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Aberdeen Airport - rail link

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Brian Spence

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29 Aug 2019
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Aberdeen
Has there been any further discussions for providing a bus or tram link between Aberdeen Airport and Dyce Railway station? Some route circulating along the perimeter of the airport was mentioned but its all gone quiet. It would certainly alleviate the problems encountered by airport passengers in getting a bus or taxi into the city.
 
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RailUK Forums

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kkong

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8 Sep 2008
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No, and it will never happen.

The airport passenger numbers are much lower than they were 20 years ago during the peak of North Sea oil and gas activity.

If the finances for a fixed link didn't work then, they certainly won't now.

The Stagecoach 727 bus links the airport terminal and Dyce railway station every 45 minutes from 7am to 6pm (Mon-Fri only).
 
AlastairFraser

AlastairFraser

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Brian Spence said:
Has there been any further discussions for providing a bus or tram link between Aberdeen Airport and Dyce Railway station? Some route circulating along the perimeter of the airport was mentioned but its all gone quiet. It would certainly alleviate the problems encountered by airport passengers in getting a bus or taxi into the city.
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What about a 900m foot tunnel with on-demand travelators from the station to the airport?
It could be attached to any airport planning applications as a planning condition.
You wouldn't necessarily need to make it very wide too, for the volumes that would be using it.
 
J

JohnRegular

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It's an absurd state of affairs we find ourselves in where the airport is immediately adjacent to the railway, but with no direct links between the two.

However, we are where we are, and very few are going to travel to/from Aberdeen via Dyce when the existing bus does the job. Perhaps to/from further north, but those numbers surely won't justify a fixed link.
 
K

kkong

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JohnRegular said:
It's an absurd state of affairs we find ourselves in where the airport is immediately adjacent to the railway, but with no direct links between the two.
Click to expand...

This is of course a legacy of the decision taken in the mid 1970s to build the current airport terminal at the other side of the runway to the railway station.

The original terminal was a couple of hundred metres from the station... but the station was closed at the time, only re-opening in 1984.
 
O

och aye

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21 Jan 2012
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kkong said:
This is of course a legacy of the decision taken in the mid 1970s to build the current airport terminal at the other side of the runway to the railway station.

The original terminal was a couple of hundred metres from the station... but the station was closed at the time, only re-opening in 1984.
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Not to stray too off topic, but that is pretty much the similar thing that happened when the original Edinburgh (Turnhouse) airport was on Turnhouse Road not very far away from the railway line, before moving it in the 1970s to where the terminal is today.
 
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Highlander1

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Inverness
I vaguely remember it being discussed as part of the building of TECA but the costs involved were massive given the very limited passenger numbers
 
D

Djgr

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och aye said:
Not to stray too off topic, but that is pretty much the similar thing that happened when the original Edinburgh (Turnhouse) airport was on Turnhouse Road not very far away from the railway line, before moving it in the 1970s to where the terminal is today.
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Also Belfast City (George Best), where the terminal was moved further from the railway station.
 
N

numtot12345

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23 Feb 2021
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Glasgow
I suspect, to an extent, Aberdeen Rapid Transit would provide the direct public transport link between City Centre (and other locations on the Portlethen-Craibstone route) and the Airport. Otherwise you're getting one of the other 757 bus services, a taxi or just park and fly. Or if you do have time to travel slowly, get a train to Dyce and wait on the local bus.

Another general point - there are portions of the day in which current rail network operating times would not enable access to airport in time for early morning flights, nor be available for when you get off a plane after say 10/1030pm. I'm not sure as a percentage how many flights/passengers that is, however given many AM ones may be business-related, potentially are trips of higher-value.

Re. Edinburgh Airport, there was a plan to put an underground station at the Airport which both Fife line and Glasgow services (via Almond Chord) could access. This was quashed by the SNP government in favour of Edinburgh Trams project. Rest is history. Fundamentally, tram service not a bad option for local travel, but for more regional/strategic travel, Edinburgh Airport rail station would have been ideal.

