A Heathrow Hub should be on a high speed rail link between HS2 and HS1

Alistair Lenczner
26 October 2014

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More co-ordinated thinking is needed to improve overall benefits to the nation, says Alistair Lenczner. 

Sir John Armitt’s infrastructure review in 2013 highlighted the need for long-term strategic planning including better co-ordination between infrastructure sectors which typically work in “silos”.

Today, whilst the Davies Airports Commission continues to work within an airports “silo” to come up with a final recommendation on how to maintain the UK’s aviation hub status, those working on HS2 to be working in a separate “silo” on how to connect London to the Midlands and North with high speed rail.

As per Armitt’s recommendations, it would seem timely for transport planners to do some more co-ordinated thinking to improve overall benefits to the nation. . 

In September 2014, the Davis commission removed the Inner Thames Estuary Airport from its list of options for future airport development to meet future UK aviation needs. Now that Davies has left only one airport, Heathrow, that could viably be UK aviation “hub” airport on its for continued consideration, it would seem sensible, now, to review HS2 plans in light of this decision. 

To put Heathrow onto the UK’s future high speed rail network, a better solution to the proposed “cul-de-sac” off HS2 would be to build a high speed link between HS2 and HS1 which passes through Heathrow.

So far, the HS2 planners’ solution for connecting Heathrow to the high speed network is to build a “spur” to Heathrow at some future date. Such a “spur”, with Heathrow a terminus station at its end, would mean that any trains serving the airport would have to be separate to other high speed services on HS2.

Given the technical capacity limits on the new HS2 line, it seems highly questionable that it would be viable to run dedicated high speed trains to Heathrow from the Midlands/North at frequencies that would be attractive for passengers. 

Heathrow’s main Western European airport rivals are Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt each of which is already directly served by a railway station. Significantly, each of these airport stations is a “through” rather than terminus station. This means that trains serving the airports do so as part of a through train service between other destinations. It would not necessary to run separate trains to serve the airports which would represent significant additional operational costs and take extra train paths.    

To put Heathrow onto the UK’s future high speed rail network, a better solution to the proposed “cul-de-sac” off HS2 would be to build a high speed link between HS2 and HS1 which passes through Heathrow. Such a solution would make direct high speed train access to Heathrow more viable since the same trains which would serve the airport would also provide direct inter-regional high speed connections avoiding central London. The Euston terminus of HS2 in central London would also be relieved of congestion if a proportion of the trains from HS2 were routed via Heathrow onto the new HS2/HS1 link towards Kent and  onwards to continental Europe.    

It is not too late to implement more joined-up thinking into the planning of to the UK’s strategic transport Strategic infrastructure. Putting an expanded Heathrow on a future HS2-HS1 link as part of a national high speed railway network would be a step in the right direction. 

Alistair Lenczner is an independent planning consultant