Skip to main content

Plans submitted for UK’s Luton Airport Gateway

Knight Architects and Arup have submitted plans for Luton Airport Gateway; a new bridge which will form part of the US$244 million (£200 million) mass passenger transit (MPT) system linking London Luton Airport with Luton Parkway railway station. The MPT will enable fast, easy access from central London to the UK’s fifth biggest and fastest-growing major airport in 30 minutes by providing a seamless transfer time of just five minutes from Luton Airport Parkway to the airport terminal. The system will be a f
March 7, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Knight Architects and 7942 Arup have submitted plans for Luton Airport Gateway; a new bridge which will form part of the US$244 million (£200 million) mass passenger transit (MPT) system linking London Luton Airport with Luton Parkway railway station.

The MPT will enable fast, easy access from central London to the UK’s fifth biggest and fastest-growing major airport in 30 minutes by providing a seamless transfer time of just five minutes from Luton Airport Parkway to the airport terminal. The system will be a fully-automated, two-way, 24-hour capable people-mover based on latest system technology and design innovation running alongside the mainline railway before crossing over Airport Way via the new landmark bridge.

The London Luton Gateway Bridge has been designed as an asymmetric truss structure, spanning 72m across the busy Airport Way. Its top chord traces a parabola which springs tangentially from the deck, before tapering to a slender profile which appears to fade into the distance.

At night the top chord is illuminated with an active-led system. attached directly to the structure and aimed downwards. This allows the lighting system safely operate in its airport environment, without interfering with the functional lighting behind.

Subject to planning permission, work could begin in late 2017, with the system ready for operation by spring 2021.

Related Content

  • February 4, 2015
    A better use for the UK’s commuter railways?
    A new report by think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs looks at an alternative to expanding the rail network in the UK. The report, Paving over the tracks: a better use of Britain’s railways?, by Paul Withrington and Richard Wellings outlines how commuters could pay over 40 per cent less for their journeys and more passengers could enjoy the luxury of a seat if the industry was sufficiently liberalised to allow some commuter railways in London to be converted into busways. The success of the bu
  • October 23, 2018
    Addison Lee and Oxbotica to implement AV services in London by 2021
    Addison Lee has partnered with self-driving vehicle software company Oxbotica in a bid to bring autonomous ride-sharing services to London by 2021. Addison Lee, a UK private taxi hire firm, says it will also explore opportunities to provide corporate shuttles, airport and campus-based services. Andy Boland, CEO of Addison Lee, says: “By providing ride-sharing services, we can help address congestion, free space used for parking and improve urban air quality through zero-emission vehicles.” The partners
  • February 5, 2013
    Lagos to get mass transit system
    Lagos, Nigeria, is about to get a mass transit system with a difference, which the manufacturer says will play its part in reducing congestion and air pollution in the city. For the first time in the country’s history of Nigeria, a cable car company, Ropeways Transport, is set to launch a cable car mass urban transit system in the nation’s commercial capital. Under the terms of a thirty-year franchise agreement between Ropeways Transport, the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) and the Lag
  • November 11, 2016
    Study develops mixed-use transport hub for Amsterdam
    Commissioned by the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects (BNA), a multidisciplinary team consisting has collaborated on a study that examines the future potential of the integration of infrastructure and city development around the area of Amsterdam’s A10 ring road and the Lelylaan area.