…but Windsor Link scheme rejected

The proposed Windsor Link Railway scheme to provide southern access into Heathrow Airport has been rejected by the Department for Transport.

According to WLR Chief Executive George Bathurst, the DfT informed him of its decision on December 5, saying it was because it did not believe that predicted fare revenue would cover the line’s construction costs.

First proposed in 2013, the privately financed scheme had been created by WLR in partnership with Arcadis and Skanska, and was split into two phases.

The initial focus was to build a short tunnel beneath central Windsor (costing £375 million), to deliver a through railway connecting the current branch lines from the South Western and Great Western Main Lines. The town is served by two terminus stations just 300 metres apart, which would have been replaced by a single underground station.

Phase 2 involved linking to Heathrow Airport to the South West by building a new junction near Wraysbury on the StainesWindsor & Eton Riverside branch line.

The scheme was submitted for consideration on July 31, as part of the DfT’s call to enhance the railway using MarketLed Proposals (MLPs) which are financially viable without government support.

A decision is still pending on a rival £1.2 billion Heathrow Southern Railway link from the South Western Main Line at Chertsey, which is being backed by AECOM.