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Heathrow surface access director Tony Caccavone has dismissed calls for a joined up rail network between London’s main airports.
Speaking at New Civil Engineer’s Future of Rail conference, Caccavone said that there was “no real demand” from passengers for a rail system between Heathrow and any other airport.
Caccavone said that joining up airports was more of an inconvenience than a benefit for airline passengers.
“In terms of passengers, flying into one airport and then checking out before getting on a train and then having to go through the trouble of security again is a massive inconvenience,” Caccavone said. “So for us, and for airports in the UK in general, there is less of a need or desire to join up airports.
“Instead, it is far more important to link airports better with their catchment areas than it is to create links between airports. And that applies to Luton Airport or Bristol or any other UK airport.”
Caccavone did stress the importance of improving rail access to Heathrow, especially from the south and the west and urged the government to “make a decision” on Heathrow Southern Rail and Western Rail Link to Heathrow schemes “as soon as possible”.
Backers of both schemes have previously accused the Department for Transport (DfT) of stalling on making a decision.
In December last year, the proposed £10bn HS4Air rail scheme connecting High Speed 1 (HS1) with High Speed 2 (HS2) via Gatwick and Heathrow airports was rejected by the government
Hyperloop One managing director for the Middle East and India Harj Dhaliwal has also told New Civil Engineer that connecting Stansted, Gatwick and Heathrow airports with purpose-built “check in terminals” in central London would replace the need for a third runway at Heathrow.
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It is very interesting all the expansion about the airports;it may help the business case but the overwhelming infrastructure we already have may hamper rather than assist in mobility across London.