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Over the years, a number oftransport proposals have been made to improve public access toHeathrow Airport, near London in the United Kingdom.
Currently, all rail connections with Heathrow airport run along an east–west alignment to and from central London. Most rail passengers heading for Heathrow must pass through LondonZone 1 stations in order to reach Heathrow.[1] The British government'sDepartment for Transport has considered various proposed schemes for new links to improve access to the airport.
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Heathrow Airport is a major international airport which lies 14miles (23 km) west ofCentral London. For the first 45 years of its operation, public transport links to Heathrow Airport were provided byairport buses. Rail connections to Heathrow Airport began in 1977 with the extension of theLondon UndergroundPiccadilly line toHeathrow Central tube station (now Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3). The Tube was extended toTerminal 4 in 1986 andTerminal 5 in 2008.[2] A newairport rail link opened between Heathrow andLondon Paddington station in 1998, when theHeathrow Express service began, followed soon after byHeathrow Connect which was a stopping service at all stations between Heathrow and London Paddington.[1] The mainline rail service was enhanced and extended to central London and Essex when theElizabeth line opened in 2022.[3]
A number of schemes have been proposed over the years to develop new rail transport links with other parts of London and with stations outside the city. As yet, none of these proposals has been confirmed or funded.
In the late 1990s, theDudding Hill Line in North London — currently closed to passenger services — was considered byBAA as a potential route for the planned Heathrow Express service to run toSt Pancras.[4] The line was once again featured in the High Speed North scheme put forward by transport campaigners in 2008, which envisaged creating a rail link between Heathrow andCambridge via theChiltern Main Line and the Dudding Hill Line to connect with theMidland Main Line at a"Cricklewood Interchange" station.[5][6]
Two schemes known as SuperCrossrail andSuperlink were put forward in 2004 by a group of rail industry managers as alternative proposals to the Crossrail route being planned at the time. They proposed connecting a number of regional stations such asCambridge,Ipswich,Reading andGuildford via a new underground railway through central London, with a station at Heathrow Airport. The scheme was rejected by planners in favour of the simpler Crossrail route.[7][8]
In 2009, Heathrow Airport Limited unveiled a proposal for a new rail link calledHeathrow Airtrack which would connect Heathrow Terminal 5 along a southern alignment to theWaterloo–Reading line.[9] The scheme would have enabled direct rail services betweenLondon Waterloo, Heathrow Airport,Guildford andReading, improving transport links with stations to the South West of the airport.[10] The project was abandoned in 2011 due to lack of funding and difficulties with a high number oflevel crossings on the route into London.[11][12]
A station serving Heathrow Airport,Heathrow Hub railway station, was included in the early proposals for the plannedHigh Speed 2 (HS2) railway line.[13][14] The spur from HS2 to Heathrow was dropped from the plans in March 2015.[15]
Various schemes to create a transport link between Heathrow and Gatwick Airports have been considered, collectively known asHeathwick. Gatwick lies around 25 miles (40 km) south-east of Heathrow Airport, and like Heathrow, it has rapid rail connections into central London but there are no transport connections between the two airports. A fast rail link would allow the airports to operate jointly as anairline hub. Among the schemes has been a 2011 proposal for a high-speed rail link;[16] and a 2013 proposal for a rapid transit system namedLondon Air Rail Transit system (LARTs) running parallel to theM25 which would connect Gatwick, Heathrow andLuton Airports.[17]
TheWestern Rail Approach to Heathrow scheme, announced by the Department of Transport in July 2012, proposes to build a spur from Heathrow Terminal 5 along a north-western alignment to connect the airport to theGreat Western Main Line. This connection would enable direct trains fromReading,Slough,Twyford andMaidenhead, and improve airport connections with theSouth West,South Wales and theWest Midlands.
In 2013, a proposal was announced for theWindsor Link Railway, a privately financed project to link theSlough–Windsor & Eton and theStaines–Windsor railway lines. The scheme also includes a branch to Heathrow Terminal 5, with a potential connection to Crossrail.[18][19]
In 2018, the Department for Transport began to invite proposals for privately funded rail links to Heathrow Airport.[20][21] As well as the Western Rail Approach, other projects being considered forpublic–private partnership included theHeathrow Southern Railway scheme. Like the abandoned Airtrack proposal, this scheme envisages the construction of a south-aligned rail link to connect the Terminal 5 station withChertsey orVirginia Water andStaines, which would allow trains to run fromBasingstoke,Woking andGuildford direct to the airport stations. It would also create a link to the airport fromLondon Waterloo viaClapham Junction,Twickenham,Hounslow andStaines.[22][23]
In a November 2019 document from the DfT, this proposed link is renamed Southern Access to Heathrow (SAtH) since other options besides heavy rail are being considered.[24]
HS4Air was a proposal for a newhigh-speed railway line which would link HS2 to theHigh Speed 1 line and theChannel Tunnel. The proposed route would run south of London, with stations at Heathrow and Gatwick airports.[25] The HS4Air scheme was rejected by the government in December 2018 and will not go ahead.[26]
Connections from Heathrow's terminals to eitherLuton Airport Parkway orGatwick Airport railway station (at the airport's South Terminal) with interchange atFarringdon station run at intervals of around 10 to 20 minutes during daytime and take roughly 1 1/2 hours travel time. An additional interchange atLondon Paddington may save a few minutes. Buses between Gatwick (North terminal) and Heathrow (terminal 5) operate about hourly with around an hour scheduled travel time.
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