Transport minister backs £4.5bn rail hub for Heathrow
David Hencke, Westminster correspondent
The Guardian, Monday 5 January 2009
A new £4.5bn international rail exchange for Heathrow airport is being backed by the transport minister, Lord Adonis, as a top contender for a series of projects that will follow the approval of the £16bn Crossrail scheme for the capital.
The Department for Transport confirmed yesterday that the scheme had high priority among a number of projects that include a new high-speed rail link for London to Manchester and Leeds and the electrification of the Great Western railway to Plymouth and Swansea. The international rail hub, which has already been put forward by the Conservatives, is not, according to the ministry, being offered as an "environmental sweetener" to persuade opponents to accept the building of a third runway for Heathrow. A spokeswoman said yesterday: "The decision has nothing to do with the third runway. It is part of another major review on high-speed rail projects being conducted by the ministry." All the indications are that Downing Street will approve the third runway, with a decision expected later this month when parliament returns from the Christmas and new year break. It was to have been announced before Christmas, but there is strong opposition in the cabinet to a third runway led by Hilary Benn, the environment secretary, and Ed Miliband, the climate change secretary.
Adonis made it clear that the rail hub, which would become the largest station in the United Kingdom, was "attractive". It would be linked to a new high-speed north-south railway, cutting journey times between Heathrow and Manchester and Leeds. He told the Sunday Times: "It's vital that we have an integrated approach to planning new rail capacity and any new airport capacity that is also required."
The transport department is one of several ministries putting forward long-term infrastructure projects to the Treasury, including wind farms, and expansions of broadband and the nuclear power programme. Gordon Brown's more modest short-term boost for infrastructure projects includes flood defences and motorway widening schemes.
The government will face strong opposition from the Conservatives, who want to stop the third runway, from Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, who wants an airport in the Thames estuary, and from Tory-controlled Kent county council, which wants to open an international airport in the deprived part of east Kent and link it to the Channel Tunnel rail link.
Public opinion is still opposed to the third runway at Heathrow, with the latest opinion poll released by Greenpeace showing that Labour could lose four seats - Battersea, Ealing Central and Acton, Brentford and Isleworth, and Hammersmith - over the issue. Theresa Villiers, the shadow transport secretary, yesterday said: "A new rail hub at Heathrow should be an alternative to a third runway, not a sweetener for it."
UK - GBP 4.5bn rail hub for Heathrow
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Re: UK - GBP 4.5bn rail hub for Heathrow
High speed rail line to sweeten Heathrow runway deal
Nicholas Watt and Dan Milmo
The Guardian, Thursday 15 January 2009
A new electrified high speed rail line linking London, Birmingham and Heathrow will form the centrepiece of a major government transport initiative today that will include a third runway at Britain's largest airport.
Gordon Brown will defy environmental critics and the Conservative party when the government formally unveils the package that will herald what ministers are dubbing a "green Heathrow".
The most dramatic element will be the building of a railway hub at Heathrow which will form part of a new 200mph rail line, running parallel to the congested west coast mainline, linking London and Birmingham direct, with a spur to Heathrow from St Pancras station, linking the new line to Britain's current high speed Eurostar line to Paris and Brussels.
The government will declare that it is delivering a new high speed link for the whole of the west coast mainline to the north-west of England even though the new line will stop at Birmingham. This is because most of the congestion occurs around Birmingham, allowing new trains to continue at speed, though not the full 200mph, to Manchester and Liverpool even after they come off the new line.
Greenpeace and the Tories last night pledged to maintain their opposition to Heathrow's third runway, with the environmental group vowing to ensure it would not be built. But Brown believes the announcement will trump the Tories. David Cameron told his party conference last year a Tory government would abandon a third runway and instead build a rail link between London, Birmingham and Leeds.
Geoff Hoon, the transport secretary who will outline the package to MPs today, will spell out a series of measures to create a "green Heathrow". These will include:
• Limiting new landing and takeoff slots on Heathrow's third runway to airlines that meet the strictest emissions standards.
• Assurances that EU rules on air and noise pollution will not be breached by the expansion of Heathrow.
These were the key areas of concern raised by Hilary Benn, the environment secretary, who is now supporting the announcement. The new rail link to the airport, which is designed to reduce the number of passengers arriving by cars, taxis and buses, will be highlighted as a key measure in ensuring that air pollution standards are met.
Greenpeace said the environmental "sweeteners" did not go far enough. John Sauven, its executive director, said last night: "It will shred the last vestiges of Brown's environmental credibility. An expanded Heathrow would become the single biggest emitter of CO2 in Britain. Labour MPs will lose seats over this. We'll fight it every step of the way because the lives of millions of people depend on us all slashing carbon emissions."
