East Midlands Airport sometimes has some excellent fares - but it's not always the easiest to get to ...
There used to be a regular shuttle bus to the "East Midlands Parkway" station - but it is now just an hourly service run by Elite Cars - departing the station on the hour, and departing the airport at 20 mins past the hour (operating between 9am and 5pm) for the 10 minute journey, costing 6 gbp
December 2019 update: the bus service between the Parkway station and the airport now appears to have been withdrawn. A taxi appears to be the only option.
If you miss the hourly Raillink, Uber estimate a fee of 10-13 gbp for the trip
Elite Cars (who operate the Raillink) charge 12 gbp for a taxi journey
Using Monday 12th November 2018 to look for a sample fare - from East Midlands Parkway station there are departures at 14:56 and 15:56 (taking about 1.5 hours stopping just twice on the way) which cost 26 gbp
Total cost either 32 gbp using Raillink or 38 using a taxi
Another option is using is to use Nottingham station - which has a half hourly service (formerly known as Skylink Express) called the Clifton Skylink which takes just over half an hour which costs 6.50 gbp. There's also the Nottingham Skylink that departs every 20 minutes, but which takes almost an hour and costs 5.20 gbp
Again using Monday 12th November 2018 to look for a sample fare - from Nottingham station there are departures at 15:45 and 16:45 (taking 1:39 and 1:55 respectively) which cost 26 gbp
Total cost (using the faster bus) would be 32.50 - but the journey might take considerably longer than via the Parkway station
To get to Derby station there are three buses an hour on the Derby Skylink service which take about 40 minutes and cost 4.70 gbp
On Monday 12th November 2018 the fare from Derby station to London is 49 gbp for any of the afternoon half hourly services which take about 1:40 to complete the journey
The final option is to use Long Eaton station via the Nottingham Skylink with the three services an hour and a journey time of just 23 minutes, costing 3.30 gbp
Long Eaton has just one direct train an hour to London (e.g. 15:40 and 16:40) which takes just over 1.5 hours and prices for 12th November 2018 are 49 gbp. Using a ticket splitting website you can get the price down to 24.50 gbp with an increased journey time of 2.5 hours
The total cost would be 27.80 using the slower train
If you are tempted to get the train to Loughborough and the Skylink bus to the airport - be warned that according to Google Maps, it's a 12 minute walk from the station to the bus stop - so you would need to add that into your journey time.
For me the quicker journey time from East Midlands Parkway appears to be worth the slightly higher price than the Long Eaton option. Although having done the journey to Long Eaton recently - it's quite a pleasant bus ride through the countryside to the airport.
There used to be a regular shuttle bus to the "East Midlands Parkway" station - but it is now just an hourly service run by Elite Cars - departing the station on the hour, and departing the airport at 20 mins past the hour (operating between 9am and 5pm) for the 10 minute journey, costing 6 gbp
December 2019 update: the bus service between the Parkway station and the airport now appears to have been withdrawn. A taxi appears to be the only option.
If you miss the hourly Raillink, Uber estimate a fee of 10-13 gbp for the trip
Elite Cars (who operate the Raillink) charge 12 gbp for a taxi journey
Using Monday 12th November 2018 to look for a sample fare - from East Midlands Parkway station there are departures at 14:56 and 15:56 (taking about 1.5 hours stopping just twice on the way) which cost 26 gbp
Total cost either 32 gbp using Raillink or 38 using a taxi
Another option is using is to use Nottingham station - which has a half hourly service (formerly known as Skylink Express) called the Clifton Skylink which takes just over half an hour which costs 6.50 gbp. There's also the Nottingham Skylink that departs every 20 minutes, but which takes almost an hour and costs 5.20 gbp
Again using Monday 12th November 2018 to look for a sample fare - from Nottingham station there are departures at 15:45 and 16:45 (taking 1:39 and 1:55 respectively) which cost 26 gbp
Total cost (using the faster bus) would be 32.50 - but the journey might take considerably longer than via the Parkway station
To get to Derby station there are three buses an hour on the Derby Skylink service which take about 40 minutes and cost 4.70 gbp
On Monday 12th November 2018 the fare from Derby station to London is 49 gbp for any of the afternoon half hourly services which take about 1:40 to complete the journey
The final option is to use Long Eaton station via the Nottingham Skylink with the three services an hour and a journey time of just 23 minutes, costing 3.30 gbp
Long Eaton has just one direct train an hour to London (e.g. 15:40 and 16:40) which takes just over 1.5 hours and prices for 12th November 2018 are 49 gbp. Using a ticket splitting website you can get the price down to 24.50 gbp with an increased journey time of 2.5 hours
The total cost would be 27.80 using the slower train
If you are tempted to get the train to Loughborough and the Skylink bus to the airport - be warned that according to Google Maps, it's a 12 minute walk from the station to the bus stop - so you would need to add that into your journey time.
For me the quicker journey time from East Midlands Parkway appears to be worth the slightly higher price than the Long Eaton option. Although having done the journey to Long Eaton recently - it's quite a pleasant bus ride through the countryside to the airport.
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