Heathrow Airtrack
Encyclopedia
Heathrow Airtrack is a proposed railway link in west London
, England, UK
. The line as proposed by BAA, would have run from into central London and across the suburbs of south-west London. BAA announced that it was abandoning the project in April 2011. In October 2011 Wandsworth Council announced a revised plan called Airtrack-Lite.
The BAA proposal would have provided direct rail services from the airport to London Waterloo, and Guildford
, and offered an alternative route to the existing rail routes to Heathrow (namely Heathrow Express
, Heathrow Connect
and the Piccadilly line
). The scheme, estimated to cost around £673 million, was controversial mainly because of the projected impact on local road traffic due to the high number of level crossing
s on the route. In April 2011, BAA announced that it was abandoning the project, citing the unavailability of government subsidy and other priorities for Heathrow, such as linking to Crossrail
and HS2.
In October 2011 Wandsworth Council announced a revised plan called Airtrack-Lite.
Both proposals involve reopening a section of the former West Drayton to Staines railway line
, roughly following the southern route of the line to a junction with the Staines to Windsor Line and a reinstatement of the Staines West chord.
network, which would have been utilised by Airtrack.
The original proposal for the AirTrack link included a new station, called Staines High Street railway station, built near the site of the former station of the same name, but that plan was omitted from the revised proposals in the second public consultation, published on 20 October 2008.
A new rolling stock depot on the site of the former marshalling yards at Feltham
was included in the proposal.
BAA indicated that they wished to extend the Heathrow Express
service from terminal 5 to a new terminal platform at .
Following a period of public consultation in 1998, BAA submitted plans on the 24 July 2009 to the Secretary of State for Transport
seeking authorisation under the Transport and Works Act
to acquire the necessary land and begin constructing the rail link.
Work had been forecast to begin in 2011, with rail services operating by 2015. However, on 30 July 2010 the Department of Transport wrote to all parties involved in the public inquiry, informing them that this had been delayed indefinitely. The reason cited was that "the Government has confirmed that its most urgent priority is to tackle the UK's budget deficit and that there will be a spending review in the Autumn. The review may have implications for the proposed funding of the Airtrack Scheme and until the position becomes clearer, we do not consider it appropriate to take matters forward..."
In the event, Airtrack was not mentioned in the spending review and, as a result, in November 2010 BAA announced that the 'public enquiry remains deferred'.
On 23 December 2010, two radio stations, County Sound and Eagle, ran news stories on the 'end of the line' for Airtrack. However, it is not clear whether these stories were based on industry rumour of official sources. The same report had BAA insisting that its commitment to the project was still there and promising a new 'public consultation in the New Year'. However, on 26 January 2011 the DfT again wrote to objectors informing them the Transport and Works Act process remained suspended indefinitely, citing 'continuing uncertainty'.
Meanwhile, an alternative proposal has emerged, called the Windsor Link Railway
. According to the promoting company, this has the advantage of potentially not requiring any public subsidy whilst providing more public benefit, not only connecting Heathrow to the north west (via the Thames Valley) but also to the south and linking the historic Great Western
and Southern Railway
regions. The proposal has been welcomed by the Minister for Transport, Theresa Villiers.
BAA has claimed support for the scheme from Transport for London
, the Mayor of London
, nine London Boroughs and local borough councils of Runnymede
, Reading, Woking
, Guildford
, Bracknell Forest
and Wokingham, as well as by Surrey
and Hampshire
County Councils. However, this is contradicted by objections made by some of these authorities to the final plans. Surrey County Council, for example, is an official objector to the scheme, as is Wokingham. Additionally, "Strong concerns" have been raised by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
, including a worries that the busy Windsor Riverside service would have been downgraded as a result and, again, level crossings.
It has been reported that Surrey may 'drop its opposition' after BAA offered to fund £11million of transport improvements and a vote to provisionally drop their opposition was passed by the county's cabinet on 28 September 2010. This decision was due to be finalised by the full council in December 2010 but was deferred. The move was the subject of an 'extraordinary outburst' from Philip Hammond, the local MP, who also happens to be the Secretary of State for Transport. Hammond criticised the council for 'grabbing a bribe', a payment of £11 million towards mitigating some traffic problems in Egham entirely unconnected to Airtrack and went on to demand a more comprehensive solution, saying 'no solution, no scheme' and urging BAA to 'get back to the drawing board'. BAA had made a significant compromise in offering this payment as it had previously been consistent in arguing that traffic problems caused by Airtrack were not its responsibility, using the fact that Network Rail has no legal obligation to open level crossings at all or to consult on changes.
