Western Rail Approach to Heathrow | |
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Overview | |
Status | Proposed |
Owner | Network Rail |
Locale | Heathrow Airport, West London |
Termini | |
Website | Official website |
Service | |
Type | Commuter rail Airport rail link |
System | Great Western Main Line/ Elizabeth line/Heathrow Express |
Technical | |
Character | Railway spur in tunnel |
Heathrow area rail services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Western Rail Approach to Heathrow is a proposed bi-directional link westward from London's Heathrow Airport to the Great Western Main Line. It would thus run, in council areas, from Greater London under Iver, South Bucks, Buckinghamshire to Langley, Slough. Beginning at Heathrow Terminal 5 station, it would run via a tunnel to a junction east of Langley station, therefore allowing trains to run to and from destinations in the west: Slough, Reading and beyond. When completed, it would improve rail connections to Heathrow from the Thames Valley as well as from South West England, South Wales and The Midlands. It would also reduce congestion at London Paddington station by removing the need, which presently exists, for passengers from Heathrow who are bound for those regions, to travel to Hayes and Harlington and then change at Reading or to make their interchange at Paddington, central London. Paddington would remain an interchange for services to/from Euston, Saint Pancras and London generally and a little of the Great Western Main Line would gain rail capacity as many services would take the resultant side loop via Heathrow. [1]
The rail link was first announced in 2012. The £900m link was brought to a “controlled pause” by Network Rail in January 2021 as a result of the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the aviation industry raising concerns that the project may never be put into place. [2]
The project was announced by the Department of Transport in July 2012. [3] Theresa Villiers, the rail minister at the time, included the project in the High Level Output Statement published in 2012. This stated 'The Government wishes to see a new railway link to give western rail access to Heathrow Airport' but did not commit to the scheme, making it 'subject to a satisfactory business case and the agreement of acceptable terms with the Heathrow aviation industry'. [4]
The Airports Commission has expressed support for the link and included it in its 2014 report on the Expansion of Heathrow Airport. [5]
Network Rail originally estimated that the project could be operational by 2020. [3] In January 2017, Network Rail's estimate was 2024. [1] [6] Slough Borough Council has cited 'parliamentary activity' as the reason for the delay but not offered further explanation. [7]
In May 2018, it was reported that Network Rail intended to apply for a Development Consent Order (DCO) in 2019, and the construction would be privately financed. [8] Before submitting this, Network Rail would present the final designs for the scheme in a series of public information events, [9] which were held in early 2020. [10]
The Department for Transport's Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline, published in October 2019, listed the project among those in an early stage of development, awaiting a "Decision to Design" and the completion of an outline business case. [11] In December 2020, Network Rail stated that progress had been paused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the aviation and rail industries, and that agreement was awaited on a financial contribution from Heathrow Airport Holdings. Therefore, the DCO application would be delayed until at least the winter of 2022. [12]
The proposed route is a new 5.5-kilometre (3.4-mile) railway line that would leave the Great Western Main Line between Langley and Iver before entering a new twin-bore tunnel. The tunnel would pass under Richings Park and Colnbrook and then join existing lines at Heathrow Terminal 5. [13]
Four access buildings will be built along the route to provide emergency access to the tunnels, with two additionally providing ventilation. [13] Realignment of the existing tracks will also be required between Langley and Iver. [13]
The route could potentially mean closure of Mansion / Hollow Hill Lane. The effects of this closure were being investigated by Slough Borough Council. [14]
The Western Rail Approach is, according to the Airport Expansion Consultation, designed to be "independent yet compatible" with the Heathrow expansion. [15] [16]
It is envisaged that there would be a service of four trains an hour from Heathrow to Slough and Reading. [13] Earlier publicity also suggested there would be two trains per hour to Twyford and Maidenhead. [17]
Heathrow Express have offered to run services to Reading which would stop only at Slough. [18]
Other schemes have been proposed to connect Heathrow Airport to the Great Western Main Line. A western link featured in the Heathrow Airtrack scheme, abandoned in 2011. [19]
Another alternative scheme was the Windsor Link Railway, proposed in 2013 and rejected by the government in 2018, which would have provided both western and southern access to Heathrow.
A complementary scheme which could be developed at a later date, or alongside the Western Rail Approach, is the Heathrow Southern Railway, proposed since 2017 to provide links from the airport to the south and south-west.
Slough is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley 20 miles (32 km) west of central London and 19 miles (31 km) north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2020, the built-up area subdivision had an estimated population of 164,793. In 2011, the district had a population of 140,713. Slough borders Greater London and Buckinghamshire.
Crossrail is a railway construction project centred around London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway lines terminating in London: the Great Western Main Line and the Great Eastern Main Line. The project was approved in 2007, and construction began in 2009 on the central section and connections to existing lines that became part of the route, which has been named the Elizabeth line in honour of Queen Elizabeth II who opened the line on 17 May 2022 during her Platinum Jubilee. The central section of the line between Paddington and Abbey Wood opened on 24 May 2022, with 12 trains per hour running in each direction through the core section in Central London.
