The London Luton Airport Passenger Transit System Order 2021

PART 1 PRELIMINARY

Citation and commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as the London Luton Airport Passenger Transit System Order 2021 and comes into force on 16th August 2021.

Interpretation

2.  In this Order—

“airport” means London Luton Airport;

“authorised person” means, in relation to any purpose, a person authorised for that purpose by LLAL;

“building” includes any structure or erection or any part of a building, structure or erection;

“carriage” means each vehicle used to carry passengers and carried on a track with side guidance and forming part of the passenger transit system;

“Central Terminal” means the central terminal at the airport;

“general travel authority” means any permit, other than a valid ticket, authorising the person in respect of whom it is issued to travel in a carriage;

“LLAL” means London Luton Airport Limited, a private limited company registered in England and Wales under company number 02020381 whose registered office is Hart House Business Centre, Kimpton Road, Luton LU2 0LA;

“London Luton Airport Byelaws” means the byelaws made by London Luton Airport Operations Limited pursuant to sections 63 (airport byelaws) and 64 (byelaws: penalties and power to revoke in certain cases) of the Airports Act 1986(1) and dated November 2005 or such replacement byelaws which apply to the airport;

“Luton Airport Parkway Station” means Luton Airport Parkway railway station;

“maintain” includes inspect, repair, adjust, alter, remove, reconstruct and replace, and “maintenance” is to be construed accordingly;

“passenger” means a person travelling on the passenger transit system;

“passenger transit station” means a passenger transit system station where passengers may purchase tickets for travel on the passenger transit system and enter and alight from carriages;

“passenger transit system” means the mass passenger transit system linking Luton Airport Parkway Station and the Central Terminal as constructed by LLAL including but not limited to—

(a)

the stations, passenger embarkation and disembarkation areas, associated public spaces and pedestrian and vehicular access ways and service roads;

(b)

the track bed, cables, carriages, viaduct, bridge and all other associated plant, equipment, apparatus and facilities; and

(c)

any other associated structure or building;

“penalty fare” means a penalty fare payable pursuant to article 8 (penalty fares);

“the penalty fare provisions” means articles 8 (penalty fares) to 13 (exclusion of double liability); and

“valid ticket” means a ticket lawfully obtained by or on behalf of the person using or attempting to use it and entitling that person to make the journey on the passenger transit system which the person is making or attempting to make.

PART 2 OPERATION OF THE PASSENGER TRANSIT SYSTEM

Defence to proceedings in respect of statutory nuisance

3.—(1) Where proceedings are brought under section 82(1) (summary proceedings by persons aggrieved by statutory nuisances) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990(2) in relation to a nuisance falling within paragraph (g) of section 79(1) (noise emitted from premises so as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance) of that Act, no order may be made, and no fine may be imposed, under section 82(2)(3) of that Act if the defendant shows that the nuisance is a consequence of the operation or maintenance of the passenger transit system and that it cannot reasonably be avoided.

(2) Nothing in this article is to be construed as excluding a defence of statutory authority otherwise available under or by virtue of any enactment.

Power to charge fares

4.—(1) LLAL may demand, take and recover or waive such charges for carrying passengers on the passenger transit system, or for any other facilities or services provided in connection with the operation of the passenger transit system, as it thinks fit.

(2) LLAL may enter into and carry into effect agreements with other persons providing public passenger transport services, including any franchise operator designated under section 23(1) (passenger services to be subject to franchise agreements) of the Railways Act 1993(4), with regard to the issue of tickets and the making of through ticketing arrangements or for the purpose of generally co-ordinating the provision of those services with the operation of the passenger transit system.

(3) In this article “public transport passenger transport services” has the meaning given by section 63(10)(a) of the Transport Act 1985(5).

Byelaws relating to the passenger transit system

5.—(1) LLAL may make byelaws regulating—

(a) the use and operation of, and travel on, the passenger transit system;

(b) the maintenance of order on the passenger transit system and all passenger transit system premises including stations and approaches to stations; and

(c) the conduct of all persons while on the passenger transit system or passenger transit system premises including stations and approaches to stations.

