High speed rail links to Birmingham, Manchester, the West Country and the South coast directly to the heart of LHR would alleviate a great deal of the domestic air traffic that currently uses the airport. As well as making travel for residents in the UK far more flexible and easy, these rail links can be used for freight and so reduce road congestion.
The free slots can then be used to generate even more long-haul transit passengers who provide no financial benefit to UK PLC whatsoever.Technology will mean that few, if any, new jobs will be generated by the new runway once construction is completed by all the Polish and East European workers who are currently buidling the Olympic sites.
A third runway will not alleviate the current overcrowding of the airspace above, nor the roads to LHR nor will it ever get the air quality that the EU have imposed on the industry so just why are GB and the rest of his cronies going ahead with a project that most people agree is a waste of money.
The research to justify this runway was carried out in 2000 to 2004 and is no longer valed. Since then we have seen oil rise to $147 a barrell and, thankfully, come back to a more reasonable figure. However, the signs are there that such a price or even higher, is not so far away in the future. Who can foresee what the situation be in 15 years, which is about how long the runway will take to build?
It will be opened at a time of contracting air traffic, very high oil prices, airlines in bankruptcy and public antipathy and negative reaction against the polluting aviation industry. The runway might well be there but the justification for it will never be valid in its long and uselss lifetime.
Build railways and nuclear power stations to power them and Get Britain Moving!