Revealed: Heathrow £1bn rail spur now unlikely until 2027
ANEW rail tunnel to Heathrow airport which was meant to open in early 2020 still has no planning permission and has been placed in a new queue of proposed rail schemes.
The UK Government announced six years ago that it was funding a four-mile railway which would allow passengers from Wales to travel to Heathrow without going into London and doubling back.
The scheme, which was originally forecast to cost £500m, but is now estimated to have a price tag of £1bn, was delayed and 2027 is now pencilled in for the possible opening – later than the proposed 2026 opening date for Heathrow’s controversial £14bn third runway.
In July 2012, the UK Government’s then transport secretary Justine Greening announced: “We are providing funding for a new rail line from the Great Western main line near Slough to Heathrow which could provide significantly improved connections from the Thames Valley, the west of England and Wales to the airport and
journey time savings of up to 30 minutes.” She also said: “It should be in operation by early 2020.”
Fellow Conservative MP Cheryl Gillan, then Welsh Secretary, said: “The Wales Office has always supported and recognised the importance of connectivity to Heathrow... for Welsh business and Welsh passengers. The new rail link will not only provide a more convenient link, but will also be a key driver of growth for the region.”
Her successor David Jones said in 2013: “This Government is determined to improve the ability for passengers to access Heathrow and has committed to take forward the Western Rail Access scheme.”
In 2014, David Cameron, then prime minister, said: “We are... spending £500m to ensure that Wales has a link into Heathrow airport.”
After Network Rail ran into difficulties on its major schemes, including Great Western electrification, a review in 2015 suggested that construction of the Heathrow link should start on site in April 2019 and the railway could be ready for use in 2024.
However, it has now emerged that Network Rail will not apply for planning permission for the railway until next year, and the process of obtaining a Development Consent Order could take 16 months to two years.
The expected cost has now doubled, to about £1bn. Even the previously announced £500m of funding appears to have evaporated, with the UK Government now inviting companies to express interest in financing, constructing and maintaining the proposed railway. The invitation envisages the railway being completed by 2027.
Last October, UK transport secretary Chris Grayling announced funding for Network Rail’s next five-year period, 2019 to 2024, known as Control Period 6. He said new proposals would be placed in a pipeline of potential schemes but he was providing separate “funding to continue to take forward the enhancements that were deferred from Control Period 5”.
The link to Heathrow airport is one of those deferred enhancements – but Network Rail indicated last week that the previously-funded scheme was now in the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline.
Network Rail has now started another public consultation – the third – on the rail link, which would diverge from the Great Western main line near Langley.
Explaining the seven-year delay, a Network Rail spokeswoman said: “Since the earlier consultations in 2015 and 2016, we have been working closely with the Department for Transport to develop these plans, taking into account new environmental requirements, feedback from the earlier public consultation, future use of the railway, and integration with other major infrastructure projects in the area.”
She said one of the major projects was the proposed relocation of the Heathrow Express train depot to Langley. It was confirmed in March that this would not proceed.
She also said that the rail link “remains subject to a satisfactory business case and the agreement of acceptable terms with the Heathrow aviation industry”.
Asked whether Heathrow’s third runway would be completed before the rail link, she responded: “There is a clear need to provide more rail access to Heathrow airport to reduce road and rail congestion. The proposal for this rail link has always been based on Heathrow as a tworunway airport and the demand for the scheme is there now.”
Network Rail predicts major savings in carbon emissions – equivalent to 30 million miles by road vehicles per year – if the rail link is built, because many passengers and airport workers would switch from road to rail transport.
The current rail detour via London is so expensive and time-consuming that 97% of Heathrow passengers from the west travel by road, despite congestion on highways around Heathrow.
Network Rail also says the rail link would generate economic growth and reduce passenger congestion at London Paddington station.