In message , at 12:35:23
on Sun, 20 Jan 2013, remarked:
As I keep saying it's high time the evil nonsense of the BAA (or
whatever it's called this week) monopoly was brought to an end. It should be
incorporated into the London public transport network

Given that BAA paid for it to be built, are you prepared to buy it off
them at cost (or some other larger figure)?

like pretty well every other airport train service in the world.

You are sorely mistaken. Premium (extra cost) services to airports are
very much the norm.
--
Roland Perry

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
12:35:23 on Sun, 20 Jan 2013, remarked:
As I keep saying it's high time the evil nonsense of the BAA (or
whatever it's called this week) monopoly was brought to an end. It should
be incorporated into the London public transport network

Given that BAA paid for it to be built, are you prepared to buy it
off them at cost (or some other larger figure)?

Like the PFI companies and Croydon Tramlink? BAA have had an ample return on
their investment by now.

like pretty well every other airport train service in the world.

You are sorely mistaken. Premium (extra cost) services to airports
are very much the norm.

Examples? No premiums to the last two European airports I've used.
Admittedly Berlin Tegel was bus (at standard fare) not rail.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

wrote:

Examples? No premiums to the last two European airports I've used.
Admittedly Berlin Tegel was bus (at standard fare) not rail.

Hamburg used to be premium fare bus or local standard fare bus to the S
Bahn, now it's just S Bahn at standard fare.

Geneva is standard fare to the airport. From it is free (ticket pickup in
the baggage hall), a wonderful piece of customer service given the usual
hassles of having right money on arrival.

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK. Put first name before the at to reply.

In article

, (Neil Williams) wrote:

wrote:

Examples? No premiums to the last two European airports I've used.
Admittedly Berlin Tegel was bus (at standard fare) not rail.

Hamburg used to be premium fare bus or local standard fare bus to the S
Bahn, now it's just S Bahn at standard fare.

Geneva is standard fare to the airport. From it is free (ticket pickup in
the baggage hall), a wonderful piece of customer service given the usual
hassles of having right money on arrival.

The important difference could be airports with proper through routes rather
than dedicated branches. Zurich is now on a through route with standard
zonal fares. It has no Supersaver fares to Swiss destinations though. You
have to book separately to Zurich HB to get them.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at 16:46:51
on Sun, 20 Jan 2013, remarked:

Premium (extra cost) services to airports are very much the norm.

Examples? No premiums to the last two European airports I've used.

There's a premium on the metro to Madrid airport, and a premium "Airport
Express" train in Oslo. Stockholm has the Arlanda Express, Rome has the
Leonardo Express and don't forget the Gatwick Express.
--
Roland Perry

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
16:46:51 on Sun, 20 Jan 2013, remarked:

Premium (extra cost) services to airports are very much the norm.

Examples? No premiums to the last two European airports I've used.

There's a premium on the metro to Madrid airport, and a premium
"Airport Express" train in Oslo. Stockholm has the Arlanda Express,
Rome has the Leonardo Express and don't forget the Gatwick Express.

The Gatwick Express paralleling non-premium services of course. What about
Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at 06:30:28
on Mon, 21 Jan 2013, remarked:
There's a premium on the metro to Madrid airport, and a premium
"Airport Express" train in Oslo. Stockholm has the Arlanda Express,
Rome has the Leonardo Express and don't forget the Gatwick Express.

The Gatwick Express paralleling non-premium services of course.

As does Heathrow Express.

What about Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels?

Paris has a RER station, a bit slow, but not especially expensive for
the distance. It doesn't have a fast train.

Brussels is very similar.

Amsterdam is on the main line, with a mixture of main line and suburban
trains. It's beyond the end of their metro. And while you can pay a
premium to use a "faster" train, in practice those faster trains aren't
that much quicker, so it's not worth it.
--
Roland Perry

On 21/01/2013 12:56, Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at 06:30:28
on Mon, 21 Jan 2013, remarked:
There's a premium on the metro to Madrid airport, and a premium
"Airport Express" train in Oslo. Stockholm has the Arlanda Express,
Rome has the Leonardo Express and don't forget the Gatwick Express.

The Gatwick Express paralleling non-premium services of course.

As does Heathrow Express.

I'd dispute that - I'd say Heathrow Connect was quasi-premium - at
least, my take is that it certainly isn't "non-premium". Heathrow
airport is within Greater London, and if HC was genuinely non-premium,
it'd sit within the zonal system, and the Heathrow stations would be
within zone 6 (like West Drayton and Feltham stations). Instead, it
costs £5.60 just to get from Hayes & Harlington to Heathrow.

On 21/01/2013 12:56, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 06:30:28
on Mon, 21 Jan 2013, remarked:
There's a premium on the metro to Madrid airport, and a premium
"Airport Express" train in Oslo. Stockholm has the Arlanda Express,
Rome has the Leonardo Express and don't forget the Gatwick Express.

The Gatwick Express paralleling non-premium services of course.

As does Heathrow Express.

What about Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels?

Paris has a RER station, a bit slow, but not especially expensive for
the distance. It doesn't have a fast train.

Brussels is very similar.

Does Brussels have some kind of airport-weighting on the fares on the
new line?

Amsterdam is on the main line, with a mixture of main line and suburban
trains. It's beyond the end of their metro. And while you can pay a
premium to use a "faster" train, in practice those faster trains aren't
that much quicker, so it's not worth it.

Vienna has the City Airport train with premium fares, and ordinary
trains which offer 24 h travel for less than a single on the CAT.

A key factor is probably whether the airport link is on a route to
somewhere else (like Gatwick or Schipol), or a dedicated line funded
without taxing Hard Working insert name of country Families (like
Heathrow).

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

In message , at
23:41:45 on Mon, 21 Jan 2013, Arthur Figgis
remarked:

Does Brussels have some kind of airport-weighting on the fares on the
new line?

I haven't used the train from the airport for several years. However,
Wikipedia says:

A direct train link with Leuven was opened on 12 December 2005.
A direct link with Antwerp and Mechelen via the so-called
Diabolo line was opened for public service on 10 June 2012. The
Diabolo project is a public private partnership. It has been
decided that all rail passengers to the Brussels National
Airport railway station station pay a "Diabolo supplement" to
finance the ongoing and planned work."
--
Roland Perry