Luton’s local authority says there is a clear need for a 15-minute service between London’s St Pancras station and Luton Airport Parkway, which connects to the terminal via a five-minute bus transfer. Luton Airport Parkway is on a mainline, but only one fast train an hour calls there, with most services being stopping trains on the Bedford-Brighton line.

Luton Borough Council is lobbying the Department for Transport as the DfT prepares the new franchise tendering process for East Midlands Trains, which is due to being in 2018 and whose trains would provide the faster service.

It is estimated that moving to four fast trains per hour will mean the proportion of passengers travelling to the airport by public transport will more than double to more than 30%. The airport saw passenger numbers grow by 16.9% in 2015 and is currently investing over £110million. It plans to increase capacity by 50% to 18 million passengers by 2020.

The airport’s chief executive Nick Barton said: “Committing to four fast trains per hour to Luton Airport Parkway through the new EMT franchise agreement would fit exactly in line with this ambition.”