(2) In particular, byelaws under this article may make provision with respect to tickets issued for entry to and travel on the passenger transit system, the payment of fares and charges and the evasion of payment of fares and charges.

(3) Byelaws under this article may provide for it to be an offence for a person to contravene, or fail to comply with, a provision of the byelaws and for such a person to be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(4) Without affecting the taking of proceedings for an offence included in byelaws by virtue of paragraph (3), if the contravention of, or failure to comply with, any byelaw under this article is attended with—

(a) danger or annoyance to the public; or

(b) hindrance to LLAL in the operation of the passenger transit system,

LLAL may summarily take action to obviate or remove the danger, annoyance or hindrance.

(5) Byelaws under this article do not come into operation until they have been confirmed by the Secretary of State.

(6) At least 28 days before applying for any byelaws to be confirmed under this article, LLAL must publish in such manner as may be approved by the Secretary of State a notice of its intention to apply for the byelaws to be confirmed and of the place at which and the times during which a copy of the byelaws will be open to public inspection; and any person affected by any of the byelaws may make representations on them to the Secretary of State within a period specified in the notice, being a period of not less than 28 days.

(7) For at least 28 days before an application is made under this article for byelaws to be confirmed, a copy of the byelaws must be kept at the principal office of LLAL and must at all reasonable hours be open to public inspection without payment.

(8) LLAL must, at the request of any person, supply that person with a copy of any such byelaws on payment of such reasonable sum as LLAL may determine.

(9) The Secretary of State may confirm with or without modification, or may refuse to confirm, any of the byelaws submitted under this article for confirmation and, as regards any byelaws so confirmed, may fix a date on which the byelaws come into operation; and if no date is so fixed the byelaws come into operation after the expiry of 28 days after the date on which they were confirmed.

(10) The Secretary of State may charge LLAL such fees in respect of any byelaws submitted for confirmation under this article as the Secretary of State may consider appropriate for the purpose of defraying any administrative expenses incurred by the Secretary of State in connection with the confirmation of those byelaws.

(11) A copy of the byelaws when confirmed must be printed and deposited at the principal office of LLAL and must at all reasonable hours be open to public inspection without payment, and LLAL must, at the request of any person, supply that person with a copy of any such byelaws on payment of such reasonable sum as LLAL may determine.

(12) The production of a printed copy of byelaws confirmed under this article on which is endorsed a certificate purporting to be signed by a person duly authorised by LLAL stating—

(a) that the byelaws were made by LLAL;

(b) that the copy is a true copy of the byelaws;

(c) that on a specified date the byelaws were confirmed by the Secretary of State; and

(d) the date when the byelaws came into operation,

is rebuttable evidence of the facts stated in the certificate.

(13) The byelaws set out in the Schedule have effect and are to be treated as, and apply to the passenger transit system until such time as they are amended or revoked by, byelaws made under this article and subsequently confirmed by the Secretary of State.

Disapplication of London Luton Airport Byelaws

6.  The London Luton Airport Byelaws do not apply to the passenger transit system.

PART 3 PENALTY FARES

Operation of penalty fare provisions

7.—(1) Any reference in articles 8 (penalty fares), 10 (document to be issued in connection with penalty fare requirement), 12 (supplementary provisions) and 13 (exclusion of double liability) to a passenger producing a valid ticket or general travel authority on being required to do so by an authorised person is a reference to producing, when so required, a valid ticket or general travel authority which, either by itself or together with any other document produced by the passenger at the same time, is valid for the journey made by the passenger.

(2) The penalty fare provisions have effect in relation to travel on any carriage on and after such day as the Secretary of State may specify.

(3) On the application of LLAL, or if the Secretary of State considers on reasonable grounds that LLAL is not complying with the requirements of articles 7 (operation of penalty fare provisions) to 13 (exclusion of double liability), the Secretary of State may provide that the penalty fare provisions cease to have effect on and after such day as the Secretary of State may specify.

(4) Paragraph (3) does not affect the power of the Secretary of State to specify further days on and after which the penalty fare provisions will have effect.

(5) Any day specified by the Secretary of State for the purposes of paragraph (2) or (4) shall be published in a newspaper circulating in the area of Luton Borough Council and Central Bedfordshire Council not later than one week before that date, and in such additional manner as may be approved by the Secretary of State.

