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Review: we try the new Luton Airport Express train and the DART airport link

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This is our review of the new Luton Airport Express rail service and the DART rail-air link.

The UK’s latest train service, the Luton Airport Express, officially launched on Monday.

This was also the day that the DART light rail shuttle between Luton Airport Parkway rail station and the airport terminal launched 24/7 operations.

You can learn more about Luton Airport Express on its website here.

Review Luton Airport Express train and DART

Luton Airport Express is operated by East Midlands Railway, which runs trains from London St Pancras towards Sheffield on the line which passes Luton Airport Parkway station.

The new Luton Airport Express runs every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and operates non-stop to the airport. The quickest journey time from St Pancras to the airport, including the DART transfer, is 32 minutes, of which around 22 minutes is the National Rail portion. I did it in 31 minutes.

There are trains on Sundays but they are less frequent. There are also other stopping trains to Luton Airport Parkway, both on Thameslink and East Midlands Railway.

Fares are advertised as ‘from £10’. In reality they appear to be as low as £7.60 one way for an adult single. This is excellent value given that the standalone price for the DART is £4.90 each way. Railcard discounts apply.

I headed up to Luton to take a look. Booked the day before, one way fares in Standard Class started at £8.70, including the DART fare, if you were willing to commit to a specific train. The snag is that few people can commit to a specific train, especially when returning to London from the airport.

To maximise my flexibility, I booked an Off-Peak Day Return for £27.90, although obviously anyone flying and staying overnight somewhere would not qualify for one of these. A full open return is nearer £40.

You must book your ticket to Luton Airport (LUA station code) and NOT Luton Airport Parkway if you want the DART trip to be included.

Review Luton Airport Express train and DART

As an East Midlands Railway service, the trains operate from the upper platforms at St Pancras (1-4).

What is confusing is that, despite the Luton Airport Express branding, these are actually trains to elsewhere – in my case, Corby in Northamptonshire. They just happen to run non-stop to Luton Airport Parkway.

This means a) the trains are not adapted to carry excessive amounts of luggage, b) on your return trip, you have a risk of deing delayed if the train gets stuck between the Midlands and Luton and c) trains into London are likely to be busy when they reach Luton Airport Parkway.

Whilst the train had ‘Luton Airport Express’ branding on the outside, this was not mentioned in any of the on-train announcements.

I had an open ticket with no reserved seating although I had indicated the 10.15 train when I booked. At 10am I got a text message saying that ‘a limited number of unreserved seats are available in Coach C’.

I have no idea what algorithm triggered this. The train was, at most, 10% full. There were just three of us in my carriage and I was able to take this photo:

Review Luton Airport Express train and DART

…. without getting a single person in shot.

Seating in Standard is 3×2. There are no tables. Wi-fi was free, did not require registration and worked well – albeit in a train with virtually no passengers.

You can’t knock the speed. I departed at 10.15 and pulled into Luton Airport Parkway on schedule at 10.37, 22 minutes later.

Connecting to DART at Luton Airport Parkway

This is, I have to say, a VERY slick process and far more effective than I anticipated.

There are escalators on the platform at Luton Airport Parkway, as well as lifts. Once on the upper level, you walk across the tracks and through the ticket gates.

You then have a very short walk to the DART ticket gateline:

Review Luton Airport Express train and DART

As long as you bought a rail ticket to Luton Airport and not Luton Airport Parkway, the same ticket will let you through to the DART platform.

It is a very similar set up to the intra-terminal train at London Gatwick, with trains operating from both sides of a central island.

The trains are not the height of luxury but then we are talking about a four minute ride. That said, padded seats would not have gone amiss.

Review Luton Airport Express train and DART

Looking out of the front:

Review Luton Airport Express train and DART

The final part of the trip to the airport is in a tunnel and you need to exit via two steep escalators or a lift. Here is the airport station:

Review Luton Airport Express train and DART

The only downer is when you emerge from the DART and you realise that you still have to walk for a couple of minutes to reach the terminal. Whilst technically covered, the airport is on a hill and I had wind and rain coming at me from the side:

Review Luton Airport Express train and DART

Conclusion

This is a very slick operation, except for the need to walk from the DART station to the terminal.

The trip from St Pancras to the DART station in the airport took just 31 minutes. Apart from the walk from your Luton Airport Express carriage to the platform escalator at Luton Airport Parkway, the entire trip is covered (a good job, given the rain!).

The cost, of course, is an issue. At £27.90 for an off-peak open return, it is £16.90 more than a return tube trip from Central London to Heathrow. It’s just one of the extra costs that (for someone living in Central London) often ends up making a ‘low cost’ flight with Wizz Air or another Luton carrier into something that costs the same as a legacy carrier from Heathrow.

That said, the combination of the DART and the non-stop trains from St Pancras (you can also take Thameslink services from Central London to Luton Airport Parkway) does make it more likely that I will fly from Luton in the future – and that was the point of the building it.

