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The Luton Dunstable Busway is a 10 kilometre bus only road that runs from Luton to Houghton Regis in Bedfordshire. It provides a quick and efficient way for passengers to travel between two main town centres, using the disused Luton-Dunstable railway corridor.
Arup worked in an integrated joint venture with Parsons Brinckerhoff on the tender design of the busway, detail design, construction details, as-built drawings and site support for contractor Bam Nuttall.
The work included the construction of seven new bridges and refurbishment/reconstruction of three bridges along the route, the construction of four new high specification bus stops and a major bus interchange at Luton Railway Station - resulting in links to Luton Town Centre, the railway network and providing easy access to Luton Airport. The busway will offer residents a reliable and cost effective method to local car travel and has also been considered a key feature for proposed growth in the area.
Guided busway
A 7.5 kilometre section of the busway is ‘guided’, through which buses will use a fixed corridor formed from six metre long precast concrete beams. This allows standard buses, fitted with two small guide wheels, to join and leave the track, travelling on it in both directions smoothly and safely, at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour.
The busway design was based on the DMRB and the Guided Busway design handbook, however Arup’s innovative analysis of vehicle loading for the scheme, allowed the reduction in guideway foundation size, saving approximately £3million for the contractor and client.
The Design and Build Contract was awarded on the 10 May 2010 and was successfully handed over to Luton Borough Council on the 16 September 2013.
