| Western Rail Approach to Heathrow | |
|---|---|
 Map of the proposed rail link | |
| Overview | |
| Status | Proposed |
| Owner | Network Rail |
| Locale | Heathrow Airport, West London |
| Termini | |
| Website | Official website |
| Service | |
| Type | Commuter rail Airport rail link |
| System | Great Western Main Line/ Elizabeth line/Heathrow Express |
| Technical | |
| Character | Railway spur in tunnel |
Heathrow area rail services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Western Rail Approach to Heathrow is a proposed bi-directional link westward from London's Heathrow Airport to the Great Western Main Line. It would thus run, in council areas, from Greater London under Iver, South Bucks, Buckinghamshire to Langley, Slough. Beginning at Heathrow Terminal 5 station, it would run via a tunnel to a junction east of Langley station, therefore allowing trains to run to and from destinations in the west: Slough, Reading and beyond. When completed, it would improve rail connections to Heathrow from the Thames Valley as well as from South West England, South Wales and The Midlands. It would also reduce congestion at London Paddington station by removing the need, which presently exists, for passengers from Heathrow who are bound for those regions, to travel to Hayes and Harlington and then change at Reading or to make their interchange at Paddington, central London. Paddington would remain an interchange for services to/from Euston, Saint Pancras and London generally and a little of the Great Western Main Line would gain rail capacity as many services would take the resultant side loop via Heathrow.[1]
The rail link was first announced in 2012. The £900m link was brought to a “controlled pause” by Network Rail in January 2021 as a result of the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the aviation industry raising concerns that the project may never be put into place.[2]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
NetworkRailHrowLinkwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Smith, Claire (30 March 2021). "'Controlled pause' raises doubts over future of the Western Rail Link to Heathrow". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 14 April 2022.