Third runway at Heathrow would mean local surface transport chaos
One of the most pressing, but least considered problems when proposals are made to expand Heathrow is that of surface transport to and from the airport. The Campaign for Better Transport, in a recent report, says Heathrow sits in the most congested quadrant of London. The roads around Heathrow are already full and journey times are getting longer. So much so that the Department for Transport has said that it’s likely to need to take action to relieve congestion due to traffic growth regardless of what happens at the airport. The Piccadilly Line, which provides most of the public transport capacity to Heathrow, is already one of the most crowded on the underground. Even if you include Crossrail, it is clear that public transport will not have the capacity to accommodate the extra demand that Heathrow envisages from a 3rd runway – 40% more passengers by 2030 and nearly double that by 2040 – and additional pressure will therefore be placed on the roads. An additional Heathrow runway would cause widespread transport chaos.
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Third runway equals transport chaos
Campaigns Director’s blog entry
This is an entry from our Campaigns Director’s blog, written by Richard Hebditch with occasional guest bloggers.
30 September 2013:
One of the most pressing, but least considered problems when proposals are made to expand Heathrow is that of surface transport to and from the airport.
Heathrow sits in the most congested quadrant of London. The roads around Heathrow are already full and journey times are getting longer. So much so that the Department for Transport has said that it’s likely to need to take action to relieve congestion due to traffic growth regardless of what happens at the airport. The Piccadilly Line, which provides most of the public transport capacity to Heathrow, is already one of the most crowded on the underground. Even with the 25 per cent capacity increase planned for the line it will be swamped within seven years by a 50 per cent growth in demand for underground services due to population growth. And that’s without carrying a single extra passenger to the airport.
Even if you include Crossrail, it is clear that public transport will not have the capacity to accommodate the extra demand that Heathrow Airport envisages from a third runway – 40 per cent more passengers by 2030 and nearly double that by 2040 – and additional pressure will therefore be placed on the roads.
This week we released a report called Heathrow and Surface Transport Stress. It showed that current airport expansion proposals have consistently failed to give enough importance to road and public transport access. It also uncovered a lack of research comparing the anticipated economic benefits of expanding Heathrow against the range of negative transport impacts it would create.
The Airports Commission in examining the case for expansion at Heathrow must acknowledge surface access as a major barrier and insist that the surface transport implications of airport expansion are properly considered before any decision on the airport’s future is made.
It’s clear that without measures to tackle surface access, an additional runway at Heathrow Airport would cause widespread transport chaos. Increasing surface transport capacity would be extremely difficult, highly controversial and hugely expensive, but it should be central to whether a third runway is desirable, affordable or feasible.
The report is at:
Heathrow and Surface Transport Stress, September 2013 1.77 MB
http://www.bettertransport.
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Inquiry finds flaws in Heathrow’s expansion plan
29.9.2013 . The FT reports that Heathrow’s case for expansion is flawed because it has failed to account for how London’s roads and public transport will cope with millions more passengers. It says submissions by the Major of London and Hillingdon and Houslow counicls say that the capital’s roads and trains will struggle to keep pace with demand from population growth alone,let alone a third Heathrow runway. The corresponding increase in travel to the west London site cannot be supported by the transport network. TfL says even with planned upgrades, the Piccadilly line would be full. Heathrow has not produced no figures on how many additional road and public transport journeys the extra passengers would generate. Click here to view full story ……
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Stephen Joseph, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, which conducted the research for Hounslow and Hillingdon councils, said: “The Davies Commission must draw on the evidence from Transport for London and other experts to assess the dangers to London’s economy from an expanded Heathrow.”.
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