Stations that deserve a direct rail service to Heathrow (part 2)

[PTR 444]

As there has been an overwhelming majority for Reading in my previous poll, i’ve started another one focused less on nationally important cities and more on stations within the London/Surrey/Berkshire commuter belt which would benefit from improved links to Heathrow.

 

[PTR 444]

Taking the votes from both polls into account, I think a fair compromise would be to have a range of express and local stopping services west of Heathrow, but not too far afield that it makes the services unreliable. I would therefore suggest something like this.

Of the 4tph that currently make up the Heathrow Express (or its successor) from London Paddington to Heathrow T5:

• 2tph to extend to Basingstoke via WRATH, running non-stop to Reading then calling at all stations to Basingstoke. This will replace the existing Reading - Basingstoke local service and give Mortimer and Bramley direct trains to London.
• 2tph to extend to Guildford via Southern Access. Calling at Chertsey, Addlestone, Woking and Guildford.

In addition to this, there would also be:

• A new 2tph semi-fast service between Heathrow T2/3 and Reading via WRATH. Calling at Slough, Maidenhead and Twyford.
• A new 2tph local service between Heathrow T2/3 and Aldershot via a chord from the Southern Access to Virginia Water. Calling at Virginia Water, Ascot, then all stations from there to Aldershot. This will replace the existing Aldershot - Ascot off-peak service.
• Extension of 2 Crossrail trains per hour to Staines via a chord onto the Windsor line from the Southern Access.
• Extension of the hourly North East - Reading Cross Country service to Heathrow T2/3 via WRATH.
• A new hourly Heathrow T2/3 - Cardiff Central intercity service via WRATH. Calling at Reading, Swindon, Bath Spa, Bristol Temple Meads, Newport and Cardiff Central.

This will give a total of 6tph each way on both the WRATH and Southern Access.

 

[Esker-pades]

I mean, that all sounds wonderful, but the slots simply don't exist on the Main (Fast) lines of the GWML at that point.

 

[PTR 444]

I mean, that all sounds wonderful, but the slots simply don't exist on the Main (Fast) lines of the GWML at that point.

What about the slow lines? (for the service stopping at Slough, Maidenhead and Twyford)

 

[Aictos]

I would much rather have a chord connecting Heathrow to HS2 so people who travel Scotland to London would use HS2 which would cut down on the number of internal flights between the two.

Much more eco friendly and better for the enviroment.

 

[coppercapped]

The Relief Lines (this is the Great Western after all...) are also quite busy.

There are all the Crossrail trains out to Maidenhead, the half hourly Didcot (should be Oxford) outer suburbans, car trains, stone trains...

A few other things:

• if you want to kill the South Wales to London flow of passengers them by all means route the trains via Heathrow and add at least 20 minutes to the journey[1].
• nobody will terminate diesel engined cross country trains underground at Heathrow. It doesn't have the necessary ventilation.
• do enough people travel from Mortimer and Bramley to London to make a through service is economic? And why would they then want to take the scenic route through the Airport?

[1] The western connection from Heathrow is planned to come out to the Relief Lines. This means that the longer distance trains will have to leave or regain the Mains at some point west of Langley. The first possibility is at Dolphin Junction (a single lead flat junction at 40mph) and the next is Slough West, also a single lead flat junction. All with possibilities of timetable conflicts...unless of course you also plan a grade separated junction somewhere - but that's another couple of hundred million pounds.

 

[coppercapped]

I would much rather have a chord connecting Heathrow to HS2 so people who travel Scotland to London would use HS2 which would cut down on the number of internal flights between the two.

Much more eco friendly and better for the enviroment.

They won't take the train to Heathrow to make connections - it takes much too long and the service will be too infrequent.

They will fly to Schiphol, Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt or Munich to make connections. It's quicker and easier.

 

[Aictos]

They won't take the train to Heathrow to make connections - it takes much too long and the service will be too infrequent.

They will fly to Schiphol, Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt or Munich to make connections. It's quicker and easier.

Not if the powers to be operate a service to rival the airlines, Heathrow can do so much better for connections but at the same time we need to think about lowering emissions to the regions which is where HS2 comes in.

 

[PTR 444]

if you want to kill the South Wales to London flow of passengers them by all means route the trains via Heathrow and add at least 20 minutes to the journey[1].

I never said divert the existing South Wales - London trains via Heathrow. Just add an additional hourly service from Cardiff which terminates at the airport.

nobody will terminate diesel engined cross country trains underground at Heathrow. It doesn't have the necessary ventilation.

I'm sure ordering bi-modes will be well on XC's agenda by the time the link gets built.

do enough people travel from Mortimer and Bramley to London to make a through service is economic? And why would they then want to take the scenic route through the Airport?

The primary purpose of this service is to cater for Basingstoke - Heathrow passenger flows (many of which will be changing from a SWR service from further afield). It just happens to incorporate the Mortimer/Bramley service with it to avoid using up additional paths between Basingstoke and Reading.

 

[coppercapped]

Not if the powers to be operate a service to rival the airlines, Heathrow can do so much better for connections but at the same time we need to think about lowering emissions to the regions which is where HS2 comes in.

Eh?

Heathrow can do so much better for connections...

than what?
It takes an hour and a bit to fly from Scotland to Heathrow - in the same time one can be at Schiphol and half an hour longer one could be at Charles de Gaulle or Frankfurt. All of these offer as good a set of connections as Heathrow. Even if the train time from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Heathrow were cut to three hours, by the time the train reaches Heathrow the passenger may already have reached his or her destination or be well on the way there.

A sanity check about fuel consumption for domestic flights. In July 2017 the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published a document entitled Energy Consumption in the UK. In the section on Air Transport (page 16) it states that:

• International travel accounts for approximately 90 per cent of fuel consumption used in aviation with 5 per cent for domestic use and 5 per cent military use

The source data for this statement are to be found in the Office for National Statistics publication Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) 2017. The web site for the current year (2019) is here.

This statistic is the direct result of living on an island. Reducing the number of internal flights won't make any difference to the level of emissions in the regions - the planes will simply go abroad rather than to Heathrow.

It might lower the emissions at Heathrow though...