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Quick question: presumably PRIV tickets are fine from any station to Luton Airport and include the Dart, but are they accepting PRIV from Parkway to the airport? (GTR staff pass will deliver me to Parkway).
PRIV passes themselves (no ticket) are valid on the shuttle bus but not the DART. If you want to travel on the DART, you need to pay the public rate, including after the shuttle bus is withdrawn.
PRIV tickets to Luton Airport should be priced such that the add-on between the Parkway and the Airport is at public rate.
Is it a one-off registration with the ability to turn up and go as many times as you like after? Or do you need to give 72 hours notice each time you want to use it?
For us staff we were sent a link which we had to put our airpot ID Details into and then were given a login to the dart concessions website where each ticket purchased is a zero fare. It then emails you a ticket that looks like this ( I have photoshopped the ticket image slightly to remove personal details) but I guess its the same as the regular tickets and the concession tickets for disabled ENCTs pass holders. A new ticket is required for each single trip seems a bit of a faff to have to do for each trip. On day 1 I tried to show them my Airport ID and they had no issue allowing me entry and exit on the first trip ( I think because it was the first day) but on the second trip they were very adament I had to use this ticketing system.
I Presume its the same for those who have blue badges / ENCTS etc who won't be allowed to enter with just the presentation of the pass and would be made to use tickets like this printed at home or scanned with a telephone.
I was told that you have to purchase a free ticket for each journey. Connected with keeping track on numbers since they will not get reimbursed as bus companies do!!
Is it a one-off registration with the ability to turn up and go as many times as you like after? Or do you need to give 72 hours notice each time you want to use it?
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Quick question: presumably PRIV tickets are fine from any station to Luton Airport and include the Dart, but are they accepting PRIV from Parkway to the airport? (GTR staff pass will deliver me to Parkway).
OK. I've had my registration confirmed, and set up an account.
I ask for a ticket TO Luton Airport on 1st May, returning to Parkway on 4th May.
It sends me free tickets, BUT
the 1st May ticket is FROM Luton Airport
and 4th May ticket is TO Luton Airport
ie the wrong way round.
I've gone in again to get the right ones (thinking it was me), but it still swaps them round.
Anyone have a phone number for them?
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I've (partially) resolved this. The problem is that their bookings page presents a "radio" button labelled To the Airport immediately above the "Travel Date" selection box.
And another "radio" button From the Airport is directly above the "Return Date" selection.
But (counter-intuitively) you should enter the Return Date without selecting the From the Airport button.
I stuck with To the Airport and got the correct tickets. Again illogically, they are both marked "Outbound Journey Ticket", but that's no problem.
And the full ticket, full of colour pictures, uses enough ink to make a dent into the fare you've saved.
It seems they've been as thorough with their GUI software testing as they have with the shuttle itself!
Incidentally the 72 hour pre-booking requirement is of no help if your flight gets delayed to the next day, or your flight gets diverted to Luton, or you need to make an urgent trip on short notice.
And if your flight is scheduled to land around 23:00 (common at LLA), you'll need to buy tickets to cover both sides of midnight.
All in all, a bit of a mess!
it appears, they are making it difficult, don't they want passengers, or any concessions?
the A bus company will be getting a uptrun in passenger figs...
I had a trip up to use DART today; pretty good - smooth and straightforward, tap & payed both legs of the journey (not the cheapest but definitely the most convenient way)
Still fair bit of snagging/building at the station end and Luton Airport, despite millions spent, still produces an initial unattractive face outside. (Very cheap looking, almost, poly tunnels leading from the DART stop to the terminal)
Surprisingly few people on the two journeys I took but as its still in the soft launch period probably to be expected.
Am definitely using it for all future trips the airport.
You can buy a paper ticket while there. There are ticket machines on site. I believe tickets marked "Luton Airport" rather than Luton Airport Parkway are also valid, but I may be wrong.
I think tickets to Luton Airport are valid, I hope priv tickets to the Airport as well.
I'm entitled to free travel on Thameslink so I wonder, can I get priv ticket between Parkway an the Airport or should I just get priv ticket from Harpenden to the Airport (still cheaper than public fare for DART alone)
I think tickets to Luton Airport are valid, I hope priv tickets to the Airport as well.
I'm entitled to free travel on Thameslink so I wonder, can I get priv ticket between Parkway an the Airport or should I just get priv ticket from Harpenden to the Airport (still cheaper than public fare for DART alone)
At the moment, a ticket from Luton is marginally cheaper than one from Harpenden. You don't get a Priv discount on the Airport element of the fare though, and there's no discount at all available if you buy a ticket purely for the airport link.
Why wouldn't it tell you to get the bus? The bus is still a full time operation whilst the DART is bedding in and only running for a few unadvertised hours each day.
