On Tue, 27 May 2008 11:12:44 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On 27 May, 19:09, Charles Ellson wrote:
On Tue, 27 May 2008 15:18:55 +0100, James Farrar



wrote:
On Tue, 27 May 2008 06:47:09 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On 25 May, 07:53, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 07:46:19 on Sun, 25
May 2008, Martin Edwards remarked:

Also it is debatable whether Luton or Stanstead are actually in the
London area. The names are a product of London's self-obsession and
the international obsession with it.

Luton qualifies under your description (even though it's as well
connected to London as Gatwick and arguably better than Stansted) but
Stansted is the official "third London Airport".

Surely Luton isn't closer to London than Stansted is? I'd have thought
they were about equi-distant.

Luton looks to be about 5 miles closer than Stansted.

According to DirectGov journey planner:-
To Charing Cross from -
Stansted 40.8 miles
Lu'on 34.7
Gatwick 29.4
Thiefrow 17.4
Northolt 14.1
London City 8.6

Fair enough. But I still think it's difficult to argue that 35 miles
away in Bedfordshire is London, while 41 miles away in Essex isn't...

Leaving aside the dishonest claims made in airline advertisements
(where they won't necessarily land you in the same country never mind
the named town), the name "XYZ airport" normally indicates the nearby
place served rather than the actual location as in practice many (if
not most) large towns haven't got anywhere to put an airport within
their own boundary. The distances above do not directly relate to the
time taken to reach London (or e.g. somewhere two or three miles from
the station in London which might take longer than the journey into
London); IIRC you'll get to London quicker from Stansted than you will
from Luton (and in the past from Heathrow?).

In article ,
(Charles Ellson) wrote:

On Tue, 27 May 2008 11:12:44 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On 27 May, 19:09, Charles Ellson wrote:
On Tue, 27 May 2008 15:18:55 +0100, James Farrar

wrote:
On Tue, 27 May 2008 06:47:09 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On 25 May, 07:53, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 07:46:19 on
Sun, 25 May 2008, Martin Edwards
remarked:

Also it is debatable whether Luton or Stanstead are actually
in the London area. The names are a product of London's
self-obsession and the international obsession with it.

Luton qualifies under your description (even though it's as well
connected to London as Gatwick and arguably better than
Stansted)
but Stansted is the official "third London Airport".

Surely Luton isn't closer to London than Stansted is? I'd have
thought they were about equi-distant.

Luton looks to be about 5 miles closer than Stansted.

According to DirectGov journey planner:-
To Charing Cross from -
Stansted 40.8 miles
Lu'on 34.7
Gatwick 29.4
Thiefrow 17.4
Northolt 14.1
London City 8.6

Fair enough. But I still think it's difficult to argue that 35 miles
away in Bedfordshire is London, while 41 miles away in Essex isn't...

Leaving aside the dishonest claims made in airline advertisements
(where they won't necessarily land you in the same country never mind
the named town), the name "XYZ airport" normally indicates the nearby
place served rather than the actual location as in practice many (if
not most) large towns haven't got anywhere to put an airport within
their own boundary. The distances above do not directly relate to the
time taken to reach London (or e.g. somewhere two or three miles from
the station in London which might take longer than the journey into
London); IIRC you'll get to London quicker from Stansted than you will
from Luton (and in the past from Heathrow?).

Can you demonstrate that? The train times are 47 minutes from Liverpool
St to Stansted and 22 minutes on the hourly fast trains from St Pancras
to Luton Airport Parkway.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

"Colin Rosenstiel" wrote in message
l.co.uk...

Leaving aside the dishonest claims made in airline advertisements
(where they won't necessarily land you in the same country never mind
the named town), the name "XYZ airport" normally indicates the nearby
place served rather than the actual location as in practice many (if
not most) large towns haven't got anywhere to put an airport within
their own boundary. The distances above do not directly relate to the
time taken to reach London (or e.g. somewhere two or three miles from
the station in London which might take longer than the journey into
London); IIRC you'll get to London quicker from Stansted than you
will
from Luton (and in the past from Heathrow?).

Can you demonstrate that? The train times are 47 minutes from
Liverpool
St to Stansted and 22 minutes on the hourly fast trains from St
Pancras
to Luton Airport Parkway.