. The remaining new infrastructure would consist of station improvements and associated facilities.
The key elements of construction work would involve:
The scheme was estimated to cost about £673 million, of which about £150 million is expected to come from an operating surplus and the remainder from a government subsidy.
In the Airtrack project some stations used by its trains would be upgraded. It was intended that from Staines the trains would use existing Network Rail tracks
London Waterloo - Heathrow: two trains per hour stopping at:
An extension of the Heathrow Express service to Staines would have provided an additional 2tph between the airport and Staines. Journey time from Waterloo to Heathrow would have been approximately 40 minutes.
Guildford - Heathrow (via Egham
and Virginia Water
): two trains per hour (one per hour at peak times) stopping at:
Journey time from Guildford to Heathrow would have been approximately 36 minutes.
Reading - Heathrow (via Egham and Virginia Water) two trains per hour stopping at:
Journey time from Reading to Heathrow would have been approximately 45 minutes.
and Stanwell Moor, which include a Site of Special Scientific Interest
(SSSI), and extensive consultations took place in Spelthorne resulting in major modifications of the scheme.
was part of the scheme. Residents of Feltham had expressed opposition to this mainly as the depot may have encroached on a natural conservation area
and that the depot may give rise to noise pollution.
In response to these concerns, BAA had published assurances in their consulation literature that the Feltham depot would have been designed to limit noise and light pollution
and with landscape screening.
s. The proposed Airtrack route would have run on lines which have fifteen level crossings, and local campaigners along those routes have pointed out that more frequent trains would increase waiting times at closed barriers and exacerbate traffic congestion problems. For example, between Richmond and Barnes as many as five trains may pass before the road barriers are lifted. BAA investigated the possibility of constructing road bridges or tunnels at these locations but concluded that such construction was "not feasible or justifiable".
BAA had acknowledged these problems and noted that eight crossings would have been slightly impacted, with barrier closure times increasing by up to 13%. Three level crossing more would have been moderately affected, with increases of between 13% and 25% to the amount of time that the barriers are closed to road traffic. Four crossings would have been "severely" affected, with barrier downtimes increasing by between 25% and 36%. As no independent time and motion study was been conducted, the closure times of level crossings and impact to the surrounding area had yet to be assessed at the time of the project's cancellation.
Three of the four severely affected crossings are located in Egham, which lies between Staines, where the Airtrack spur would have met the main line, and Virginia Water, where the Reading and Guildford lines diverge.
Airtrack originally envisaged that by investing in new signalling technology, they could keep level crossings down-times to a manageable level. This was accepted as a reasonable proposition by the local authority, Runnymede Borough Council
, and by the Highways Authority for the area, Surrey County Council
, both of which actively supported the Airtrack scheme. However in September 2009 Runnymede Borough Council responded to the TWA application with an objection.
. Local campaigners in Egham had voiced their opposition to Airtrack mainly due to the foreseen traffic congestion problems caused by level crossing closures. Opponents noted that the railway bisects the town, and it can only be crossed via four level crossings (Thorpe Road, Egham Hythe; Vicarage Road; Station Road; and Prune Hill) as there are no alternative bridges or tunnels in the locality.
Concerns were also raised about the scheme's effect on the town by Egham Chamber of Commerce, Runnymede Council, Richmond Council, and bus operators. The local MP for Runnymede and Weybridge, Philip Hammond
, first raised his concerns about lack of alternatives to level crossings in Egham in the House of Commons; in 2002. In 2009 he arranged for the Chamber of Commerce to deliver a petition to 10 Downing Street appealing to the then Labour Government to not allow Airtrack to be built without a tunnel or bridge in Egham. Hammond became Secretary of State for Transport
in May 2010.
In a consultation between Surrey County Council and the emergency services, the Fire and Ambulance services expressed concerns about increased level crossing down-times.
Airtrack had estimated that if the project proceeded as planned the three significantly affected level crossings in Egham would be closed an average of 34 minutes per hour between 7 am and 7 pm. These figures were based on the assumptions that only timetabled trains would have operated, that they would have operated without delays and that the signalling regime could have been reorganised to allow barriers to be raised if were a 30 second gap between trains.
. As with Egham, an opposition campaign was organised to voice local concerns about the foreseen traffic congestion caused by increased rail traffic on level crossings. Wokingham has five crossings (Easthampstead Road, Waterloo Road, Barkham Road, Station Road and Wellington Road) which would have been affected by the project, and campaigners submitted a petition to the Government.
