edcayton Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 They have just been interviewing a politico on the radio (didn't catch the name) about new/expanded London airports. He reckoned that because Stansted is only operating at half capacity the answer lay in improved rail links. They have built a dedicated line, connects to a reasonably fast line to London, Cambridge and trains run to Liverpool IIRC, so what more can be done realistically? Discuss! Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mezzoman253 Posted September 3, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 3, 2012 Reduce the fares? Rob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mcfarlane Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Northbound trains stopped running to Liverpool a few years ago - they now run to Birmingham via Peterborough and Leicester. I think the Liverpool extension was one of Regional Railways/Central Trains attempts to stitch all of it's local services together to form highly unreliable long distance services. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Part of a previous survey for a planning application included the reopening of the Bishops Stortford - Braintree line.It was claimed that this route existed and laying new track could be carried out very cheaply. Could be that old chestnut doing the rounds again. Trouble is some people can be very gullible. Bernard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldgunner Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Two things, cost and times. IIRC the Stansted express only runs during the day, they really need night time services to cover those that like to fly at 4am. Plus make it cheaper, buy cheap, sell high eh? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzie Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 I don't think improving rail links to Stansted will make a lot of difference. If I want to fly anywhere on a proper airline I have to drive right past Stansted and go to Heathrow. Most irritating that not much other than the budget airlines fly from Stansted, and budget passengers cannot afford to go there by train. Linking Heathrow to Stansted via Crossrail might be a boon for interchanging passengers, and linking to Manchester airport might work too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ron Ron Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 For any expansion and development of Stansted to take more of the load, the prerequisite would have to be a significant improvement in both rail and road provision. Just looking at rail for now, the existing service and infrastructure (line and London Terminus) are wholly inadequate and too slow. Also if Stansted were to be chosen as the new London Hub, or to be part of a hub solution, with being so far from London journey times would have to be dramatically reduced from the current 47 minutes to less than 25. The other issues are line capacity and terminal capacity in London. The number of new passengers would swamp existing facilities. The only way to address this would have to be with a new line, probably HS, with new or extended terminal facilities in London and integration and connectivity with the existing and planned infrastructure (e.g. Crossrail 1 and 2/3). The existing old infrastructure simply cannot take such a load on its own Similarly, connections to the Home Counties, Midlands and further north would have undergo a stepped improvement from the current regional rail arrangements. On the other hand, if we are just talking about utilising Stansted's spare capacity, irrespective of whether a new hub is going to be developed or built elsewhere, then a new rail link may not be needed, but there would have to be some big changes to make this a more attractive airport than it currently is. . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike Posted September 3, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 3, 2012 Two problems I have with the rail link to Stansted is time of service (not early enough or late enough - I have come very close to missing last train back after been stuck in long queues at UK border controls) and journey time (45 mins). Don't know if there is more they could do on the later. Cheers, Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagrizz Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 The whole point of having an airport hub is that you change planes quickly at that hub. The suggestion of having half a hub at Heathrow and half a hub at Stansted will not work. I think this needs to be viewed from a flying point of view rather than a railway point of view. Graham Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Only ever went through Stanstead once,not a pleaseant experience big queues and long walk to plane(Ryanair so equaly unpleaseant) had to go by car car parking horrible luckily I dont fly anymore so others can suffer.The tunnel into the airport from the main line will have to be improved and if the line through the Lea Valley is quadrupled maybe more services can run but if they build a giant airport in the home counties will expansion happen? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
definate maybe Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 surely with flying/ travelling abroad what you care about most is the plane/ suitable airport so the 1% of your journey which is getting to the airport in the first place is probably not taken into consideration when booking, as long as its in your general neck of the woods. When going on holiday I have never decided not to book a certain package because I couldnt get a suitably priced train to the airport. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted September 4, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 4, 2012 surely with flying/ travelling abroad what you care about most is the plane/ suitable airport so the 1% of your journey which is getting to the airport in the first place is probably not taken into consideration when booking, as long as its in your general neck of the woods. When going on holiday I have never decided not to book a certain package because I couldnt get a suitably priced train to the airport. I think you're spot on there - we are reasonably sited for Heathrow (less than 30 minutes by car off-peak) but I've used Gatwick, Stansted, and on one occasion put our son on a flight from Birmingham, and in all cases the choice of airport was down to cost and or convenience of the flight. Provided the airport is reasonably accessible, preferably by public transport, then the flight/its cost/check-in time is usually the governing factor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted September 4, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 4, 2012 Typical of the half-hearted approach of UK govts (all parties) the line into Stansted was only built as single track. So first (and needlessly expensive) thing to do is to build a second rail tunnel when it would have been so much easier to build a double-track tunnel to begin with. The Lea Valley used to be four-track (two for freight) so there is some scope to increase capacity but it won't be easy. With Crossrail taking a lot of trains out of Liverpool St., it should be possible to rearrange things a bit so that Stansted Express services run via Stratford rather than the slow route through Hackney Downs and Clapton. That would save a few minutes as well as giving many more interchange possibilities. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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