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Heathrow


The press is reporting that, as expected, the Prime Minister will bypass Parliament to unilaterally give permission for a third runway at Heathrow.

I will not focus on the environmental arguments here but one has to ask why London is again receiving a £9 billion boost?

Surely, it would cost far less to upgrade regional airports around the country and, if need be, link them into London City Airport if this is about getting financiers into the country.

Alternatively, how about spreading the wealth in terms of a new build, as I have discussed previously.

Despite their sustainability agenda, the Assembly Government is supporting this development, saying that the high speed rail links to Heathrow will benefit Wales.

Shame, therefore, that the rail link to his own national airport remains incomplete and passengers are left stranded a mile from the Cardiff Airport terminal.

Comments

Anonymous said…
To be fair to the One Wales government, DJE, they are not supporting a third runway at Heathrow. They are supporting Arup's proposal to extend High Speed 1 to Heathrow (and then onwards) and the constuction of a rail hub that will allow easy interchange with the Paddington line.

For South Wales the benefit is obviously twofold. To get to Brussels or Paris, we can get a regular train to the new Heathrow Hub and make one change onto the Eurostar, rather than go to Paddington, then get the tube to St Pancras, then catch the Eurostar from there. I reckon it could cut 45 min from the overall journey. It also provides the start for extending the HS network beyond London.

However, for those wish to travel by air from Heathrow, we get a much more direct journey that could save up to an hour of traveling time.

I think the rail hub should happen irrespective of whether the third runway is build, and think it sad that a project which has merit in its own right should be offered only as if it were a "sweetner" to make the third runway acceptable.

The Tories have said they would scrap the runway if they win the next UK election. Do you think you might be able to make a phone call or two to clarify whether they would still go ahead with the High Speed Rail extension to Heathrow?

The other thing that your party might consider is a revision of your planned route for the High Speed link. Back in September, according to the map on this page:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7641094.stm

... your party produced a route from St Pancras to Birmingham, but with a separate spur to Heathrow. If you go for the Arup proposal instead, the new Heathrow Hub will be on that route, and you kill two birds with one stone.

You might also be interested in the discussion on the Syniadau Forum.

http://syniadau.forumotion.net/transport-and-communications-f17/new-high-speed-connections-t92.htm
January 17, 2009 7:33 pm
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