BAA said that Wokingham Borough Council was considering the issue as part of its transport strategy. The council discussed the possibility of building a bridge over the Barkham Road crossing but such a solution was unlikely due to the excessive construction cost. The council also proposed that Wokingham Station would have needed to be moved closer to Reading in order to accommodate the Airtrack proposal.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The line as proposed by BAA, would have run from into central London and across the suburbs of south-west London. BAA announced that it was abandoning the project in April 2011. In October 2011 Wandsworth Council announced a revised plan called Airtrack-Lite.
The BAA proposal would have provided direct rail services from the airport to London Waterloo, and Guildford
Guildford (Surrey) railway station
Guildford railway station is an important railway junction on the Portsmouth Direct Line serving the town of Guildford in Surrey, England. It is 30.3 miles from London Waterloo....
, and offered an alternative route to the existing rail routes to Heathrow (namely Heathrow Express
Heathrow Express
Heathrow Express is an airport rail link from London Heathrow Airport to London Paddington station in London operated by the Heathrow Express Operating Authority, a wholly owned subsidiary of BAA. It was opened by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1998...
, Heathrow Connect
Heathrow Connect
Heathrow Connect is a train operating company in London provided jointly by Heathrow Express and First Great Western, connecting Heathrow Airport with station. The service follows the same route as the Heathrow Express service but serves intermediate stations en route, thus connecting several...
and the Piccadilly line
Piccadilly Line
The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fifth busiest line on the Underground network judged by the number of passengers transported per year. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with...
). The scheme, estimated to cost around £673 million, was controversial mainly because of the projected impact on local road traffic due to the high number of level crossing
Level crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
s on the route. In April 2011, BAA announced that it was abandoning the project, citing the unavailability of government subsidy and other priorities for Heathrow, such as linking to Crossrail
Crossrail
Crossrail is a project to build a major new railway link under central London. The name refers to the first of two routes which are the responsibility of Crossrail Ltd. It is based on an entirely new east-west tunnel with a central section from to Liverpool Street station...
and HS2.
In October 2011 Wandsworth Council announced a revised plan called Airtrack-Lite.
Both proposals involve reopening a section of the former West Drayton to Staines railway line
Staines and West Drayton Railway
The Staines & West Drayton Railway is a former railway on the western edge of London, England. It was about 5½ miles long and ran roughly north-south along the River Colne. It opened from West Drayton on the Great Western Main Line to Colnbrook in 1884 and reached Staines the next year...
, roughly following the southern route of the line to a junction with the Staines to Windsor Line and a reinstatement of the Staines West chord.
Plans
Heathrow Terminal 5 has two safeguarded heavy rail platforms for use by a west-facing connection to the National RailNational Rail
National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...
network, which would have been utilised by Airtrack.
The original proposal for the AirTrack link included a new station, called Staines High Street railway station, built near the site of the former station of the same name, but that plan was omitted from the revised proposals in the second public consultation, published on 20 October 2008.
A new rolling stock depot on the site of the former marshalling yards at Feltham
Feltham
Feltham is a town in the London Borough of Hounslow, west London. It is located about west south west of central London at Charing Cross and from Heathrow Airport Central...
was included in the proposal.
BAA indicated that they wished to extend the Heathrow Express
Heathrow Express
Heathrow Express is an airport rail link from London Heathrow Airport to London Paddington station in London operated by the Heathrow Express Operating Authority, a wholly owned subsidiary of BAA. It was opened by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1998...
service from terminal 5 to a new terminal platform at .
Rise and Fall
The principle of a rail connection to Heathrow from the south had been the subject of considerable discussion and study for 50 years. Since 1960, there have been more than 10 studies or proposals that considered how to improve surface access to Heathrow by means of an additional fixed rail link and in 1984 studies confirmed the viability of the link.Following a period of public consultation in 1998, BAA submitted plans on the 24 July 2009 to the Secretary of State for Transport
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
seeking authorisation under the Transport and Works Act
Transport and Works Act 1992
The Transport and Works Act 1992 was established by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to provide a system by which the construction of rail transport, tramway, inland waterway and harbour infrastructure could proceed in the UK by order of the Minister of State for Transport rather than, as...
to acquire the necessary land and begin constructing the rail link.
