Heathwick

Heathwick is an informal name for a 2011 proposal to create a high-speed rail link between London's

A similar plan was first mooted in the 1990s, then by the British Chambers of Commerce in 2009. Consideration of it by the UK government began in October 2011, when it was dubbed 'Heathwick' by the UK press.^[1][2]

Proposals

The scheme envisages a 35-mile (56 km) high-speed rail route linking the two airports in 15 minutes, with trains travelling at a top speed of 180 miles per hour (290 km/h) parallel to the M25 and passengers passing through immigration or check-in only once. It is hoped that this streamlined immigration/check-in procedure would enable passengers arriving at one airport and departing on a connecting flight from the other to complete the transfer process within 75 minutes, thereby increasing its attractiveness as a viable alternative to changing flights at an overseas hub airport.

To make a combined Heathwick

Proponents of Heathwick argue that at an estimated cost of £5 billion it is a viable alternative to the politically fraught provision of additional runway capacity at existing airports in the Southeast of England and much cheaper and less time-consuming than building a new hub airport in the Thames Estuary.

In 2013 a group called Interlinking Transit Solutions Ltd submitted proposals to the

The aviation and rail industry's initial response has been overwhelmingly negative: British Airways said it would not address the South-East's looming airport capacity crunch, which it said must be alleviated to maintain the UK's global competitiveness. EasyJet vowed to fight a forcible move from Gatwick. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary doubted the feasibility of the Heathwick high-speed rail link in the foreseeable future due to its high cost. BAA and an unnamed rail executive questioned the project's success on grounds of technical, operational, political and financial difficulties as well as long time scales.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Present alternatives

v t e Heathrow area rail services
Legend
mi-ch from Paddington Elizabeth line via Whitechapel 0-00 Paddington Heathrow Express Elizabeth line Old Oak Common under construction 4-21 Acton Main Line 5-56 Ealing Broadway 6-46 West Ealing 7-28 Hanwell 9-06 Southall 10-71 Hayes & Harlington Piccadilly line to Cockfosters 11-10 Airport Junction Great Western Main Line to Reading Hatton Cross Heathrow Junction closed 1998 Heathrow Airport: Terminal 4 16-30 Terminal 4 Terminals 2 & 3 14-40 Terminals 2 & 3 16-20 Terminal 5

To travel between London airports the main options are (which can equally work in reverse):

• Elizabeth line trains run from all Heathrow Airport terminal stations into central London. Passengers are able to change at Farringdon onto Thameslink trains to Luton Airport Parkway or Gatwick Airport, and at Liverpool Street for Stansted or Southend Airports.

Heathrow to Gatwick

• District or Circle Lines) to transfer to Victoria station. Gatwick Express
  trains go from Victoria to Gatwick Airport. A two-hour journey is standard.
• For those with less luggage and at less cost, a 285 bus from Heathrow Central Bus Station (for Terminals 2, 3) (or the 490 from Terminal 5 calling next at Terminal 4) serves Feltham railway station; passengers should there, normally, await the four- or five-stop trains to Clapham Junction; then passengers should change at Clapham Junction for a train to Gatwick Airport. A time of 1 hours 40 minutes is typical from Terminal 4; or as much as 3 hours from the other terminals during heaviest traffic, worse timings and if slow trains are boarded (usually required during the early-morning, weekday peak).

North-south

• An
  Thameslink
  trains run directly to Gatwick Airport.

All London airports

• Coaches take typically 60 to 90 minutes, plus waiting time (up to 15 minutes peak hour and up to 1 hour off-peak)
• Taxis take around 45 minutes (Heathrow-Gatwick) if in little traffic and 80 minutes (north-south), however, more than double that in heavy traffic.

All options require going through immigration, baggage delivery, a customs channel, and later to check-in and security check pre-flight, which adds to these times. Hand-luggage-only passengers bypass baggage delivery. Passengers should seek to purchase at their first-leg airport an auto-checked, fully issued ticket/e-ticket boarding pass to bypass the first stage of connection flight check-in(s).

See also

• Heathrow Airport transport proposals
• Superlink (railway network)
• Windsor Link Railway
• Airlink (helicopter shuttle service), which linked the airports between 1978 and 1986

References