Heathrow Sets out R3 Transport Plans

OREANDA-NEWS. Heathrow is to set out how new rail links will deliver the benefits of growth to passengers and business across the whole country, not just to London and the South East.

Speaking at the Runways UK conference taking place in London on Monday, Head of Surface Access Simon Earles explained how Heathrow will build on its position as the best connected airport in the UK, with rail capacity set to treble from 5000, to 15,000 seats per hour, or from 18 to 40 trains per hour, thanks to planned improvements across the network. The new connections mean that by 2030, more than 70% of the UK's population will be within three hours of Heathrow by public transport and 12 million will be within 60 minutes of the airport.

A new fast connection to High Speed 2 at Old Oak Common means journey times between Heathrow and Birmingham will be cut by 1 hour 38 minutes, journey times to Leeds will reduce by 2 hours 08 minutes, and journey times from Manchester will reduce by 1 hour 53 minutes. New direct access to the Great Western Line will cut journey times from Cardiff by 37 minutes. Passengers will no longer face the inconvenience of having to travel to Heathrow via central London or negotiating the London Underground network with luggage.

Rail travel times to key UK cities now and with new rail links:

The new connections support Heathrow's commitment to increase the proportion of passengers who use public transport to access the airport from 40% today to almost 60% by 2040, so that there will be no net increase in the amount of airport-related traffic on the roads. Taken alongside new and enhanced bus and coach services, they will transform Heathrow in to a world-class, fully integrated transport hub.

Since the previous plan for a third runway was rejected, Heathrow has been meeting with business groups across the UK to listen to their views on aviation. The resounding demand is for better regional connectivity to the UK's hub airport so that companies across all regions are in better reach of global markets. Expanding Heathrow will create capacity for a number of new air routes to destinations in the UK that are currently served by competing hub airports in Europe. For example, Exeter, Liverpool, Newquay, Jersey, Inverness, Isle of Man and Humberside airports could be added to the existing links to Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds/Bradford, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast and Aberdeen. Heathrow has now committed to establishing a Taskforce for Regional Connectivity to develop policy proposals and recommendations for access to an expanded Heathrow.

Simon Earles, Head of Surface Access at Heathrow, said:

“Our ambition to connect Heathrow to every economic centre in Britain. New air and rail links including HS2, Western Rail, Southern Rail and Crossrail will transform journey times from Heathrow compared to today. Millions more people will have quick access to the UK's global hub and be within easy reach of the world's markets.”

Heathrow is already the UK's best connected transport hub. It has the only dedicated non-stop airport express link. It has the UK's busiest bus and coach station. It is the only airport with a London underground connection. It is the best connected airport to the strategic road network with the M25, M4, M40, M3 & M1 motorways all within close proximity. It is in a better geographical location for most UK passengers and companies than other options for airport expansion.

By the time a third runway opens, the major public transport improvements that will have been delivered include Crossrail, an upgrade to the Piccadilly Line, Western Rail Access, High Speed 2 and Southern Rail Access. Heathrow's public transport mode share is expected to increase from 40% to more than 50%.