re: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
Press Release
BRTA is increasingly concerned at the way the Government is making decisions about transport and planning and consequences without consideration of wider impacts.
So far this government has given permission for expansion to Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton and Stansted expansion and the latest Gatwick is located in the heated South East and all 4 airports carrying the connotation name 'London', outside the M25 bunches the pros and cons to a concentrated regional spread which is already heavily congestion prone, does not consider the side effects of that exacerbated congestion, which these expansion projects inform and the pollution informing ill-health, puts a strain on the NHS and Mental Health Services all inflating waiting lists and costs spiralling alongside erosion of the quality of life, loss of land and exacerbated development rather than inter-regional sharing and spread of development with more and better rail links.
On Gatwick, the British Regional Transport Association (BRTA) calls for government to consider, study and include investment in the following rail improvement and expansion packages to address these airport expansion packages and demand contributions and working up the business cases themselves than demanding out-of-pocket from lay people who want more and better local rail solutions and then even when studies are done to turn and say "no money" without negotiating developer contributions to match fund better outcomes for people, places, land use and the environment for example.
The Key Local Rail Projects BRTA wants is as follows:
1. Gatwick:
a. Reading-Guildford-Cranleigh-
b. Southern direct curves from both the North Downs Line and that of Tonbridge to Gatwick Airport for direct running to it and Brighton/South Coast and vice versa.
c. Upgrade and capacity enhancement of the existing London-Brighton Main Line with a complete rebuild and gauge enhancement to enable Holland-style Double Deck Trains to enable rail to carry more on this overcrowded and busy principal regional rail route.
2. Luton Airport:
a. Bay platform provision for an 8-coach train to run alternative hourly to Heathrow and Reading respectively via a reopened Dudding Hill North-West London rail route.
b. For a study and route for a new direct Luton-Milton Keynes rail access direct.
c. For a new Northampton-Bedford Thameslink new-build rail route for enabling the missing gap in a Brighton-Bedford-Birmingham local rail arc to be filled with through tracks.
d. A new rail link between Luton Airport Parkway and Stevenage enabling North Herts and Cambridge direct access to Luton and the Midland Main Line and vice versa.
3. Stansted Airport:
a. Extend the tracks to Stansted Airport to Colchester and Braintree respectively. Development is happening now, so saving land corridors for a rail alternative to roads only mayhem is required now - where good planning, land use and modal choice comes into its own.
b. A Lower Thames Crossing to be made rail-based linking Kent with Stansted and East Anglia by rail including Norwich-Canterbury-Channel
4. Heathrow:
a. For government to give the go ahead to the proposed Heathrow Southern rail link which should be extended to both Old Oak Common Interchange and link physically with the Chiltern Main Line for direct running and arcing between Milton Keynes/Aylesbury and Heathrow and onwards to Guildford, Portsmouth, Chichester, Shoreham and the South Coast and vice versa.
b. For business case studies and support for rebuilding the Guildford-Cranleigh-Horsham rail link which would like by rail direct Heathrow and Gatwick Airports - whereas currently there is no direct rail link and that gap means more road-based usage, congestion, fumes and pollution with often delays.
CEO Richard Pill says "These airport expansions need better radial rail access choices and tie in the issue of land use and development balances with what rail can offer like green corridors, balance and regeneration predicated on a sustainable platform. Alas, it is BRTA's view, there is a lack of joined-up-ness and appreciation of the imperative to improve rail access to these emergent centres of development and global portals. In any case, wider regional models of spreading the load and impact should also be considered with a plan to make reasonable rail access affordable and easier to engage with for modal shift in the national interest. Government must grasp this nettle to optimise the potential wider quality of life benefits. Otherwise, it will be mayhem and sweating of assets, which is dysfunctional."
End of Press Release
Further contact: Richard Pill, BRTA CEO 01234 225068 or email ceo@brtarail.com
Website: https://brtarail.com/
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