Work had been forecast to begin in 2011, with rail services operating by 2015. However, on 30 July 2010 the Department of Transport wrote to all parties involved in the public inquiry, informing them that this had been delayed indefinitely. The reason cited was that "the Government has confirmed that its most urgent priority is to tackle the UK's budget deficit and that there will be a spending review in the Autumn. The review may have implications for the proposed funding of the Airtrack Scheme and until the position becomes clearer, we do not consider it appropriate to take matters forward..."
In the event, Airtrack was not mentioned in the spending review and, as a result, in November 2010 BAA announced that the 'public enquiry remains deferred'.
On 23 December 2010, two radio stations, County Sound and Eagle, ran news stories on the 'end of the line' for Airtrack. However, it is not clear whether these stories were based on industry rumour of official sources. The same report had BAA insisting that its commitment to the project was still there and promising a new 'public consultation in the New Year'. However, on 26 January 2011 the DfT again wrote to objectors informing them the Transport and Works Act process remained suspended indefinitely, citing 'continuing uncertainty'.
Meanwhile, an alternative proposal has emerged, called the Windsor Link Railway
Windsor Link Railway
The Windsor Link Railway is a proposed new railway in Windsor, Berkshire, connecting the Great Western and South West Trains franchise areas and potentially linking both to London Heathrow Airport....
. According to the promoting company, this has the advantage of potentially not requiring any public subsidy whilst providing more public benefit, not only connecting Heathrow to the north west (via the Thames Valley) but also to the south and linking the historic Great Western
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
and Southern Railway
Southern Railway (Great Britain)
The Southern Railway was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts and Kent...
regions. The proposal has been welcomed by the Minister for Transport, Theresa Villiers.
Support and opposition
The AirTrack Forum, is a 'group of organisations with a common interest in seeing Airtrack built', formed at the initiative of British Airways, according to its website. It has commissioned consultants to study the economic benefits of the scheme funded by the (now defunct) SE Regional Assembly. Some groups within the Airtrack Forum do not support the current proposalsBAA has claimed support for the scheme from Transport for London
Transport for London
Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
, the Mayor of London
Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...
, nine London Boroughs and local borough councils of Runnymede
Runnymede (borough)
Runnymede is a local government district with borough status in the English county of Surrey. It is a very prosperous part of the London commuter belt, with some of the most expensive housing in the United Kingdom outside of central London, such as the Wentworth Estate.Runnymede is entirely...
, Reading, Woking
Woking (borough)
Woking is a local government district with borough status in the west of Surrey, England.It was formed in 1895 as an urban district under the Local Government Act 1894. The present-day borough was established in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and is one of two districts in Surrey to...
, Guildford
Guildford (borough)
Guildford is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. It is named after Guildford where its council is based....
, Bracknell Forest
Bracknell Forest
Bracknell Forest is a unitary authority and borough in Berkshire in southern England. It covers the towns of Bracknell, North Ascot, Sandhurst, Crowthorne and surrounding villages and hamlets.-History:...
and Wokingham, as well as by Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
and Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
County Councils. However, this is contradicted by objections made by some of these authorities to the final plans. Surrey County Council, for example, is an official objector to the scheme, as is Wokingham. Additionally, "Strong concerns" have been raised by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a Royal Borough of Berkshire, in South East England. It became a unitary authority on 1 April 1998.It is home to Windsor Castle, Eton College, Legoland and Ascot Racecourse....
, including a worries that the busy Windsor Riverside service would have been downgraded as a result and, again, level crossings.
It has been reported that Surrey may 'drop its opposition' after BAA offered to fund £11million of transport improvements and a vote to provisionally drop their opposition was passed by the county's cabinet on 28 September 2010. This decision was due to be finalised by the full council in December 2010 but was deferred. The move was the subject of an 'extraordinary outburst' from Philip Hammond, the local MP, who also happens to be the Secretary of State for Transport. Hammond criticised the council for 'grabbing a bribe', a payment of £11 million towards mitigating some traffic problems in Egham entirely unconnected to Airtrack and went on to demand a more comprehensive solution, saying 'no solution, no scheme' and urging BAA to 'get back to the drawing board'. BAA had made a significant compromise in offering this payment as it had previously been consistent in arguing that traffic problems caused by Airtrack were not its responsibility, using the fact that Network Rail has no legal obligation to open level crossings at all or to consult on changes.
Construction
The economic case was heavily dependent on the fact that Airtrack should be a low-cost option as only 4 kilometre of new line would be required, mostly within SpelthorneSpelthorne
Spelthorne is a local government district and borough in Surrey, England. It includes the towns of Ashford, Laleham, Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell and Sunbury...
. The remaining new infrastructure would consist of station improvements and associated facilities.
