Heathrow to Gatwick Rail Link: 5 reasons why it looks fanciful
By PDADCO payday loans
Monday, 10 Oct 2011 11:10
We note the proposal unveiled this weekend for a high speed railway link between Heathrow and Gatwick and wonder where it came from. 5 thoughts from airrail NEWS:
1. London has great difficulties in competing with European Hubs. To create a virtual hub by joining Heathrow and Gatwick in 15 minutes seems decadent. Even if the connection was treated as an airside transit (virtually impossible to achieve) it would still not be competitive with moving around a mega hub on one site such as Schiphol, Frankfurt, Paris CDG or the forthcoming Berlin Brandenburg. The interchange penalties make this uncompetitive for transit between Gatwick and Heathrow. Even if the 15 minute journey time was possible, the overall time from plane to plane would be at least 4 times this.
2. Additionally, apply to the above that the many flights per day between all major UK international airports and Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha with their plentiful route networks, seemingly unhindered expansion and competitive fares - how much of a future do European hubs have anyway? These geographically central locations are natural hubs for the majority of global long haul journeys.
3. Heathrow and Gatwick airports are full. Stansted and Luton have scope for growth. We know what happened to the Heathrow 3rd runway and we know that a second runway at Gatwick will end up in the same place. How is a connection between the already three busiest runways in the world helpful for growth?
4. Transit traffic between Gatwick and Heathrow is slight. Why build a railway to meet demand that is not there when there are many more obvious cases for investment in the cash strapped UK, such as routes into Liverpool St station, Victoria station and Paddington.
5. The UK is having a debate over HS2, London to Birmingham at high speed to relieve an already overstretched railway. Why would a service with little demand today compete with this option when NIMBY lobbyists hold so much sway?
Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BAR UK), which represents 86 airlines, says that the costly and lengthy development, termed ‘Heathwick’, offers no solution to the urgent need for additional airport capacity in the South East.
Mike Carrivick, BAR UK chief executive, said “Linking Heathrow and Gatwick by rail does not create a viable hub airport and flight connecting times would not be competitive with other airports. We do not see how the estimated £5 billion can be justified, even if paid for by others. Building an aviation policy around this concept is misguided and if airlines and airports believed a rail link could work it would have had their support years ago.”
airrail NEWS are the global proponents of links between air and rail for the benefit of individuals, cities, countries and the global economy, but only if they make sense. This proposal looks like a metaphor for something else….
1. London has great difficulties in competing with European Hubs. To create a virtual hub by joining Heathrow and Gatwick in 15 minutes seems decadent. Even if the connection was treated as an airside transit (virtually impossible to achieve) it would still not be competitive with moving around a mega hub on one site such as Schiphol, Frankfurt, Paris CDG or the forthcoming Berlin Brandenburg. The interchange penalties make this uncompetitive for transit between Gatwick and Heathrow. Even if the 15 minute journey time was possible, the overall time from plane to plane would be at least 4 times this.
2. Additionally, apply to the above that the many flights per day between all major UK international airports and Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha with their plentiful route networks, seemingly unhindered expansion and competitive fares - how much of a future do European hubs have anyway? These geographically central locations are natural hubs for the majority of global long haul journeys.
3. Heathrow and Gatwick airports are full. Stansted and Luton have scope for growth. We know what happened to the Heathrow 3rd runway and we know that a second runway at Gatwick will end up in the same place. How is a connection between the already three busiest runways in the world helpful for growth?
4. Transit traffic between Gatwick and Heathrow is slight. Why build a railway to meet demand that is not there when there are many more obvious cases for investment in the cash strapped UK, such as routes into Liverpool St station, Victoria station and Paddington.
5. The UK is having a debate over HS2, London to Birmingham at high speed to relieve an already overstretched railway. Why would a service with little demand today compete with this option when NIMBY lobbyists hold so much sway?
Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BAR UK), which represents 86 airlines, says that the costly and lengthy development, termed ‘Heathwick’, offers no solution to the urgent need for additional airport capacity in the South East.
Mike Carrivick, BAR UK chief executive, said “Linking Heathrow and Gatwick by rail does not create a viable hub airport and flight connecting times would not be competitive with other airports. We do not see how the estimated £5 billion can be justified, even if paid for by others. Building an aviation policy around this concept is misguided and if airlines and airports believed a rail link could work it would have had their support years ago.”
airrail NEWS are the global proponents of links between air and rail for the benefit of individuals, cities, countries and the global economy, but only if they make sense. This proposal looks like a metaphor for something else….
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