The prime minister is determined to press ahead with the expansion of Heathrow because he sees it as the kind of vital infrastructure project Britain should be building in a recession and because he believes it provides a perfect "dividing line" issue with the Tories.
Lord Adonis, the railway minister, has said he is keen on a £4.5bn hub to improve London's links with the north of England and Scotland. Plans for a new rail hub at Heathrow have already been drawn up by Arup, the engineering consultancy. They have proposed building a 12-platform station, linking the airport directly to London, the north west and the south west.
Nicholas Watt and Dan Milmo
The Guardian, Thursday 15 January 2009
A new electrified high speed rail line linking London, Birmingham and Heathrow will form the centrepiece of a major government transport initiative today that will include a third runway at Britain's largest airport.
Gordon Brown will defy environmental critics and the Conservative party when the government formally unveils the package that will herald what ministers are dubbing a "green Heathrow".
The most dramatic element will be the building of a railway hub at Heathrow which will form part of a new 200mph rail line, running parallel to the congested west coast mainline, linking London and Birmingham direct, with a spur to Heathrow from St Pancras station, linking the new line to Britain's current high speed Eurostar line to Paris and Brussels.
The government will declare that it is delivering a new high speed link for the whole of the west coast mainline to the north-west of England even though the new line will stop at Birmingham. This is because most of the congestion occurs around Birmingham, allowing new trains to continue at speed, though not the full 200mph, to Manchester and Liverpool even after they come off the new line.
Greenpeace and the Tories last night pledged to maintain their opposition to Heathrow's third runway, with the environmental group vowing to ensure it would not be built. But Brown believes the announcement will trump the Tories. David Cameron told his party conference last year a Tory government would abandon a third runway and instead build a rail link between London, Birmingham and Leeds.
Geoff Hoon, the transport secretary who will outline the package to MPs today, will spell out a series of measures to create a "green Heathrow". These will include:
• Limiting new landing and takeoff slots on Heathrow's third runway to airlines that meet the strictest emissions standards.
• Assurances that EU rules on air and noise pollution will not be breached by the expansion of Heathrow.
These were the key areas of concern raised by Hilary Benn, the environment secretary, who is now supporting the announcement. The new rail link to the airport, which is designed to reduce the number of passengers arriving by cars, taxis and buses, will be highlighted as a key measure in ensuring that air pollution standards are met.
Greenpeace said the environmental "sweeteners" did not go far enough. John Sauven, its executive director, said last night: "It will shred the last vestiges of Brown's environmental credibility. An expanded Heathrow would become the single biggest emitter of CO2 in Britain. Labour MPs will lose seats over this. We'll fight it every step of the way because the lives of millions of people depend on us all slashing carbon emissions."
The prime minister is determined to press ahead with the expansion of Heathrow because he sees it as the kind of vital infrastructure project Britain should be building in a recession and because he believes it provides a perfect "dividing line" issue with the Tories.
Lord Adonis, the railway minister, has said he is keen on a £4.5bn hub to improve London's links with the north of England and Scotland. Plans for a new rail hub at Heathrow have already been drawn up by Arup, the engineering consultancy. They have proposed building a 12-platform station, linking the airport directly to London, the north west and the south west.
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Re: UK - GBP 4.5bn rail hub for Heathrow
What a total waste of money demolishing hundreds of houses and a whole village to extend an airport that is in the wrong place anyway! Plans to build outside of London were proposed when I was with BOAC and that was more than a few days ago. Maplin sands would have been far more suitable for all concerned. Hong Kong got rid of an awful airport in town that scared flight crews as they came into land and linked the new airport with a high speed rail service as the UK could do, and it works very well.
Both Spain and France have proved that a good high speed railway service will provide a better service for the public as well as reduce noise around the surrounding area. A high speed rail service, for example, from London to Edinburgh would wipe out the need to fly. Anybody remember the DB 'Donald Duck' Lufthansa flights from Dusseldorf to Frankfurt? I enjoyed that service and the good food on offer as the train sped alongside the Rhine river. I still have the on-board brochure.
Malcolm
Both Spain and France have proved that a good high speed railway service will provide a better service for the public as well as reduce noise around the surrounding area. A high speed rail service, for example, from London to Edinburgh would wipe out the need to fly. Anybody remember the DB 'Donald Duck' Lufthansa flights from Dusseldorf to Frankfurt? I enjoyed that service and the good food on offer as the train sped alongside the Rhine river. I still have the on-board brochure.
Malcolm