Heathrow link
The Department for Transport is to explore what it calls the “market appetite” for developing proposals to link Heathrow Airport from the south and the west by rail.
DfT issued two Prior Information Notices (PINs) on May 8. The aim of both PINs is to explore how interested the wider market beyond Network Rail is for developing both links - including sharing the risk of the development process and exploring how “non-railway benefits” could provide funding for the projects. They also seek to understand what expectations external parties may have of the process.
The most developed of the two concepts is the Western Rail Link to Heathrow (WRLH) project, which comprises a new railway between Langley and Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.
This project has been divided into two packages. Package A is an approximately 3.1-mile line, including a new twin-bore and separate cut-and-cover tunnel to link to the existing railway at Terminal 5. The DfT is considering private sector involvement in financing, delivery and maintenance in this project.
Package B involves works to connect the new tunnel of Package A to the Great Western Main Line at a new Langley Junction, including grade separation to connect the tunnel to the main line via a ‘rail intersection bridge’.
This package would likely be funded and delivered by Network Rail, due to the complexities of connecting it to the operational railway at Langley. Construction of the Western link could start in Control Period 6 (2019-24) and be complete by 2027.
Specific areas in which the DfT is expressing interest are financing, construction, maintenance, protection and mitigation works for third-party infrastructure, and provision of tunnel boring machines plus materials and equipment supply.
Publication of the contract notice is expected in early July. DfT says the expected construction costs of this project are estimated to be between £7bn and £9bn.
The proposed Southern link would serve London Waterloo and Surrey/Hampshire from Heathrow, although the PIN acknowledges that this is at a “conceptual stage” and that strategic aims, output specification, routes and infrastructure are not yet defined.
An event on the Southern Access to Heathrow project will be held on May 24, at One Great George Street, London. Publication of the contract notice is provisionally expected in September.
Responding to the PINS, Heathrow Southern Rail Link Director Graham Cross said: “This is a further important development in the process of constructing a privately financed rail link to Heathrow from the south, made significantly on the same day as the launch of the new sub-national body Transport for the South East.
“We look forward to working with the DfT, Network Rail and other stakeholders to complete this next stage in the development of a project urgently needed to tackle congestion and improve air quality in the vicinity of Heathrow.”
The company is seeking funding and permission to build its route, which would run from Heathrow Airport to Chertsey, with another option being to run to Virginia Water. A connection to the rail network at Staines is also proposed.
Meanwhile, NR is holding its final round of public consultation on plans to connect Heathrow Airport with the Great Western Main Line west of the airport. The consultation will run until June 22.
The Department for Transport has provided funds to develop a detailed proposal for the project, which if built could cut journey times from Reading to the airport to 26 minutes, and from Slough to seven minutes.
The proposed link would leave the GWML between Langley and Iver and incorporate a short stretch of open railway before entering a 3.1-mile tunnel. The tunnel is expected to require five access buildings along the route, with two providing ventilation.
Following the consultation, NR will publish its final plans before submitting a Development Consent Order in 2019 to build the new railway. The final decision will be made by the Secretary of State for Transport.