We seem in this country to be able give direct rail connections to non-major airports, i.e.
  • Prestwick
    • Proximity of rail station to terminal is excellent, however very few flights, many of which take-off and land either early morning or late at night. Trains don't operate on Ayr line that get you in time for early AM check in; or your flight arrives after last trains. So air passengers don't get the benefit.
  • Inverness
    • Reasonably sensible as rail line is...sort of close. However it is a 20 minute walk to the terminal, which feels a bit long to be convenient. Don't believe there is a shuttle bus. If travelling from Inverness City Centre, you could get the bus from the same location and it will take you up to the terminal.
  • Aberdeen
    • As somebody said, it was decided to move the terminal away from the rail station side. I like the idea of the very long travelator under the airport to the rail station!
  • Edinburgh
    • As i say above, could have had an under-airport station linking both Glasgow via Almond Chord and Fife line. Removed the need to change over at Haymarket or at Gateway. Similar situation to Dyce, you need to transfer, ableit Tram a more viable option than what's available in Aberdeen.
    • I'd be interested to know the impact having a direct Glasgow-Edinburgh Airport underground station would have on Glasgow airport. Arguably you could arrive in Edinburgh airport and hop on a train that gets you into Glasgow City Centre in ~35/40mins.
  • Glasgow
    • Lack of fixed rail link to airport has been discussed to death.
 
H

Highlander1

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5 Sep 2025
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173
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Inverness
numtot12345 said:
I suspect, to an extent, Aberdeen Rapid Transit would provide the direct public transport link between City Centre (and other locations on the Portlethen-Craibstone route) and the Airport. Otherwise you're getting one of the other 757 bus services, a taxi or just park and fly. Or if you do have time to travel slowly, get a train to Dyce and wait on the local bus.

Another general point - there are portions of the day in which current rail network operating times would not enable access to airport in time for early morning flights, nor be available for when you get off a plane after say 10/1030pm. I'm not sure as a percentage how many flights/passengers that is, however given many AM ones may be business-related, potentially are trips of higher-value.

Re. Edinburgh Airport, there was a plan to put an underground station at the Airport which both Fife line and Glasgow services (via Almond Chord) could access. This was quashed by the SNP government in favour of Edinburgh Trams project. Rest is history. Fundamentally, tram service not a bad option for local travel, but for more regional/strategic travel, Edinburgh Airport rail station would have been ideal.

We seem in this country to be able give direct rail connections to non-major airports, i.e.
  • Prestwick
    • Proximity of rail station to terminal is excellent, however very few flights, many of which take-off and land either early morning or late at night. Trains don't operate on Ayr line that get you in time for early AM check in; or your flight arrives after last trains. So air passengers don't get the benefit.
  • Inverness
    • Reasonably sensible as rail line is...sort of close. However it is a 20 minute walk to the terminal, which feels a bit long to be convenient. Don't believe there is a shuttle bus. If travelling from Inverness City Centre, you could get the bus from the same location and it will take you up to the terminal.
  • Aberdeen
    • As somebody said, it was decided to move the terminal away from the rail station side. I like the idea of the very long travelator under the airport to the rail station!
  • Edinburgh
    • As i say above, could have had an under-airport station linking both Glasgow via Almond Chord and Fife line. Removed the need to change over at Haymarket or at Gateway. Similar situation to Dyce, you need to transfer, ableit Tram a more viable option than what's available in Aberdeen.
    • I'd be interested to know the impact having a direct Glasgow-Edinburgh Airport underground station would have on Glasgow airport. Arguably you could arrive in Edinburgh airport and hop on a train that gets you into Glasgow City Centre in ~35/40mins.
  • Glasgow
    • Lack of fixed rail link to airport has been discussed to death.
Click to expand...
With regards to Inverness, it is a 10 minute walk, uncovered, which is not ideal in the winter months. Service buses operate from the station to the airport terminal regularly and the price can be included in the rail fare. I understand there are (very) long term plans to relocate the terminal building. The station operates more as a park and ride for the nearby villages rather than as a true airport station.
 
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