Teesside Airport is to be re-introduced.

Ben has been sharing details of his latest scheme, which will involve demolition of the existing station, re-building it and then introducing shuttle buses between the station and the terminal.

https://fb.watch/pjOqhkDsST/

(02 Jan 2024, 1:33 pm)Andreos1 wrote Teesside Airport is to be re-introduced.

Ben has been sharing details of his latest scheme, which will involve demolition of the existing station, re-building it and then introducing shuttle buses between the station and the terminal.

https://fb.watch/pjOqhkDsST/

More TVCA money spaffed on that airport.

Interestingly though, in this article from 2021, Ben said: “Work is going to take place on the station but convincing rail operators to use it requires us to show passenger numbers increase. But as always the plan is to upgrade and bring the station back into use.”. So I'm unsure why he's suggesting it's money from Government, now that they've cancelled HS2?

I do think the station needs maintaining and reopening, but that should be routine DfT spend, not down to a local authority to bid funding for.

In addition to a short shuttle bus, I wonder if a better option would be to run an Airport Express, similar to the 100 in Edinburgh. It's roughly the same distance from Darlington Station.

How often is this shuttle bus going to run, flights from Teeside arent exactly regular

Whos gonna run it?
Will it be more than 1 PVR?
What happens if it breaks down and you miss your flight?
What happens if the bus get cancelled?
How much will this all cost?
How can it turn a profit?

(02 Jan 2024, 4:52 pm)Adrian wrote More TVCA money spaffed on that airport.

Interestingly though, in this article from 2021, Ben said: “Work is going to take place on the station but convincing rail operators to use it requires us to show passenger numbers increase. But as always the plan is to upgrade and bring the station back into use.”. So I'm unsure why he's suggesting it's money from Government, now that they've cancelled HS2?

I do think the station needs maintaining and reopening, but that should be routine DfT spend, not down to a local authority to bid funding for.

In addition to a short shuttle bus, I wonder if a better option would be to run an Airport Express, similar to the 100 in Edinburgh. It's roughly the same distance from Darlington Station.

This was previously a thing, Skyexpress service 737 running from inside Darlington Rail Station (where the taxi rank now is) and Feethams direct to the airport.

Having a shuttle from the airport station is no doubt more cost effective especially as it caters for passengers travelling to/from Darlington (and beyond) as well as from Teesside and the likes of Saltburn & Whitby.

(02 Jan 2024, 4:52 pm)Adrian wrote More TVCA money spaffed on that airport.

Interestingly though, in this article from 2021, Ben said: “Work is going to take place on the station but convincing rail operators to use it requires us to show passenger numbers increase. But as always the plan is to upgrade and bring the station back into use.”. So I'm unsure why he's suggesting it's money from Government, now that they've cancelled HS2?

I do think the station needs maintaining and reopening, but that should be routine DfT spend, not down to a local authority to bid funding for.

In addition to a short shuttle bus, I wonder if a better option would be to run an Airport Express, similar to the 100 in Edinburgh. It's roughly the same distance from Darlington Station.

This should be the very least they can do. There should be far more (assuming the airport is going to grow and become a viable asset.

Saw this on fb earlier:

I’d have to drive to a station, to get the train to the airport, to get a bus to the terminal, to get a plane to…at some point if I could include Husky sleigh, I’d be using all the transports…??

Not everyone in the TVCA lives on the line and to be honest, the more I think about it - the more it smacks of something that will work for some, but not the majority.
For it to work, the plan needs to see more than a minority of people using the station and the shuttle bus.
There's no significant return on the investment otherwise.

You can have all the flights in the world taking off from Teesside, but if it's easier driving or taxiing from say anywhere north of the river, than it is head off to the station, to lug your bags on and then off again at Thornaby, to then sit for 15mins to get them off the train and on to a shuttle bus. Before getting to the terminal and getting them... You get the drift. 

The majority of the people living in Redcar would need to head off in the wrong direction to get on a train, before going back on themselves on the train.

I'm all for improving public transport, but there's far more he can do to improve it to/from the airport.

Just thinking about the times I've used public transport to/from an airport in the UK and for the majority of the times, it's either been me as a solo traveller/as a pair (me and Mrs C or me and eldest C) and once as a family of 4 with two young kids.
The latter option was stressful and difficult to manage (little legs and suitcases don't work on public transport). 
The trips to/from Manchester as a couple were beset with delays and issues with TPX.
The local trips to Newcastle (generally involving a 4 and a Metro), ideal. But that's because it was either me by myself or with 1 other and therefore, limited luggage to worry about. 

I get I'm just one example of many, but how many families are going to be using this new station before they jet off to Alicante or wherever? 
How many are going to be business people or contractors on expenses heading off to Aberdeen or Amsterdam?

The airport needs shut down. Complete pipe dream and a complete waste of tax payers money.

There's no sustainability for an airport every 80 miles. The money spunked on the airport would've been better spend on better rail links to Leeds Bradford Airport from the North and Middlesbrough to Newcastle for connections to Newcastle Airport.