The Bedford–London section of the
Midland Main Line was opened on 1 October 1868 by the
Midland Railway to provide a new direct route into
London St Pancras. The Midland Main Line had stations in the Luton area at , and . Luton Municipal Airport was opened on 16 July 1938 by the
Secretary of State for Air,
Kingsley Wood. During World War Two, the airport served as an
RAF base for
No. 264 Squadron RAF, but the airport returned to civilian use after the war. From the 1950s and 1960s, the airport's business increased with the growth of the
package holiday market (later assisted by a popular 1977
television advert for
Campari featuring
Lorraine Chase which mentioned the airport). The nearest railway station to Luton Airport was
Luton railway station, approximately away in
Luton town centre; although the Midland Main Line line passed close to Luton Airport, for the first 60 years of the airport's operation there was no dedicated railway station. To support the increasing passenger traffic, Luton Airport provided a shuttle bus service from Luton to the airport terminal. In 1999, Luton Airport Parkway was opened. Although it was designed specifically to serve
Luton Airport, it was also given the
parkway name, a title applied to British railway stations that have been designed as a
park and ride railway station with motorists in mind, providing car parking facilities for commuters travelling onwards into London. Because the parkway station was located approximately to the west of Luton Airport, and airport was at the top of a hill, it was still necessary to link to the airport with
shuttle buses. Initially these were operated by
National Car Parks on behalf of the airport's owners and provided passengers with a free transfer. In January 2008 the free shuttle bus service was replaced by a more frequent, but chargeable, service provided by
First Capital Connect. With the opening of the cross-London
Thameslink route 11 years earlier, the new station provided a direct rail link from Luton Airport to central and south London,
Gatwick Airport and , as well as the Midland Mainline Routes to the
East Midlands. In November 2008, the station became the first on the Thameslink route to have its platforms extended in order to accommodate twelve-coach trains as part of the
Thameslink Programme. In April 2013, a new northern entrance was opened on Kimpton Road, Luton.
Contactless bank cards (but not
Oyster cards) became valid for journeys to and from London from October 2019. == Services ==