(6) No day may be specified under paragraph (2) except at the request of LLAL.

Penalty fares

8.—(1) If a passenger, on being required to do so by an authorised person, fails to produce a valid ticket or a general travel authority, the passenger is liable to pay a penalty fare if required to do so by an authorised person.

(2) A passenger is not to be liable to pay a penalty fare if, at any time when tickets are generally made available for sale at passenger transit stations, there were no facilities for the sale of the necessary ticket for the passenger’s journey at the passenger transit station where, and the time when, the passenger started or ended their journey.

(3) Paragraphs (4) and (5) have effect with respect to the burden of proof, in any action for the recovery of a penalty fare under this article, so far as concerns the question whether the facts of the case fall within paragraph (2).

(4) In any case where the passenger has provided the authorised person with a relevant statement in due time it is for the authorised person to show that the facts of the case do not fall within paragraph (2), and in any other case it is for the passenger to show that the facts of the case fall within that provision.

(5) For the purposes of paragraph (4)—

(a) a relevant statement is a statement giving an explanation of the passenger’s failure to produce a valid ticket or general travel authority, together with any information as to the passenger’s journey relevant to that explanation; and

(b) a statement is provided in due time if it is provided when the passenger is required to produce a valid ticket or general travel authority, or at any later time before the expiration of the period of 21 days beginning with the day following the day on which the journey is completed.

Amount of penalty fare

9.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a penalty fare is £25 and is payable to LLAL before the expiration of the period of 21 days beginning with the day following the day on which the journey in respect of which it is payable is completed.

(2) LLAL may from time to time vary the amount of the penalty fare provided that—

(a) the consent of the Secretary of State is obtained in writing to such a variation; and

(b) a notice stating the amount of the penalty fare as so varied is published in a newspaper circulating in the area of Luton Borough Council and Central Bedfordshire Council not later than 28 days before the day on which the penalty fare, as so varied, is to take effect, and in such additional manner as may be approved by the Secretary of State.

Document to be issued in connection with penalty fare requirement

10.—(1) An authorised person who requires a passenger to pay a penalty fare must give the passenger—

(a) a receipt for the payment of the amount of the penalty (where the passenger makes that payment to the authorised person); or

(b) a notice stating that the requirement has been made.

(2) A receipt or notice given under paragraph (1) is an authority to the passenger to continue their journey on the passenger transit system.

Notice of penalty fare provisions

11.—(1) It is the duty of LLAL to secure that a warning notice meeting the requirements of paragraph (2) is posted—

(a) at each passenger transit station, in such a position as to be readily visible to prospective passengers; and

(b) in every carriage, in such a position as to be readily visible to passengers travelling in that carriage.

(2) A warning notice posted pursuant to paragraph (1) must (however expressed) indicate the circumstances (as provided in article 8 (penalty fares)) in which passengers may be liable to pay a penalty fare and state the amount of the penalty fare.

Supplementary provisions

12.—(1) A passenger who is required to pay a penalty fare must, unless the passenger pays immediately the amount of the penalty fare to an authorised person requiring such payment, give to that authorised person, if that person requires the passenger to do so, the name and address of the passenger.

(2) Any passenger failing to comply with paragraph (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale.

(3) Where an authorised person requires any passenger to do anything pursuant to any provision of this Order the authorised person must, if so requested by the passenger concerned, produce to that passenger a duly authenticated document showing evidence of the authorised person’s authority.

(4) A requirement by an authorised person is of no effect if, as respects that requirement, the authorised person fails to comply with paragraph (3).

Exclusion of double liability

13.—(1) Where a passenger has become liable to pay a penalty fare in respect of any journey (referred to in this article as “the relevant journey”), no proceedings may be brought against that passenger for the offence specified in paragraph (2) before the end of the period mentioned in article 9 (amount of penalty fare); and no such proceedings may be brought after the end of that period if—

(a) the passenger has paid the penalty fare to LLAL before the end of that period; or

(b) an action has been brought against the passenger for the recovery of that fare.

