lots of level crossings as well.. Rail people have pointed for years that this severely limits the number of additional trains you can run....

:ugh:It's OK, they can just remove commuter trains as they did when Gatwick Express was invented. Commuters put up with anything.:ugh:

Shenzhen Airlines starting flights from Shenzhen
to LHR from end October 18

With David Davis throwing in the towel there is speculation that Grayling, a staunch lieutenant of the Prime Minister "might" get the job.

As a loyal supporter of Heathrow there could of course be implications down the line as he holds the brief to defend the large number of objections now piling up in the courts.

There are many in the North who would love to see him move on. Having wrecked transport infrastructure in the North he would at least end up taking the rest of the country down with him.

Navpi
Unfortunately your wish not granted.
However £1.5bn contract to upgrade the Piccadilly Line with new rolling stock and signals. However, less seats and more standing room increases the capacity which is still not enough for R3 predicted growth.
So far £2.5bn spending of our money for R3.

So you want them to spend more? To provide more capacity?

Not sure where your coming from,

The Piccadilly line underground is being upgraded, however for the R3 to meet its targets of public transport usage, the upgrade cannot match the volume of passengers. Heathrow are not contributing so we are paying £1.5bn to partially reduce road arriving new travellers, so not an expansion as a hub, but just more passengers from the SE and elsewhere.

I use the Piccadilly line every day as do many, many others. Only some of these actually go all the way to LHR.

The trains are old rickety things and in need of upgrading. This is just part of TFL's ongoing tube upgrade program. Just because LHR is on the end of the line does not mean it is being done for the benefit of the airport.

Heathrow relies on the tube to move passengers (cheaply) it was extended to the airport for that reason.

I don't dispute that but why should it pay for TFL's upgrade when TFL earns so much from tube ticket sales?

Should HAL be paying towards BA's fleet upgrades? After all BA flies into LHR and bring passengers to the terminals to shop.

TFL runs the tube network to multiple destinations and makes good money from it. Why do you expect them to start asking popular destinations to contribute towards running their business? Should the museums also contribute? What about Harrods, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge etc. They all rely on the tube to bring them customers. Should they be giving TFL money?

Typically house-builders do pay towards the provision of public transport in London, don't they? E.g. the current Northern Line extension

The Northern line extension (NLE) is estimated to cost £998.9m based on completion by the end of 2019. The Government confirmed in the Chancellor’s 2012 Autumn Statement that up to £1bn of borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board would be available to the Greater London Authority (GLA) to finance the construction of the NLE. Whilst the borrowing will be undertaken by the public sector, the funding to repay this borrowing will come from the private sector in the form of:
• Incremental business rates generated and retained within a new Enterprise zone; and
• Developer contributions, raised by the London Boroughs of Wandsworth and Lambeth on the Battersea Power Station site and across the wider Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea (VNEB) Opportunity Area under the Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) regimes.

http://content.tfl.gov.uk/nl-factsheet-i-web.pdf

(my bold)

Extending the line to support a particular development is different. House prices in London are very dependent on proximity to a tube station. The developers of Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms will make considerable profit as the extra value they can sell the apartments for will be greater than the cost of the extended line and station. This is more comparable to the construction of the Heathrow Express or the Heathrow Crossrail link.

Upgrading TFL's trains on an existing line, which makes TFL a profit, of which only some of the passengers are going to LHR isn't the same.

Is anyone elses OCD kicking in here? Surely just say £1b, then at least you have some wiggle room for when it inevitably goes over budget :p

They do after your first visit on ESTA. When i go through US immigration i go through the US citizens line.

It's behind a paywall but but reference here to more incompetence by GRAYLING.

In an interview with the FT, Transport Committee Chair Lilian Greenwood accuses Chris Grayling of ignoring the majority of Committee's recommendations on 3rd runway, thus increasing the chances of a successful legal challenge https://t.co/UemYGELU2e via @financialtimes