New study to examine Heathrow

A DETAILED feasibility study is to be carried out into a new railway route into Heathrow Airport.

Heathrow Southern Railway would require eight miles of new track, linking to existing services at Chertsey and near Staines.

“For a start, it won’t need a single penny of public money,” enthused Christopher Garnett, one of the directors of Heathrow Southern Railway.

“And unlike previous ideas, it will have eight miles of new track, running parallel to the M25. That will avoid the conflict at level crossings in Egham, which has been a stumbling block in the past.”

The other major difference is that services from the south would not terminate at the airport. The aim is to run four trains an hour in each direction, two starting from Basingstoke, and two from Guildford. They would run through Heathrow to Old Oak Common (to connect with HS2), and from there into Paddington.

Currently the only public transport access to Heathrow from the south is the RailAir bus link from Woking station. This proposal would offer a new route into London that would avoid congestion at Waterloo, Britain’s busiest station. It would also be possible to run services from Waterloo to Heathrow and Old Oak Common.

Later, services from Basingstoke could be extended to the South Coast, although Garnett said that is definitely not part of the initial business plan.

He added: “We are in final negotiations with AECOM to deliver the first phase of this - a detailed feasibility study to make sure we have the right figures, the train paths and everything else. AECOM is one of the world’s’ leading engineering and design consultancies. This will give credibility and muscle to what we have done, and they are putting up a lot of money for this.

“We are in discussion with the Department for Transport. We’ve met with Transport for London, the Office of Rail and Road, Heathrow - you name them, we are meeting with them. Highways England is supportive because of the effect we would have on M25 traffic.”

Heathrow Southern Railway says the only public sector input would be a commitment that future franchise operators would be required to buy the train paths.

Basingstoke to Heathrow Terminal 5 would take 40 minutes, with Paddington reached in 63 minutes, compared with the current 45-minute ride to Waterloo. Woking to Heathrow would take 16 minutes and to Paddington 39 minutes.

Currently, passengers from south of London must either drive by road or travel by train through central London. The Government has said that an expanded Heathrow must ensure 55% of passengers use public transport.

The lack of a southern rail route has been an issue at Heathrow for decades. A western rail route, with services to Reading through a new spur at Langley tunnelling beneath the M4 and M25, has long been planned but has been delayed.

Services via Woking would open up a new rail-airport catchment through south London, Sussex, Hampshire and beyond. Direct trains to Paddington would create a major new commuter flow, linking with other long-distance services and the Elizabeth Line (Crossrail).

Heathrow Southern Railway believes that it would offer significant relief to the South Western Main Line (SWML). The London-bound fast line from Surbiton in the morning peak is busier than any other stretch of main line in the country, with Network Rail forecasting an additional 60% growth in demand by 2043.

Heathrow’s Terminal 5 has space for two additional rail platforms in a concrete box built beneath the terminal, alongside the existing platforms. These are planned for use by future services west to Reading.

“This seems such an obvious thing to do,” said Garnett.

“The number one issue is that we are building a new line. We don’t