(2) The offence mentioned in paragraph (1) is any offence under byelaws made under article 5 (byelaws relating to the passenger transit system) involving a failure to obtain or produce a valid ticket or general travel authority for the relevant journey.

(3) If proceedings are brought against any such passenger for any such offence the liability to pay the penalty fare ceases and, if it has been paid, LLAL is liable to repay to the passenger an amount equal to the amount of that penalty fare.

PART 4 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Power to contract for police services

14.—(1) LLAL may enter into any agreement with a local policing body and its chief officer for the police force maintained by that body to provide policing services for or in connection with the passenger transit system.

(2) Any such agreement may provide for—

(a) LLAL to make such payment or other consideration for those policing services as the parties may agree; and

(b) such incidental and ancillary matters as the parties consider appropriate.

(3) For the purpose of providing policing services under any agreement entered into pursuant to paragraph (1), any constable of a local policing body—

(a) has all the powers and privileges of a constable on the passenger transit system and throughout Great Britain for a purpose connected to the passenger transit system or to anything occurring on or in relation to the passenger transit system; and

(b) may enter property which forms part of the passenger transit system—

(i) without a warrant;

(ii) using reasonable force if necessary; and

(iii) whether or not an offence has been committed.

(4) In this article—

(a) “chief officer” means a chief officer of police within the meaning of the Police Act 1996(6) or the Chief Constable of the British Transport Police Force; and

(b) “local policing body” means a local policing body within the meaning of that Act or the British Transport Police Authority within the meaning of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003(7).

Powers of disposal, agreements for operation, etc.

15.—(1) LLAL may enter into agreements—

(a) to transfer, charge or otherwise dispose of any interest of LLAL in the passenger transit system to another person (“the transferee”); or

(b) to grant to another person (“the lessee”) for a period agreed between LLAL and the lessee any interest of LLAL in the passenger transit system; and

(c) that are connected with or consequential on any agreement entered into under sub-paragraph (a) or (b).

(2) Any agreement referred to in paragraph (1) may, with the consent of the Secretary of State, provide for the transferee, the lessee or another person to exercise or be responsible for any relevant functions, either exclusively or concurrently with LLAL or another person.

(3) Where an agreement has been made under paragraph (1) for the transferee, the lessee or another person to exercise or be responsible for any relevant functions, references in this Order to LLAL include references to the transferee, the lessee or that other person.

(4) The exercise of any relevant functions by any person under any agreement made under paragraph (1) is subject to the same restrictions, liabilities and obligations as would apply under this Order if those functions were exercised by LLAL.

(5) LLAL may provide to any person in any agreement made under paragraph (1), or in connection with or in consequence of any such agreement, such guarantees, indemnities or other forms of security as it considers to be necessary or appropriate.

(6) In this article “relevant functions” means any provision of this Order and of any enactment applied to the passenger transit system by this Order.

(7) The Secretary of State’s consent given under paragraph (2) may be subject to such reasonable terms and conditions as the Secretary of State considers appropriate in the circumstances.

Application of landlord and tenant law

16.—(1) This article applies to—

(a) any agreement for leasing to any person the whole or any part of the passenger transit system or the right to operate the system; and

(b) any agreement entered into by LLAL with any person for the maintenance, use or operation of the passenger transit system, or any part of it,

so far as any such agreement relates to the terms on which any land which is the subject of a lease granted by or under that agreement is to be provided for that person’s use.

(2) No enactment or rule of law regulating the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants prejudices the operation of any agreement to which this article applies.

(3) No such enactment or rule of law applies in relation to the rights and obligations of the parties to any lease granted by or under any such agreement so as to—

(a) exclude or in any respect modify any of the rights and obligations of those parties under the terms of the lease, whether with respect to the termination of the tenancy or any other matter;

(b) confer or impose on any such party any right or obligation arising out of or connected with anything done or omitted on or in relation to land which is the subject of the lease, in addition to any such right or obligation provided for by the terms of the lease; or

(c) restrict the enforcement (whether by action for damages or otherwise) by any party to the lease of any obligation of any other party under the lease.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Transport

Rosalind Wall

Senior Civil Servant, Road Safety Standards and Services

Department for Transport

26th July 2021