Category

General

Comments (75)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Bagoly says:
    31 Mar31 March 09:55

    Do British architects/planners live in some parallel reality where it doesn’t rain?
    Spending £290M and still ending behind the ‘buses is so inconsiderate to passengers.

    I can understand that other things under the ground may have made it unreasonably difficult to run the tracks an additional 200m, but they could have done a travellator, or even just a paved passageway with cut-and cover.

    • smblcklck says:
      31 Mar31 March 13:40

      Exactly what I thought. Just bonkers

    • Londonsteve says:
      31 Mar31 March 18:53

      Yes it would be wonderful if the station was actually underneath the terminal, or at least physically connected, such that it formed an extension to the building. The reality is that doing a cut and cover in the chosen location will have been much the cheaper solution. I’ve always detested walking out into the near permanent wind and rain whenever arriving at Luton owing to its odd hilltop location. Cue instant post holiday blues.

  • John says:
    31 Mar31 March 10:00

    The escalator and surface level gateline at the airport’s DART terminus seem to be quite narrow for any serious capacity. It wasn’t busy when I came through, but people were clumping, and it was easy to trip over people and their suitcases. Why have an exit barrier at all? Passengers have passed through a gateline upon entry at Parkway.

  • DavidW says:
    31 Mar31 March 10:22

    That last part – the walk through the perma-rain and perma-wind on an uneven floor surface alongside a row of random buses and coaches – is grim. The entrance to the station feels like one large bus depot or ferry terminal.

    • Londonsteve says:
      31 Mar31 March 18:58

      It feels worse that that, it feels positively industrial. Zero glamour or effort to brighten the surroundings. I suppose we shouldn’t complain as the old incarnation was even more miserable, it felt below the standard of every airport I’ve ever flown to in the former eastern bloc. Bleak was/is the best word to describe it. Victoria Coach Station used to feel like arriving in Monte Carlo in comparison.

  • Patrick Purcell says:
    31 Mar31 March 10:43

    A comment about trains to Luton Airport. I fly regulate from all four other London airports apart from LCY. The trains to and from Luton are highly efficient In my experience are pretty reliable for punctuality particularly heading from London. Overcrowding in never a problem

    There are two train companies on the route and East Midland ​R​ailways​ ​​often ​ have extremely cheap​ advance​ tickets​,​ sometimes less than £3​. Helpful for travel to the airport, when one has certainty over specific train times. ​

    When using Thameslink​ (the other, more frequent operator)​ I often b​oar​d at Farringdon as there is a very short walk from the ​t​ube and one can also ​n​ow use the Elizabeth ​L​ine​ to change​​. Thameslink trains at St. Pancras are on the upper platforms at the back (north) of the station which is approximately a 7 minute walk from the tube, so not convenient with luggage. One can also board at West Hampstead Thameslink for Luton Airport.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      31 Mar31 March 10:53

      Thameslink trains are underground. It’s the EMR that’s above ground.

  • Steve says:
    31 Mar31 March 11:27

    Such a joy that the buses and huge queues of people blocking the entrance will now no longer the case. I’ll finally be able to get from the car park to the entrance without the usual battle past cases and people waiting inside the entrance as it’s too cold outside. It’s been a long wait and interesting seeing it be built but the joy of walking over the original bridge and seeing the DART entrance shutters finally open, is a welcome sight.

  • Bill_B says:
    31 Mar31 March 11:39

    I only paid £2.40 to use the DART this week, so I guess they haven’t updated their pricing yet.

  • NFH says:
    31 Mar31 March 12:02

    If you book a specific train from Luton to London to get a cheaper price, and then you miss it because your incoming flight is delayed, then you would be able to claim the cost of a replacement (higher) train fare from the airline pursuant to Article 19 of the Montreal Convention. Unlike EU261, the Montreal Convention doesn’t specify any minimum delay, so you just need to allow a reasonable amount of time from the scheduled flight arrival time to reach your train.

    • Alex M says:
      31 Mar31 March 12:10

      Who do you claim it from? Airline?

      • NFH says:
        31 Mar31 March 12:13

        Yes, from the airline, as I wrote above. It’s very useful legislation, particularly if you miss the last train or Tube home as a result of flight that’s not delayed enough for an EU261 claim.

    • TimM says:
      31 Mar31 March 17:26

      Rail operators serving Manchester Airport offer an ‘Airport Advance’ fare which is the same price as an Advance but if your incoming flight is delayed, your ticket can be used on the next available service, subject to endorsement from the ticket office. The only condition is that your booked train was due to depart at least one hour after the scheduled arrival of the flight. It is such a simple idea, I don’t know why this is not national.

      • Traumahawk007 says:
        1 Apr1 April 07:47

        Regularly use the MIA service to LDS for Biz. Always wondered why their was 2 fares. I’m sure TPExpress don’t make it clear.
        Cheers for that

  • WillPS says:
    31 Mar31 March 13:55

    “Between the Midlands and Luton”… I’m not sure that’s as large a distance as you have in mind.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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