector, this adds the cumbersome process of finding out how to purchase tickets and then acquiring them with frequently awkward navigation of ticket machines, especially for visitors. For me I’m certain I would miss at least one DART train while doing this.
A great service, but on a per-mile basis that’s even pricier than JFK AirTrain.
And I can at least understand the rancid politics behind JFK AirTrain, getting the Port Authority and the MTA to even acknowledge each other’s existence is a minor miracle. (PANYNJ is at least a little more cooperative with New Jersey Transit,)
At least drop-off charges don’t seem to be catching on over here yet. DFW has something close, but technically you’re paying for the toll road, not the airport drop-off itself (not that that’s a real difference.) You can get around it, but judging from the map that’s a major pain and probably not worth it, since two of the other nearby motorways are toll roads too.