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

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

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

Tom Anderson wrote:
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.

I've never taken the Luton bus, but the AirTrain is the same system used
for intra-airport travel at both EWR and JFK. If you're going to count
it as being a two-seat ride, perhaps you should also count the terminal
at LGW that doesn't have a rail station (can never remember which is which).
--
Michael Hoffman

On Tue, 31 Jul 2007, Michael Hoffman wrote:

Tom Anderson wrote:
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.

I've never taken the Luton bus, but the AirTrain is the same system used
for intra-airport travel at both EWR and JFK. If you're going to count
it as being a two-seat ride, perhaps you should also count the terminal
at LGW that doesn't have a rail station (can never remember which is
which).

Fair enough. The criterion should probably be how many seats there are
between baggage reclaim and city centre - i take it the reclaim (and
check-in) for that terminal is in the terminal itself, and not the main
bit? I've never used Gatwick myself ...

tom

--
22% Essential Components, 22% Repetitive Patterns, 56% Pauses

Tom Anderson wrote:
On Tue, 31 Jul 2007, Michael Hoffman wrote:

Tom Anderson wrote:
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.

I've never taken the Luton bus, but the AirTrain is the same system
used for intra-airport travel at both EWR and JFK. If you're going to
count it as being a two-seat ride, perhaps you should also count the
terminal at LGW that doesn't have a rail station (can never remember
which is which).

Fair enough. The criterion should probably be how many seats there are
between baggage reclaim and city centre - i take it the reclaim (and
check-in) for that terminal is in the terminal itself, and not the main
bit? I've never used Gatwick myself ...

There are two terminals in Gatwick. I've never thought of either of them
as being the "main bit." One happens to have a rail station, but they
both have access via road (and coaches stop at each one).
--
Michael Hoffman

"Michael Hoffman" wrote in message
...

There are two terminals in Gatwick. I've never thought of either of them
as being the "main bit." One happens to have a rail station, but they
both have access via road (and coaches stop at each one).

Weeell, the south terminal (which has the rail station) was built first so
I always think of it as the "main bit". If you take off from or land at
the north terminal you have to get the little shuttle thingy to the
trains.

Ian

Ian F. wrote:
"Michael Hoffman" wrote in message
...

There are two terminals in Gatwick. I've never thought of either of them
as being the "main bit." One happens to have a rail station, but they
both have access via road (and coaches stop at each one).

Weeell, the south terminal (which has the rail station) was built first so
I always think of it as the "main bit". If you take off from or land at
the north terminal you have to get the little shuttle thingy to the
trains.

Yes, but if you come via some other means of transportation, you don't.
It's not like, say, a satellite terminal at Stansted.
--
Michael Hoffman

On Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:28:21 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

The criterion should probably be how many seats there are
between baggage reclaim and city centre

Right, so Heathrow to central London by Piccadilly line is a zero-seat
ride, then

"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
h.li
On Tue, 31 Jul 2007, Michael Hoffman wrote:

Tom Anderson wrote:
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.

I've never taken the Luton bus, but the AirTrain is the same system
used for intra-airport travel at both EWR and JFK. If you're going
to count it as being a two-seat ride, perhaps you should also count
the terminal at LGW that doesn't have a rail station (can never
remember which is which).

Fair enough. The criterion should probably be how many seats there are
between baggage reclaim and city centre - i take it the reclaim (and
check-in) for that terminal is in the terminal itself, and not the
main bit? I've never used Gatwick myself ...

You wouldn't normally sit on the short shuttle ride from the north to
the south terminal (I don't remember there being any seats). It's not
much different to the shuttle trains that take you to remote piers in
airports like Stansted, except that it's land rather than air-side. In
fact, it's probably quicker and easier than the walk to the HEx station
from, say, Terminal 1 at Heathrow.