FDF
Even the airport bus to Watford has stopped, probably because no long distance trains stop there anymore.
Yep, I lived in Watford during the time that it was stopped. If you have not got enough capacity on the railways - they save time by not stopping as much, so that they can increase frequency.
When Bleurgh & Co were elected in '97 they blurbled about 'an integerated transport policy' but that was impossible because it had already been fragmented. One simple example that showed itself in the commuter stations feeding London from the North West (and I dare say most of the rest too):
- Tories allowed BR to sell of the car parks for profit.
- They got refurbished = nice
- Prices went through the roof = nasty
- Many folks stopped using the parks and used all the surrounding roads - then walked for five minutes = Bad
- Bad? Yes, because the locals then had parking from 06:30 up and down the street often obstructing the sightlines as they emerged from their drive into the road.
- Yes, we were one of those houses in Watford who had to get the council to paint double yellow lines so that we could safely use our drive. Which only displaced the traffic further down the road to some other hapless house.
I humbly suggest that the above sequence of unintended consequences is replicated across untold areas of British public life in the past 30 years.
For LHR? As I've said before, it's Game over. For the regions? They will continue to do rather well. With LCC for short/medium haul and a Euro hub (or MAN/GLA) for long haul with other carriers. Some small regionals (like Plymouth) will close but that is to be expected.