East Midlands Parkway Station

Jamp

Hi All

Has anyone used this new station for travelling to East Midlands Airport? How frequent and quick is the shuttle bus to the airport? The only convenient train for me would be only 80 minutes before my flight which I guess is a risky game. How much is the bus fare?

I've noticed that the train journey from Sheffield to East Midlands Parkway is cheaper with a split ticket at Derby or Nottingham.

Cheers,

Jamp

1618

No idea about the buses,but a cab fare would be approx £5 it is only 1.5 miles to the airport

richardw

Traffic around the A453 and M1 junction 24 can be difficult, so worth allowing extra time at peak periods.

Humphreyshalfmoon

The service is only every 30 minutes, on the hour and half past from the station towards the airport. The journey is timed as 10-15 minutes, which probably means there is only one bus going around and around. If you can check in on line so you don't have to queue to check in and the timings fit, you might just make it.

Having said that, having been travelling between Sheffield and London for over 20 years at least once a month and frequently more often, I have long since given up of East Midlands trains, the last journey took 5 hours, no breakdowns just incompetence and a total lack of information, so I always use the service to Doncaster from KX and change to get to Sheffield. I suppose others would say I was just unlucky but I am no longer prepared to take the risk!

BusinessStudent

East Midlands Airport is a nightmare to get to if you have a really early flight and are using public transport.

Why dont you just drive to the airport?

Jamp

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like I'll be better sticking to going to Derby and getting the bus to EMA which is my usual, but timeconsuming route. The EM Parkway bus on the hour would work out well with the train time and it's on a Sunday evening so traffic should be ok and get me there 45 mins before the flight, but unless the train and bus all run to schedule I'll be stuffed so it's probably not worth the risk, although leaving Sheff an hour later is tempting.

I work in the Isle of Man and commute back to the UK most weekends. Driving to the airport and parking every week would be too expensive and limit me to returning to the same airport so isn't an option.

On a similar theme, what's the score with Liverpool South Parkway?

omelette451

Jamp wrote: »

On a similar theme, what's the score with Liverpool South Parkway?

LSP is a perfect example of how integrated transport systems can work very well indeed. It's 2 miles from the airport and buses run about every five minutes (half of them express, i.e. non-stop to the airport; journey time 13 mins). Traffic can be heavy around rush hour, but it doesn't affect the buses too much as only a small portion of the route is along the main road. Through tickets are available that cover both the train and the bus (it's the same with EMA actually - ask for it when you buy your train ticket).

That said, for many people it's still easier to use other links. Hunt's Cross station is nearer the airport (but only just and it has less frequent buses), but anyone travelling to/from the London train is better off using Runcorn station, and from Liverpool city centre it's still easier to get the bus all the way to the airport.

(As an aside, true MSErs should look out for the 886 bus, which runs every half hour between the airport and LSP in addition to the normal ones, but as it's subsidised by the local authority it costs just £1.)