Airport links


British Airways suggested at least


100,000 jobs would be at risk. ‘There would be profound effects on jobs and business locations in west London, the M4 corridor and the Thames Valley,’ said a spokesman. The region currently has all of the 10


most overcrowded rail commuter services. More than 75,000 people work at


Heathrow. Include companies which depend largely on the airport, such as caterers, hotels and taxi fi rms, and the total exceeds 100,000. And that does not take account of the hundreds of large companies that choose to be based within easy reach of the airport. Norman Foster puts the price of a


new Thames Hub at £50bn, built partly on reclaimed land at the centre of a high speed rail network, bypassing London and linking with HS1. It would have four runways and a new Thames barrier would provide tidal power for the airport. ‘Can we afford not to afford it?’ Foster


asks. ‘If we do not modernise our transport infrastructure, we will slide down the international scale.’ He says part of the cost would be


recovered by selling the land at Heathrow for £12bn. But it would take time. ‘Even if you take out fi ve years for planning we still take three times as long to complete a major infrastructure initiative as they do in Asia.’ He cites the rapid construction of


Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong, also designed by Foster, also on reclaimed land and also connected by rail. And the funding? ‘This would be


incredibly attractive to pension and sovereign wealth funds.’ Critics believe it would take 20 years


to deliver. Given that a third runway at Heathrow has been ruled out, are there alternatives? Stansted was due a second runway under plans drawn up by the previous government, then rejected. The existing rail service is inadequate for a hub airport. Gatwick, however, has excellent but


congested rail and road connections with scope for improvement. And Gatwick has room to grow, running at only three quarters of its capacity. A second runway is prevented before 2019 by legal agreement. But in January, the airport’s owners started a search for consultants to advise on future infrastructure needs. A consultant, or panel of consultants, will be hired on a £2m, four-year contract


to provide ‘technical airport planning input’ to support the airport’s future growth. And there’s Birmingham. HS2 will put


its international airport only 38 minutes from Euston – compared with Gatwick’s 30 minutes from Victoria – and 48 minutes from Leeds. It has permission to lengthen its runway and could take pressure off the south east. But distance from London and the potential rail fare could prove barriers. ‘I completely support the government’s


commitment to re-balancing the economy away from the south east,’ says Jim French, the chairman and chief executive of Flybe, which is Europe’s largest regional airline. ‘However, the alternative of building a new national airport in another part of the country, away from the south east, is simply not feasible. Just look at the location of every major hub around the word: it is situated adjacent to the major population centre.’ French points out that every major hub


airport in Europe, except Heathrow, has a minimum of four runways. He says that anything less than this would compromise the UK’s long term potential. The lobbying for new airport capacity


has gathered pace since the chancellor announced last November that the government was dropping its opposition to it and would explore ‘all the options for maintaining the UK’s aviation hub status, with the exception of a third runway at Heathrow’. This included the ‘Heathwick’


‘If we do not modernise our transport infrastructure, we will slide down the international scale’


concept of linking Heathrow and Gatwick by a 15-minute high speed rail link (Rail Professional, December 2011.) This U-turn undermined passenger


growth forecasts published only last August, which assumed there would be no additional runways in the south east. The government’s demand forecasts for HS2 were informed by these aviation assumptions. Which begs the question: to what extent is rail – and HS2 in particular – really part of a wider coherent transport strategy? The secretary of state for transport’s


imminent command paper may make everything clear. Or it may not. Perhaps it is worth remembering


that parliament has already passed an act allowing the building of a new airport in the Thames estuary. That was in 1973. And it hasn’t happened yet.


PAUL CLIFTON is the transport correspondent for BBC South: paul.clifton@railpro.co.uk


River Thames Canvey Island


Southend-On-Sea


Proposed site of Thames Hub


Sheerness


Proposed site of Boris Island


Ilse of Sheppey


MARCH 2012 PAGE 27


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40