New £10billion HS4Air high-speed train looping London could link Heathrow to Gatwick in 15 mins
PASSENGERS who want connect from Heathrow to Gatwick airports would in future be able to do so in just 15 minutes.
Plans for a new £10billion high-speed HS4 line have been announced that would create a loop around London, similar to the M25 - which will smash the current Gatwick to Heathrow journey time of one hour and 40 minutes.
This will be the first direct connection between the two airports.
At present, passengers wanting to travel between both have to get a coach between the two.
If they want to get there on the tube and the train, the journey requires four changes, via the Gatwick Express train, the Victoria line, the Bakerloo line and then the Heathrow Express train.
The proposed line, dubbed "HS4Air", would connect with HS1, which runs between London and the Channel Tunnel.
This would mean that Eurostar customers could also easily connect to Gatwick and Heathrow.
The line would also connect HS1 with the proposed HS2 line that will eventually connect London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester.
HS4Air would start in Ashford, Kent, and finish in Denham, Buckinghamshire.
Its connection to HS2 would mean that it only takes one hour 10 minutes to get from Heathrow to Manchester.
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However the proposals for HS4Air haven’t come without opposition from those living nearby to where it would be built, who say it will cause damage to the surrounding area.
Developers have said that 40 per cent of the new route would use existing track, which would be modified to cope with the new high-speed trains.
Alistair Lenczer, director of Expedition Engineering said: “HS4Air will overcome the barrier that historic London represents in terms of rail connectivity between the UK regions and Europe.
“By allowing London to be bypassed at high speed, economic activity between the UK regions and Europe can expect to grow.”
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Nick McGough, associate partner at Weston Williamson + Partners who have helped mastermind the design, said: “HS4Air takes the problem of linking HS1 with HS2 and turns it into an opportunity in by-passing London entirely whilst better connecting the UK's two largest airports and the country generally through high speed rail.
“This generates huge regeneration potential and much wider economic benefits for the whole country.”
Sun Online has all the latest on the HS2 project here.