UK: "High-speed rail is no substitute for airport runways"

[John Ashworth]

Of course not everyone will agree with the chairman of a major international airport on this issue...

High-speed rail is no substitute for airport runways, says ex-HS2 boss

Gatwick chairman blasts Tory plans as 'total nonsense'

* Dan Milmo Transport correspondent
* guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 25 January 2011 19.26 GMT

The former chairman of the High Speed Two project will tomorrow dismiss as "total nonsense" the government's claim that a 250mph north-south rail link can replace a third runway at Heathrow airport.

In an outspoken attack on one of David Cameron's main policies, Sir David Rowlands will say there is no evidence that a rail route from London to Scotland can solve capacity problems at Britain's congested airports. Rowlands rejects claims by Philip Hammond, the transport secretary, that high speed rail will "make a difference" to airports in south-east England, even if it includes a spur to Heathrow.

"A link to Heathrow does little for the high-speed network and the network doesn't do much either for Heathrow," he says. "This isn't simply just another of those inconvenient facts. What is a fact is that it is a total nonsense to suggest that building a high-speed network means there is no need for more runway capacity in the south-east." The London-to-Birmingham phase of a £30bn high-speed rail programme could be completed by 2025 and represents a key part of the government's aviation policy, which has imposed a moratorium on airport expansion in south-east England.

In a speech at a Transport Times aviation conference tomorrow, Rowlands will add that the decision taken by the new government to block a third runway at Heathrow had been taken with "scant regard" for evidence and with "wanton disregard" of expert analysis. Rowlands will also criticise government proposals to increase air passenger duty at south-east airports in a bid to divert traffic to regional airports. "I am afraid that rhetoric alone simply will not do. Nor will random suggestions such as higher air passenger duty at south-east airports in the absence of a coherent overall strategy for all Britain's airports," he says.

Rowlands, who stood down as chair of HS2 last year, is now chairman of Gatwick airport, Britain's second largest airport after Heathrow. The Gatwick chairman reiterates in his speech that the airport had "no current plans" to expand its single runway site. Gatwick airport was sold by BAA in December 2009 to a consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners, an investment firm, in a £1.5bn deal.

Rowlands oversaw the drafting of the Labour government's controversial airport expansion policy as permanent secretary of the Department for Transport between 2003 and 2007. In 2009 the then transport secretary, Geoff Hoon, confirmed support for a third runway at Heathrow in the face of fierce opposition. However, the green argument against airport expansion has been undermined by a recent report by the Committee on Climate Change, a government advisory panel. The committee has forecast that British airports can handle up to 140 million more passengers a year – the equivalent of four runways at Heathrow – by 2050 without breaching emissions targets.

Rowlands' views threaten to overshadow a speech that will also be made at the conference by Theresa Villiers, the transport minister, who is expected to outline plans for a new aviation policy paper. Referring to plans for a "scoping" study on aviation policy, Rowlands said: "It is ludicrous to put a stop to airport expansion in days and then spend years deciding what it all means."

Responding to Rowlands, Villiers said: "The success of high-speed rail across Europe has shown how such links can cater for journeys that had previously been dominated by aviation. That is why our commitment to a high-speed rail network was a factor in the decision we made to reject a third runway at Heathrow."