The Western Rail Approach to Heathrow is a proposed bi-directional link westward from London's Heathrow Airport to the Great Western Main Line. It would thus run, in council areas, from Greater London under Iver, South Bucks, Buckinghamshire to Langley, Slough. Beginning at Heathrow Terminal 5 station, it would run via a tunnel to a junction east of Langley station, therefore allowing trains to run to and from destinations in the west: Slough, Reading and beyond. When completed, it would improve rail connections to Heathrow from the Thames Valley as well as from South West England, South Wales and The Midlands. It would also reduce congestion at London Paddington station by removing the need, which presently exists, for passengers from Heathrow who are bound for those regions, to travel to Hayes and Harlington and then change at Reading or to make their interchange at Paddington, central London. Paddington would remain an interchange for services to/from Euston, St Pancras and London generally and a little of the Great Western Main Line would gain rail capacity as many services would take the resultant side loop via Heathrow.[1]
| Western Rail Approach to Heathrow | |
|---|---|
 Map of the proposed rail link | |
| Overview | |
| Status | Proposed |
| Owner | Network Rail |
| Locale | Heathrow Airport, West London |
| Termini | |
| Website | Official website |
| Service | |
| Type | Commuter rail Airport rail link |
| System | Great Western Main Line/ Elizabeth line/Heathrow Express |
| Technical | |
| Character | Railway spur in tunnel |
Heathrow area rail services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The rail link was first announced in 2012. The £900m link was brought to a “controlled pause” by Network Rail in January 2021 as a result of the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the aviation industry raising concerns that the project may never be put into place.[2]
Announcements
editThe project was announced by the Department of Transport in July 2012.[3] Theresa Villiers, the rail minister at the time, included the project in the High Level Output Statement published in 2012. This stated 'The Government wishes to see a new railway link to give western rail access to Heathrow Airport' but did not commit to the scheme, making it 'subject to a satisfactory business case and the agreement of acceptable terms with the Heathrow aviation industry'.[4]
The Airports Commission has expressed support for the link and included it in its 2014 report on the Expansion of Heathrow Airport.[5]
Progress
editNetwork Rail originally estimated that the project could be operational by 2020.[3] In January 2017, Network Rail's estimate was 2024.[1][6] Slough Borough Council has cited 'parliamentary activity' as the reason for the delay but not offered further explanation.[7]
In May 2018, it was reported that Network Rail intended to apply for a Development Consent Order (DCO) in 2019, and the construction would be privately financed.[8] Before submitting this, Network Rail would present the final designs for the scheme in a series of public information events,[9] which were held in early 2020.[10]
The Department for Transport's Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline, published in October 2019, listed the project among those in an early stage of development, awaiting a "Decision to Design" and the completion of an outline business case.[11] In December 2020, Network Rail stated that progress had been paused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the aviation and rail industries, and that agreement was awaited on a financial contribution from Heathrow Airport Holdings. Therefore, the DCO application would be delayed until at least the winter of 2022.[12]
Route
editThe proposed route is a new 5.5-kilometre (3.4-mile) railway line that would leave the Great Western Main Line between Langley and Iver before entering a new twin-bore tunnel. The tunnel would pass under Richings Park and Colnbrook and then join existing lines at Heathrow Terminal 5.[13]
Four access buildings will be built along the route to provide emergency access to the tunnels, with two additionally providing ventilation.[13] Realignment of the existing tracks will also be required between Langley and Iver.[13]
The route could potentially mean closure of Mansion / Hollow Hill Lane. The effects of this closure were being investigated by Slough Borough Council.[14]
The Western Rail Approach is, according to the Airport Expansion Consultation, designed to be "independent yet compatible" with the Heathrow expansion.[15][16]
Services
editIt is envisaged that there would be a service of four trains an hour from Heathrow to Slough and Reading.[13] Earlier publicity also suggested there would be two trains per hour to Twyford and Maidenhead.[17]
Heathrow Express have offered to run services to Reading which would stop only at Slough.[18]
Alternative and complementary schemes
edit
Other schemes have been proposed to connect Heathrow Airport to the Great Western Main Line. A western link featured in the Heathrow Airtrack scheme, abandoned in 2011.[19]
Another alternative scheme was the Windsor Link Railway, proposed in 2013 and rejected by the government in 2018, which would have provided both western and southern access to Heathrow.
A complementary scheme which could be developed at a later date, or alongside the Western Rail Approach, is the Heathrow Southern Railway, proposed since 2017 to provide links from the airport to the south and south-west.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Heathrow rail link". Network Rail. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- ^ Smith, Claire (30 March 2021). "'Controlled pause' raises doubts over future of the Western Rail Link to Heathrow". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
- ^ a b "£500m Heathrow link to cut times on Great Western line". BBC News. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- ^ "2012 HLOS" (PDF). HM Government. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
- ^ "A New Approach - Heathrow's options for connecting the UK to growth: Surface access" (PDF). www.heathrow.com. Airports Commission. January 2014. p. 36. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
- ^ "Improving Rail links to Heathrow". Network Rail. Archived from the original on 26 December 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) – via Internet Archive (original page has been moved and revised) - ^ "Windsor Link Railway reaches key milestone as WRLtH suffers further delays". Colnbrook Views. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
- ^ Morby, Aaron (8 May 2018). "Network Rail unveils Heathrow western rail link plan". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^ "Consultation update 2018" (PDF). Network Rail. April 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
- ^ "Western Rail Link to Heathrow". Network Rail. 14 November 2019. Archived from the original on 24 December 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline: Autumn 2019 Schemes Update" (PDF). GOV.UK. October 2019. p. 12. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ "Western Rail Link to Heathrow". Network Rail. December 2020. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Consultation: Improving rail links to Heathrow airport". Network Rail. 2016. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017.
- ^ "Traffic Modelling Summary March 2016" (PDF). Slough Borough Council.
- ^ "Preferred Masterplan" (PDF). Heathrow Airport Expansion Consultation. p. 19. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ "Improving rail links to Heathrow airport". Network Rail. 2016. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016.
- ^ "What WRLtH delivers for Maidenhead". Thames Valley Berkshire LEP. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- ^ "Ambition for Heathrow-Reading Express service unveiled". Heathrow Express. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- ^ "Heathrow rail link shelved by BAA". BBC News. 11 April 2011. Archived from the original on 30 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
External links
edit- Western Rail Access to Heathrow: the future of rail travel to the airport Archived 10 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine– Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership