Heathrow: ‘No option but to withdraw proposed Airtrack link to Staines’

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Heathrow Airport today set out a new rail strategy with a view to ’improving passenger experience, taking cars off the road and placing the economic benefits of the UK’s only hub airport at the centre of the national rail network.’

Heathrow has already invested more than £1bn on Heathrow Express and other rail services, and has committed £230m to Crossrail, making the airport operator the largest private sector contributor to the project.

The new programme, called the Wider Heathrow Integrated Rail Strategy (WHIRS), will seek to build on previous investment by ensuring that Heathrow has fast, frequent and comfortable rail connections for passengers, whilst at the same time significantly improving links to the surrounding community to get the local economy moving.

The first priority for WHIRS will be to ensure that Crossrail provides passenger-friendly, convenient connections for Heathrow travellers.

The airport operator will also continue to invest in enhancements to Heathrow Express to ensure that passengers continue to have the choice of a premium, express service into central London.

There is a strong case for rail access from the west of Heathrow, providing a direct connection with Slough, Reading and the Thames Valley for the first time, as well as the South West via the Great Western Mainline.

Heathrow also welcomes the Government’s plan for placing the airport at the heart of the UK’s high speed rail network, and will work with them to ensure high speed rail is properly linked to Heathrow and the regional rail network for the benefit of all passengers.

The concept of connecting the airport to the south has long been mooted and Heathrow remains supportive of a southern connection to the airport. Following an internal strategic review, however, and in consultation with airlines and other key stakeholders, Heathrow has decided to withdraw its Transport and Works Act Order application for the proposed Airtrack link to Staines.

Heathrow’s surface access director Allan Gregory said:

“We’ve listened to the concerns raised by local residents about the impact of Airtrack and worked hard to try and resolve issues including level crossings. Despite our considerable efforts, including discussions with Network Rail and the local highway authorities, we have been unable to develop solutions which fully address these concerns.

“The project has also been affected by the comprehensive spending review and the likelihood that there will be no public sector funding support forthcoming for the project. We have considered alternative scheme options and how these might be funded but in the absence of securing additional funding in the current economic climate, Heathrow Airport is unable to justify meeting the full cost of the project and unfortunately we have no option but to withdraw Airtrack’s Transport and Works Act Order application.

“Improving rail services to Heathrow is one of our key objectives. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to link Heathrow with high speed rail, Crossrail and the national rail network and we look forward to working with the Department for Transport, Network Rail and others to realise this vision, which will deliver benefits for businesses in the Thames Valley, London and the whole UK economy.”

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  • Dmaulder

    Good news!!!! SO glad Airtrack is canned – this project would have meant more misery and utter chaos for thousands of people in Egham affected by the level crossings.

  • Hughacollins

    About time BAA woke up to the real need which is to link Heathrow properly to the national rail network. GWR electrification means that direct fast trains to Reading, Bristol, South Wales and Birmingham via Oxford, in fact the whole of the West, Midlands and North, could become a reality. As for Surrey and Hampshire, a new grade separated line to Woking would be the answer, instead of pussying about with existing lines. For how to do it just look at Frankfurt and Paris CdG airports. We’ve had about 20 years plus to do the looking!!

  • Pugw4sh

    I am dismayed Airtrack is cancelled. This would have improved access to Heathrow for all of us south of the airport and helped to cut traffic in the area. And just because some car drivers can’t stand to wait at a few level crossings. Whatever happened to the greater good and the obvious need to prepare for oil shortages and avoid climate change?n

    • http://www.egham-airtrack.co.uk meher

      Pugw4ash, Egham has 4 level crossings in 2 miles, and no bridges or tunnels without a 5 mile detour. Gates are controlled manually average 3 minutes downtime per closure. Airtrack would have meant more than one train every 4 minutes

      • Anonymous

        Wouldn’t it be a good idea to see if half-barriers could be substituted? Then the barriers would only be down for 30seconds, rather than 3 minutes.

        • http://www.egham-airtrack.co.uk meher

          http://www.egham-airtrack.co.uk No one can make Network Rail do anything it doesn’t want to do, and it doesn’t want half-barriers. The reason why Philip Hammond is on our side is that he has spent 9 years talking to Railtrack and Network Rail about the half-barriers at Pooley Green, and he has discovered how intransigent they are.

          • Anonymous

            Hmm – did you work out why NR was against half-barriers? Does it compromise speed in this location? I’m now also drawn to the idea of building something completely new, say from Egham, along the M25 alignment to junc 14 (bypassing Staines altogether) and then as before.

  • Windsorian

    Pity that BAA have thrown the baby out with the bath water; looks to me that in a fit of pique they have abandoned the cheapest and simplest route which was the extension of HEx from T5 to Staines.nnThe other 3 routes, T5 – Reading, T5 – Guildford and T5 – Waterloo were all affected by the 15 level crossings; however there are no traffic level crossings on the T5 – Staines route.nnAlso the extension of HEx to Staines would not require a new fleet of trains or a new maintenance depot; rather the existing HEx fleet could have used their existing maintenance depot.nnBAA could privately fund the T5 – Staines extension on their own; under their original proposal they were going to fund, build and control the 4km extension across Stanwell Moor and Staines Moor. The cost of the entire Airtrack project was u00a3750M whilst the T5 – Staines extension is only u00a3100M and well within BAA’s proposed u00a3170M Airtrack contribution.nnSo why do BAA not just go ahead and build the T5 – Staines extension, giving acess to Staines from all existing trains (SWT) already stopping there ????

  • Nigel

    Fantastic news. A victory for common sense and Surrey residents.