Yesterday, I tried buying a return from the airport to Parkway and back from the machines by the terminal station. It wouldn’t complete the purchase as “continue“ was grayed out. In the terminal there were a couple of different machine types with a different layout. There I had no problem.
What is also very strange is that the Dart station at Parkway, which also doubles up as a railway station won’t have a drop off / pick up area in the station forecourt, as it will be a barrier controlled area for taxis only. Outside in the road there are double yellow lines. Driving around to the old station on the opposite side can take a good 10 to 15 minutes on a bad traffic day. This results in many drivers just waiting on the yellow lines.
What is also very strange is that the Dart station at Parkway, which also doubles up as a railway station won’t have a drop off / pick up area in the station forecourt, as it will be a barrier controlled area for taxis only. Outside in the road there are double yellow lines. Driving around to the old station on the opposite side can take a good 10 to 15 minutes on a bad traffic day
The DART is designed specifically to connect with trains at Parkway station. A pick up / drop off area would be superfluous. And how long it takes to get to the other side of the station depends very much on which way round you go.
The DART is designed specifically to connect with trains at Parkway station. A pick up / drop off area would be superfluous. And how long it takes to get to the other side of the station depends very much on which way round you go.
Yesterday, I tried buying a return from the airport to Parkway and back from the machines by the terminal station. It wouldn’t complete the purchase as “continue“ was grayed out. In the terminal there were a couple of different machine types with a different layout. There I had no problem.
What is also very strange is that the Dart station at Parkway, which also doubles up as a railway station won’t have a drop off / pick up area in the station forecourt, as it will be a barrier controlled area for taxis only. Outside in the road there are double yellow lines. Driving around to the old station on the opposite side can take a good 10 to 15 minutes on a bad traffic day. This results in many drivers just waiting on the yellow lines.
Do many people need to "drive round"? For most, they'll be accessing it from the town centre side (which is closer to the non-Dart side) or from the dual carriageway (same). The car side has always been in the same place and I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain there isn't car provision on the other side.
I suspect one reason for the Dart charge (!) being so high is to discourage people from dropping off at Parkway to avoid the airport drop off fee* and clogging it up there. It's intended to connect public transport, not cars. Before the airport approach road was dualled there was horrible congestion there and an argument to do that, but the dualling has by and large solved that.
There are plenty of stations with car drop-off facilities only on one side. Bletchley will be one if the second entrance ever opens, Oxenholme is another (though you sort of can stop by the tunnel bit), I'm sure there are hundreds.
* This does work at Birmingham and Manchester though
All depends where you live. Anyone living in Wigmore, Stopsley or east along the A505 corridor cannot turn right on the A505 and into the existing station forecourt from that direction. Instead they have to pass the other station entrance with its double yellow lines in Kimpton Road and then queue to get into Gypsy Lane and past the retail park with its own queue. Pick the wrong time and it is a long wait due to traffic congestion.
People don't complain, as they are lined up parked on the double yellow lines. The dart station is massive and also serves as a railway station and is far better than the Gypsy Lane side, which was built on a sixpence requiring 4 short length escalators to get to platforms 1-3
To be fair, unless the double yellow lines are accompanied by no-loading markings it is legal to drop off or pick up there provided you don't wait there (though it does sound like people are doing). Double yellow lines alone mean no waiting, loading is allowed provided you are loading for the whole time you're there, e.g. picking up someone who's already stood there or dropping someone off.
Unless they've changed it (which they may well do if it's causing an issue now) Google Streetview, which shows it part way through completion, doesn't show any loading restrictions on that section of road provided you're not in the taxi rank. Though even they may not be enforceable as the sign that goes with the restriction appears to be absent, and you need three things for it to be enforceable - the lines correctly marked, the signage and a Traffic Regulation Order in place.
Yesterday, I tried buying a return from the airport to Parkway and back from the machines by the terminal station. It wouldn’t complete the purchase as “continue“ was grayed out. In the terminal there were a couple of different machine types with a different layout. There I had no problem.
What is also very strange is that the Dart station at Parkway, which also doubles up as a railway station won’t have a drop off / pick up area in the station forecourt, as it will be a barrier controlled area for taxis only. Outside in the road there are double yellow lines. Driving around to the old station on the opposite side can take a good 10 to 15 minutes on a bad traffic day. This results in many drivers just waiting on the yellow lines.
Why would you need to drop off specifically for the DART? Surely you could just drive to the airport drop off point. And the main Parkway station has its own drop off point at the original entrance.
Why would you need to drop off specifically for the DART? Surely you could just drive to the airport drop off point. And the main Parkway station has its own drop off point at the original entrance.