The Great Western Main Line (GWML) is a main line railway in England that runs westwards from London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads. It connects to other main lines such as those from Reading to Penzance and Swindon to Swansea. Opened in 1841, it was the original route of the first Great Western Railway which was merged into the Western Region of British Railways in 1948. It is now a part of the national rail system managed by Network Rail with the majority of passenger services provided by the current Great Western Railway franchise.
Heathrow Terminal 5 is a shared railway and London Underground station serving Heathrow Terminal 5. It serves as a terminus for Heathrow Express services to Paddington, and for Elizabeth line and London Underground Piccadilly line services to central London. It is managed and staffed by Heathrow Express.
Reading railway station is a major transport hub in Reading, Berkshire, England; it is 36 miles (58 km) west of London Paddington. It is sited on the northern edge of the town centre, near to the main retail and commercial areas and the River Thames.
Langley railway station is in Langley, a suburb of Slough, Berkshire, England. It is 16 miles 18 chains (26.1 km) down the line from London Paddington and is situated between Iver to the east and Slough to the west. The station is served by local services operated by the Elizabeth line.
West Drayton railway station serves West Drayton and Yiewsley, western suburbs of London. It is served and managed by the Elizabeth line. It is 13 miles 71 chains (22.3 km) down the line from London Paddington and is situated between Hayes & Harlington to the east and Iver to the west.
Heathrow Connect was a train service in London provided jointly by Heathrow Express and Great Western Railway (GWR), between Paddington station and Heathrow Airport. The service followed the same route as the non-stop Heathrow Express service but called at certain intermediate stations, connecting several locations in West London with each other, the airport, and Central London. It ran every half-hour throughout the day and evening. The service was launched on 12 June 2005 and ceased on 19 May 2018, when it was absorbed into the TfL Rail concession, in advance of becoming part of the Elizabeth line once it opened on 24 May 2022.
Staines railway station is on the Waterloo to Reading line and is the junction station for the diverging Windsor line, in southern England to the west of London. It is 19 miles 2 chains (30.6 km) down the line from London Waterloo.
The Staines–Windsor line is a suburban railway line in England which branches from the Waterloo to Reading Line at Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey and runs to Windsor in Berkshire. Passenger services on the line are operated by South Western Railway.
Heathrow Airtrack was a proposed railway link in the United Kingdom which would link Heathrow Airport in west London to London Waterloo railway station in Central London.
The Staines & West Drayton Railway (S&WDR) is a former railway on the western edge of London, England. It was about 5+1⁄2 miles (9 km) long and ran roughly north–south along the River Colne, parallel to the modern M25 motorway west of Heathrow Airport. It opened from West Drayton on the Great Western Main Line to Colnbrook in 1884 and reached Staines the next year.
First Beeline Buses Limited, trading as First Beeline, is a bus operator providing services in and around Slough. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
Heathrow Hub railway station was a proposed interchange that would serve – mainly – a now disbanded potential alignment of High Speed 2 (HS2) services that would adjoin the expanded part of Heathrow Airport, England. It was a cornerstone part of an expansion plan put forward in 2008, by engineering firm Arup, to set up the UK's first high-speed rail network north-west of London.
In the 2010s Network Rail modernised the Great Western Main Line, the South Wales Main Line, and other associated lines. The modernisation plans were announced at separate times but their implementation overlapped in the 2010s.
The Windsor Link Railway was a proposed new railway in Windsor, Berkshire, connecting the Great Western and South Western franchise areas and linking both to London Heathrow Airport.
The Crossrail line was first proposed in 1941. It was first proposed to Parliament in 1991 but was rejected. It was then proposed by the government as the Crossrail bill in 2005. Construction started in 2009 and, heavily delayed, the central section was opened by Elizabeth II on 24 May 2022 with full completion due in 2023.
The Heathrow Southern Railway is a proposed new railway in the United Kingdom which would link Heathrow Airport to railway lines south of London. The scheme, announced in August 2017, is promoted by Heathrow Southern Railway Limited and would be financed privately. In a government paper published in November 2019, the project has been officially called SAtH - Southern Access to Heathrow. The reason given is that it is not only heavy rail access that is being considered but other transport options too.
Over the years, a number of transport proposals have been made to improve public access to Heathrow Airport, near London in the United Kingdom.
The Borough of Slough is a borough with unitary authority status in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, Southern England. The borough is centred around the town of Slough and includes Langley. It forms an urban area with parts of Buckinghamshire and extends to the villages of Burnham, Farnham Royal, George Green, and Iver. Part of the district's area was in Buckinghamshire prior to the district's formation and in Middlesex until 1965.
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