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New high-speed rail 'would end need for Heathrow expansion'
Katharine Barney, Evening Standard18.07.08
Plans for a new high-speed rail service are to be revealed on Monday in a bid to demolish the case for expansion at Heathrow.
The new study, which is published by the 2M coalition of London authorities against the expansion, shows that many domestic and shorthaul flights could be made by rail. The High Speed North service would provide a new fast link between London and Scotland and connect about a dozen cities. It is based on a single spine route alongside the M1.
The scheme calls for dramatic improvements in public transport access to Heathrow with links to the new rail line. 2M said making it easier for people in the North to travel to Heathrow by rail would reduce the need for internal flights. The new route would provide fast, direct connections to European cities. For example, Sheffield to Paris would be just over three hours, Manchester to Amsterdam would take about four hours and Leeds to Frankfurt five and a half.
Wandsworth council leader Edward Lister said: "We want a debate. We have a government that can't see further than the next runway."
Reader views (1)
The French have shown how high speed railways can transform travel and reduce the need for air travel, they have also built up plans which mean that as soon as one scheme is near completion another one is ready.
In this country we suffer from a lack of long-term planning which means that when high speed one was completed we had no follow on scheme to start on.
With high speed one the simplest scheme would have been an extension from Stratford to Welwyn on the East Coast main line where a two track bottle neck could have been removed and Eurostar services to Leeds could have been introduced in a few years. Plans for bigger schemes could then have been developed at the same time just like they do in France.
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
