High speed rail link between Gatwick and Heathrow proposed

A high speed rail link between airports at Gatwick and Heathrow has been proposed by a group of London-based engineering consultants.
High speed rail link proposals between Gatwick and HeathrowHigh speed rail link proposals between Gatwick and Heathrow
High speed rail link proposals between Gatwick and Heathrow

HS4Air (High Speed for Air) would also be joined up to HS1 at Ashford in Kent and the proposed HS2 line between the capital and Birmingham and Manchester.

The proposal, developed by Expedition director Alistair Lenczner, could reduce the travel time between the two airports to 15 minutes.

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Mr Lenczner said: “HS4Air has been developed to allow rail and aviation infrastructure projects in south east England that are currently unconnected to become joined-up.

High speed rail link proposals between Gatwick and HeathrowHigh speed rail link proposals between Gatwick and Heathrow
High speed rail link proposals between Gatwick and Heathrow

“This will offer greatly enhanced benefits for users and provide better value for the investments currently being made in the UK’s strategic infrastructure.

“In a way HS4Air can be regarded as a high-speed railway version of the M25 around London, except that it allows much faster journey times with no congestion and with far less impact on the environment.

“The proposed HS4Air project is an example of integrated strategic planning that spans across multiple infrastructure sectors that are too often planned within separate ‘silos’.

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“Such integrated planning allows projects to achieve better results in terms of their land-use efficiency and investment value.”

The project claims the environmental impact would be reduced by being twinned with the M25 to the west of London, passing in tunnels under sensitive rural environments, and reusing existing railway between Ashford and Tonbridge.

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