The HSRL team – chaired by Baroness Jo Valentine
The Board of Heathrow Southern Railway Limited (HSRL) has been meeting in London with investor AECOM and key advisers in anticipation of an announcement from the UK Government of the results of its Market Sounding exercise for a Southern Rail Link to Heathrow Airport and the next stage of the process for securing a private sector developer.
HSRL Chief Executive Graham Cross said:
“The UK Government has recently confirmed to Parliament that progress on selecting a private sector developer for a Southern Rail Link to Heathrow will be announced during the Autumn.
The HSRL team is standing by to respond quickly to this opportunity. The House of Commons Transport Committee and the many stakeholders we are meeting continue to make the case that the new railway is urgently needed now with a two runway airport to address severe road congestion and the consequences for poor air quality across London and Surrey. It will be essential to meet the demands of an even busier three runway airport.
Railway development experts in our team – including those provided by our investor AECOM – have spent two years refining HSRL’s proposed route into a mature, fundable and buildable scheme. We have urged the Government to ensure the next stages of the process to be straightforward and expeditious so that our scheme can be brought to reality at the earliest possible date.
For further information visit www.heathrowrail.com or contact Mark Walker on 01733 767244 or 07742 925753.
Notes for editors:
- In a written parliamentary answer on 14 November 2018 to Zac Goldsmith MP (Conservative, Richmond Park), Rail Minister Andrew Jones MP said “…In May 2018, my Department launched a Market Sounding to test the market’s appetite to share the risk of development for a proposed Southern Rail Link to Heathrow in order to reduce the burden on taxpayers and fare payers. A summary of responses will be published later in the Autumn.”
- HSRL the independent venture set up to transform the rail network serving Britain’s busiest airport intends to create fast, easy and relaxing rail access to Heathrow Airport by building 8 miles of rail infrastructure from the west end of the existing Terminal 5 station, enabling trains to run from Woking, Guildford and Basingstoke to Heathrow Airport and on to Old Oak Common (for HS2) and London Paddington (for the Elizabeth Line).
- HSRL’s scheme will also enable electric trains to operate between Heathrow Airport and London’s Waterloo terminus via Clapham Junction, Putney, Hounslow, Twickenham, Richmond, Staines and other intermediate stations. Connections at Waterloo East and Clapham Junction will make Heathrow accessible from Kent and Sussex with just one change of train.
- The best rail journey times projected by HSRL are 16 minutes from Woking to Heathrow, 26 minutes from Guildford to Heathrow and 6 minutes from Staines to Heathrow.
- HSRL forecasts that the new railway will remove 86 million car kilometres from the road network each year, will be used by 33,000 passengers per day and could be open between 2025 and 2027.