The key elements of construction work would involve:
- Tunnelling from Heathrow Terminal 5 to Stanwell Moor
- Construction of a new rail line across Stanwell Moor and Staines Moor
- Construction of a new section of track in Staines town centre
- The remodelling of Staines station
- Building a train depot at Feltham
The scheme was estimated to cost about £673 million, of which about £150 million is expected to come from an operating surplus and the remainder from a government subsidy.
In the Airtrack project some stations used by its trains would be upgraded. It was intended that from Staines the trains would use existing Network Rail tracks
Services
The passenger services proposed for the Airtrack service were generally to offer a half-hourly service to each destination:London Waterloo - Heathrow: two trains per hour stopping at:
- Clapham Junction
- Richmond
- Twickenham
- Feltham
- Staines
An extension of the Heathrow Express service to Staines would have provided an additional 2tph between the airport and Staines. Journey time from Waterloo to Heathrow would have been approximately 40 minutes.
Guildford - Heathrow (via Egham
Egham
Egham is a wealthy suburb in the Runnymede borough of Surrey, in the south-east of England. It is part of the London commuter belt and Greater London Urban Area, and about south-west of central London on the River Thames and near junction 13 of the M25 motorway.-Demographics:Egham town has a...
and Virginia Water
Virginia Water
Virginia Water is an affluent village, a lake and, originally, a stream, the village being in the Runnymede Borough Council in Surrey and the bodies of water stretching over the borders of Runnymede, Old Windsor and Sunninghill and Ascot, England....
): two trains per hour (one per hour at peak times) stopping at:
- Chertsey
- Woking
Journey time from Guildford to Heathrow would have been approximately 36 minutes.
Reading - Heathrow (via Egham and Virginia Water) two trains per hour stopping at:
- Wokingham
- Bracknell
Journey time from Reading to Heathrow would have been approximately 45 minutes.
Impact
Concerns about the impact of Airtrack construction work and operation had been raised by local residents, campaigners and politicians.Environment
Staines Moor
Most of the construction work would have affected Staines MoorStaines Moor
Staines Moor is a Site of Special Scientific Interest at the NW corner of Surrey, England. It is around 2 sq km in area, and consists of rough pasture. The River Colne, Hertfordshire runs through it. It lies between Staines to the south and the village of Stanwellmoor to the north.The Staines Moor...
and Stanwell Moor, which include a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
(SSSI), and extensive consultations took place in Spelthorne resulting in major modifications of the scheme.
Feltham depot
Building a train depot in FelthamFeltham
Feltham is a town in the London Borough of Hounslow, west London. It is located about west south west of central London at Charing Cross and from Heathrow Airport Central...
was part of the scheme. Residents of Feltham had expressed opposition to this mainly as the depot may have encroached on a natural conservation area
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
and that the depot may give rise to noise pollution.
In response to these concerns, BAA had published assurances in their consulation literature that the Feltham depot would have been designed to limit noise and light pollution
Light pollution
Light pollution, also known as photopollution or luminous pollution, is excessive or obtrusive artificial light.The International Dark-Sky Association defines light pollution as:...
and with landscape screening.
Level crossings
A number of major problems concerned level crossingLevel crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
s. The proposed Airtrack route would have run on lines which have fifteen level crossings, and local campaigners along those routes have pointed out that more frequent trains would increase waiting times at closed barriers and exacerbate traffic congestion problems. For example, between Richmond and Barnes as many as five trains may pass before the road barriers are lifted. BAA investigated the possibility of constructing road bridges or tunnels at these locations but concluded that such construction was "not feasible or justifiable".
BAA had acknowledged these problems and noted that eight crossings would have been slightly impacted, with barrier closure times increasing by up to 13%. Three level crossing more would have been moderately affected, with increases of between 13% and 25% to the amount of time that the barriers are closed to road traffic. Four crossings would have been "severely" affected, with barrier downtimes increasing by between 25% and 36%. As no independent time and motion study was been conducted, the closure times of level crossings and impact to the surrounding area had yet to be assessed at the time of the project's cancellation.
Three of the four severely affected crossings are located in Egham, which lies between Staines, where the Airtrack spur would have met the main line, and Virginia Water, where the Reading and Guildford lines diverge.
Airtrack originally envisaged that by investing in new signalling technology, they could keep level crossings down-times to a manageable level. This was accepted as a reasonable proposition by the local authority, Runnymede Borough Council
Runnymede (borough)
Runnymede is a local government district with borough status in the English county of Surrey. It is a very prosperous part of the London commuter belt, with some of the most expensive housing in the United Kingdom outside of central London, such as the Wentworth Estate.Runnymede is entirely...
