"Robin May" wrote in message
.4...
"Peter Lawrence" wrote the following in:


On 22 Jan 2004 02:15:54 GMT, Robin May
wrote:

I'm flying Luton Airport this Saturday. What's the best way to
travel there from east London? My local stations are West Ham,
Plaistow and Canning Town.

Thanks in advance.

Ignore most of the advice so far, except for 'drive', since
Thameslink is scheduled to be blocked this weekend.

Thanks for the info, I could have been in a spot of bother without
knowing that!

This leaves H & C to St Pancras and then Midland Main Line train
to Luton Airport - one only per hour (at 30 mins past)

What are the Midland Main Line ticket prices like and roughly how long
will it take to get to

St Pancras - Luton Airport Parkway via MML is £10.40 single and takes about
25 minutes.

- or
Jubilee Line Canning Town to West Hampstead and then walk to West
Hampstead Thameslink (10 minutes) for train to Luton Airport,
prob. every 15 mins.

So this will work even with the central London Thameslink stations
shut? And again, what sort of ticket prices and journey times can I
expect?

West Hampstead - Luton Airport Parkway is £9.10 single. There are two fast
trains taking 26 minutes at 09 + 39 past and two slow trains taking 37
minutes at 23 + 53 past.

Peter Smyth

Robin May wrote:

"Peter Lawrence" wrote the following in:



On 22 Jan 2004 02:15:54 GMT, Robin May
wrote:


I'm flying Luton Airport this Saturday. What's the best way to
travel there from east London? My local stations are West Ham,
Plaistow and Canning Town.

Thanks in advance.

Ignore most of the advice so far, except for 'drive', since
Thameslink is scheduled to be blocked this weekend.


Thanks for the info, I could have been in a spot of bother without
knowing that!


This leaves H & C to St Pancras and then Midland Main Line train
to Luton Airport - one only per hour (at 30 mins past)


What are the Midland Main Line ticket prices like and roughly how long
will it take to get to

I wouldn't bother with MML - very unreliable and nowhere near as
frequent as Thameslink (fast trains every 15 mins).

- or
Jubilee Line Canning Town to West Hampstead and then walk to West
Hampstead Thameslink (10 minutes) for train to Luton Airport,
prob. every 15 mins.

You could also use the Silverlink North London Line to West Hampstead,
and avoid central London altogether for £5.20 cheaper.

Standard Open Return ticket prices (the most flexible, can be used on
MML too if you need to):
West Hampstead to Luton Airport: £20.20
(plus £2.50 * 2 for the tube) = £25.20
London to Luton Airport: £20.80
(plus £2.50 * 2 for the tube) = £25.80
Canning Town to Luton Airport via NLL = £20.40
(note that a Network Awaybreak is also available at £19.60 if you are
returning within 5 days).

So this will work even with the central London Thameslink stations
shut? And again, what sort of ticket prices and journey times can I
expect?

The cheapest route using the NLL is takes about 1h25m altogether.
King's Cross to Luton takes just under 35 minutes on a fast train, plus
40 minutes from Canning Town to King's Cross; 1h15m altogether.
Canning Town to West Hampstead by Jubilee line is 35 minutes (in theory)
plus about 30 minutes on Thameslink, making it 1h05m altogether.

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7

On 22 Jan 2004 19:17:04 GMT, Robin May
wrote:

"Peter Lawrence" wrote the following in:


On 22 Jan 2004 02:15:54 GMT, Robin May
wrote:

I'm flying Luton Airport this Saturday. What's the best way to
travel there from east London? My local stations are West Ham,
Plaistow and Canning Town.

Thanks in advance.

Ignore most of the advice so far, except for 'drive', since
Thameslink is scheduled to be blocked this weekend.

Thanks for the info, I could have been in a spot of bother without
knowing that!

This leaves H & C to St Pancras and then Midland Main Line train
to Luton Airport - one only per hour (at 30 mins past)

What are the Midland Main Line ticket prices like and roughly how long
will it take to get to

MML price is same as Thameslink; I guess that single, without
railcard, is about £12 but could be wrong. Time St P to Luton AP is
24 minutes.

- or
Jubilee Line Canning Town to West Hampstead and then walk to West
Hampstead Thameslink (10 minutes) for train to Luton Airport,
prob. every 15 mins.

So this will work even with the central London Thameslink stations
shut? And again, what sort of ticket prices and journey times can I
expect?

Yes, Thamesllink operates 'normally' north of West Hampstead. Prices
as above. West Hampstead to Luton AP is usually 37 minutes on slow
trains or about 26 on fast trains (which may overtake slow ones). I
don't have precise timetable for Saturday though and Thameslink
website is broken!.


--
Peter Lawrence

In article , Matt Ashby
writes
Robin May wrote:

I'm flying Luton Airport this Saturday. What's the best way to travel
there from east London? My local stations are West Ham, Plaistow and
Canning Town.

You should note that this weekend (I think all day Saturday and Sunday)
the through Thameslink services are discontinued. The northbound trains
start from Kentish Town and they all call at West Hampstead Thameslink.
And allow a fair bit of extra time, their timetables are always in a
mess, and the service is often less frequent than it should be. It
seems impossible to get accurate information out of Thameslink, but you
could try the telephone enquiries service, they get things right once in
a while.

I _think_ that Midland Mainline services are running normally out of
St.Pancras, and there is usually one per hour (leaving at xx:30)
stopping at Luton Airport parkway. Again allow extra time: because of
the works it takes a long time to get to St.Pancras from KX underground,
and MML have the worst timekeeping record of all the long-distance
companies.


--
Clive Page

In article , dan
writes
PS Luton airport has its own (parkway) station with free shuttle buses
to the airport. If you want to spend a bit more money than thameslink,
midland mainline will get you there in about 10mins less!!

I don't understand this remark: as far as I know all tickets from London
to Luton Airport Parkway are valid equally on MML or Thameslink,
including those with Network Card discounts. No need to pay more (and
with MML you can sometimes even avail yourself of a free tea/coffee).

--
Clive Page