For Luton you have to add on the time for the bus from the terminal to
the station. Also there is only one fast EMT an hour so unless you are
lucky the journey time will be 33 minutes

Peter Smyth

In message
, at
06:47:09 on Tue, 27 May 2008, remarked:
Surely Luton isn't closer to London than Stansted is? I'd have thought
they were about equi-distant.

It's closer in miles, although the train times are almost identical.

And the Luton trains are more frequent, and run through the night.
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 21:01:30 on Tue,
27 May 2008, Peter Smyth remarked:
For Luton you have to add on the time for the bus from the terminal to
the station.

Yes, a bus every 10 minutes, that takes about 10 minutes (they provide
the continuous round trip service with three of them I think).

Also there is only one fast EMT an hour so unless you are lucky the
journey time will be 33 minutes

Yes, it's not fair to quote the infrequent EMT time, I always use the
Thameslink^H^H FCC service as a timing benchmark.
--
Roland Perry

In message .uk, at
19:04:00 on Tue, 27 May 2008, Colin Rosenstiel
remarked:
But how far is it from Luton Airport Parkway to Luton Airport?

1.6 miles, but it's a tortuous and hilly trip. Takes about 10 minutes.
--
Roland Perry

In article ,
(Peter Smyth) wrote:

IIRC you'll get to London quicker from Stansted than you
will from Luton (and in the past from Heathrow?).

Can you demonstrate that? The train times are 47 minutes from
Liverpool St to Stansted and 22 minutes on the hourly fast trains
from St Pancras to Luton Airport Parkway.

For Luton you have to add on the time for the bus from the terminal
to the station.

25 minutes, though?

Also there is only one fast EMT an hour so unless
you are lucky the journey time will be 33 minutes

And there are slower trains the Stansted.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In article , (Roland
Perry) wrote:

In message , at 21:01:30 on
Tue, 27 May 2008, Peter Smyth remarked:
For Luton you have to add on the time for the bus from the
terminal to the station.

Yes, a bus every 10 minutes, that takes about 10 minutes (they
provide the continuous round trip service with three of them I
think).

Also there is only one fast EMT an hour so unless you are lucky
the journey time will be 33 minutes

Yes, it's not fair to quote the infrequent EMT time, I always use
the Thameslink^H^H FCC service as a timing benchmark.

As not all the Stansted services are as fast as 47 minutes either, it
seems fair to compare the fastest regular service.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message .uk, at
23:48:00 on Tue, 27 May 2008, Colin Rosenstiel
remarked:
For Luton you have to add on the time for the bus from the terminal
to the station.

25 minutes, though?

If you just miss one then you might have to wait 10 minutes for the next
one, and the trip takes up to 10 minutes. If I was catching a train
having arrived on a flight I would want to allow 20 minutes.

But putting that somewhat annoying bus trip on one side, Luton is better
connected than Stansted because there are more trains, and they run
virtually 24x7 (on the Thameslink line). Trains to the Midlands are a
bit patchy, but the line is much faster and more reliable than
Peterborough-Stansted, and runs much later into the evening.

At a glance, it also has more National Express coaches, for connections
elsewhere in the country, plus a connecting bus to Hitchin station (I
think it's still running).
--
Roland Perry

wrote:
On 27 May, 19:09, Charles Ellson wrote:
On Tue, 27 May 2008 15:18:55 +0100, James Farrar



wrote:
On Tue, 27 May 2008 06:47:09 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:
On 25 May, 07:53, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 07:46:19 on Sun, 25
May 2008, Martin Edwards remarked:
Also it is debatable whether Luton or Stanstead are actually in the
London area. The names are a product of London's self-obsession and
the international obsession with it.
Luton qualifies under your description (even though it's as well
connected to London as Gatwick and arguably better than Stansted) but
Stansted is the official "third London Airport".
Surely Luton isn't closer to London than Stansted is? I'd have thought
they were about equi-distant.
Luton looks to be about 5 miles closer than Stansted.
According to DirectGov journey planner:-
To Charing Cross from -
Stansted 40.8 miles
Lu'on 34.7
Gatwick 29.4
Thiefrow 17.4
Northolt 14.1
London City 8.6

Fair enough. But I still think it's difficult to argue that 35 miles
away in Bedfordshire is London, while 41 miles away in Essex isn't...


None of it is London, precisely the point I am making. As a native of
Watford, on the very rim of Greater London, I have an axe to grind.

--
Corporate society looks after everything. All it asks of anyone, all it
has ever asked of anyone, is that they do not interfere with management
decisions. -From “Rollerball”