Crossrail 'no panacea' for Heathrow expansion

Campaigners say public transport inadequate if airport gets third runway

The Crossrail scheme that is due to come into operation in 2018 will not add enough extra rail capacity to cope with large numbers of new passengers at Heathrow, campaigners have claimed.

Their comments came in the wake of a report from MPs last week which argued that expansion of the airport was necessary and a third runway “long overdue”. 

Crossrail will provide an extra train service linking Heathrow with the centre of London and further east. But the anti-expansion group Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise (Hacan) told PE that even this would not be enough to serve extra passengers coming into the airport.

John Stewart, Hacan chair, said: “Crossrail will help ease the burden for the existing Heathrow but it is not the answer for the expanded Heathrow. It will help ease the Piccadilly line and the whole surface access stuff. But it's not in my view a panacea for a three or four-runway Heathrow.”

Stewart added that experts looking at the addition of runways had “not thought through” public transport access to the airport. 

The government performed a U-turn on plans to expand Heathrow in 2010, but the Transport Select Committee last week rejected calls for a new airport east of London. Instead it urged the government to permit the expansion of Heathrow with a third runway. 

Louise Ellman, chair of the Transport Select Committee said: “Aviation is vital to our economy and it is essential for the UK to maintain its status with an international aviation hub offering connectivity to a wide range of destinations across the globe.

“Demand for air travel across the UK is forecast to grow, believe that aviation should be permitted to expand, and accept that more capacity is necessary to achieve substantial aviation growth.”