, and by the Highways Authority for the area, Surrey County Council
Surrey County Council
Surrey County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 80 elected councillors.The council is controlled by the Conservative party.The leader of the council is David Hodge....
, both of which actively supported the Airtrack scheme. However in September 2009 Runnymede Borough Council responded to the TWA application with an objection.
Egham
Immediately after Staines the westward line goes through the town of EghamEgham
Egham is a wealthy suburb in the Runnymede borough of Surrey, in the south-east of England. It is part of the London commuter belt and Greater London Urban Area, and about south-west of central London on the River Thames and near junction 13 of the M25 motorway.-Demographics:Egham town has a...
. Local campaigners in Egham had voiced their opposition to Airtrack mainly due to the foreseen traffic congestion problems caused by level crossing closures. Opponents noted that the railway bisects the town, and it can only be crossed via four level crossings (Thorpe Road, Egham Hythe; Vicarage Road; Station Road; and Prune Hill) as there are no alternative bridges or tunnels in the locality.
Concerns were also raised about the scheme's effect on the town by Egham Chamber of Commerce, Runnymede Council, Richmond Council, and bus operators. The local MP for Runnymede and Weybridge, Philip Hammond
Philip Hammond
Philip Hammond MP is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the current Defence Secretary in the Coalition government led by David Cameron, having succeeded Liam Fox on 14 October 2011...
, first raised his concerns about lack of alternatives to level crossings in Egham in the House of Commons; in 2002. In 2009 he arranged for the Chamber of Commerce to deliver a petition to 10 Downing Street appealing to the then Labour Government to not allow Airtrack to be built without a tunnel or bridge in Egham. Hammond became Secretary of State for Transport
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
in May 2010.
In a consultation between Surrey County Council and the emergency services, the Fire and Ambulance services expressed concerns about increased level crossing down-times.
Airtrack had estimated that if the project proceeded as planned the three significantly affected level crossings in Egham would be closed an average of 34 minutes per hour between 7 am and 7 pm. These figures were based on the assumptions that only timetabled trains would have operated, that they would have operated without delays and that the signalling regime could have been reorganised to allow barriers to be raised if were a 30 second gap between trains.
Wokingham
The Airtrack route was also planned to pass through the town of WokinghamWokingham
Wokingham is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire in South East England about west of central London. It is about east-southeast of Reading and west of Bracknell. It spans an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 30,403...
. As with Egham, an opposition campaign was organised to voice local concerns about the foreseen traffic congestion caused by increased rail traffic on level crossings. Wokingham has five crossings (Easthampstead Road, Waterloo Road, Barkham Road, Station Road and Wellington Road) which would have been affected by the project, and campaigners submitted a petition to the Government.
BAA said that Wokingham Borough Council was considering the issue as part of its transport strategy. The council discussed the possibility of building a bridge over the Barkham Road crossing but such a solution was unlikely due to the excessive construction cost. The council also proposed that Wokingham Station would have needed to be moved closer to Reading in order to accommodate the Airtrack proposal.
Airtrack-Lite
In October 2011 Wandsworth Council announced a revised plan called Airtrack-Lite. To avoid more trains through any level crossings, this suggests services to Heathrow by diverting existing services. The Waterloo to Windsor service would divide at Staines, and the Weybridge to London via the Hounslow loop service would be recast as Weybridge to Heathrow and Heathrow to London services.See also
- 21st Century upgrade of the Great Western Main Line21st Century upgrade of the Great Western Main LineNetwork Rail plans to spend £5 billion on modernising the Great Western and its South Wales branch plus other associated lines like the North Cotswolds which was completed in 2011...
- CrossrailCrossrailCrossrail is a project to build a major new railway link under central London. The name refers to the first of two routes which are the responsibility of Crossrail Ltd. It is based on an entirely new east-west tunnel with a central section from to Liverpool Street station...
- Superlink (railway network)Superlink (Railway network)Superlink was a proposal for a new UK railway network to connect London, the south-east Midlands, East Anglia, and south-east England.It was an alternative proposal from a group of senior railway managers, who played leading roles in other UK rail projects. It suggested changes and enhancements to...
- Windsor Link RailwayWindsor Link RailwayThe Windsor Link Railway is a proposed new railway in Windsor, Berkshire, connecting the Great Western and South West Trains franchise areas and potentially linking both to London Heathrow Airport....