London Luton Airport: Delayed rail link due to open in 2023

The new rail link will connect the existing Luton Airport Parkway station to the terminal building

The £200m transit scheme linking Luton airport terminal to the railway will not operate until next year at the earliest.

The Direct Air-Rail Transit (DART) system linking the airport with Luton Airport Parkway was approved in 2017 and due to open by the end of 2020.

Luton Rising, which owns the airport, said the delay was mostly down to revenue and ticketing arrangements.

It said an opening date would be announced in early 2023.

London Luton is the UK's fifth busiest airport and saw 1.2m passengers pass through its gates in April compared with 106,000 in April 2021.

The DART is an electrically-powered, fast passenger transit running on a 1.4-mile (2.2km) rail line connecting the station - part of the Thameslink and East Midlands Railway network - to the airport terminal in just over three minutes, replacing the existing bus transfer service.

It is hoped that passengers will be able to travel between the airport and London in just over half an hour.

Trains on the new line will be automated and run 24 hours a day

Luton Rising, which is owned by Luton Borough Council, said the project would help to "reduce the environmental impact of journeys to and from the airport and congestion on surrounding roads" and improve the airport's "competitive position".

Chief executive officer, Graham Olver, said it was "one of the biggest infrastructure projects ever undertaken in Luton" and "signals our commitment to the ongoing success of the airport".

"Testing of the system is significantly advanced, but there remain several important tasks that we are working to complete with our partners, which relate mostly to complexities and alignment of the system's revenue and ticketing arrangements," he said.

"This will also allow us more time to complete all the regulatory, operational and health and safety testing.

"We had hoped for an announcement of opening in 2022. We are eager to open the Luton DART and will do so as soon as we are assured that passengers will get the world-class service they deserve."