Heathrow Airtrack = More Trains through Bracknell

The latest proposal made after public consultation by BAA for the Heathrow rail line extension (Airtrack), which intends to link Reading and Waterloo to Heathrow via Stains. This should result in running an extra two trains an hour on this line bring the total to 4 trains per hour. The example given in the report would cut travel from 1 hour and 25 minutes to 25 minutes from Wokingham to Heathrow.

It is intended that all tickets will be valid for these trains allowing users to use all trains.

The proposal will include;

1. Tunnelling from Heathrow Terminal 5 to Stanwell Moor
2. Construction of a new line across Stanwell Moor and Stains Moor
3. Building a new section of track on Stains
4. Remodelling Stains train station
5. Building a train depot in Feltham.
6. Foot bridges and paths would also be built

The above proposal has now gone to the Secretary of state for Transport to seek authorisation for these works and to examine any objections and to decide if a public inquiry is required.

A new train station in Stains town centre was rejected after public consultation.

There are still some unanswered questions

Will the ticket price remain the same?

The 2nd consultation Brochure (here) states that ‘Passengers will be able to use these new services to travel between existing stations, without payment of any supplement’.

Will the trains be faster?

There will be a train that runs direct from Bracknell to Stains every hour. Once a commuter arrives at Stains the commuter can change and get a direct train to London Waterloo. No train times have yet been produced, so waiting times at Stains are not known.

How does this effect Bracknell?

If it is possible to add two more trains then why has there not been some faster trains added from Bracknell and Wokingham in the mornings. Currently it takes 1 hour to travel from Bracknell to London Waterloo. Where as if you travelled from Farnborough to Waterloo this only takes 40 (38 to 42) minutes to cover a similar distance (of course there are fewer stops).

Bracknell has a train running at 2 and 32 minutes past the hour but in the morning there is an extra train at 7.39 if this extra train was moved to 7.50 surely it could go directly to waterloo and save time without affecting the level crossing any more than the current service does. This train service could stop at Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell & Clapham for example. Only a small change to an existing train service but this change would allow commuters an extra option for an improved service.

For Bracknell itself it would naturally be good to have an improved service, but why can this not be improved now as far as a direct train is concerned?

It should be noted that while extra trains are needed on this route if a Heathrow service was introduced, there are objections to this raised in Wokingham because of expected additional traffic congestion at level crossings (see http://www.waterloo-road.org/). Perhaps a timetable could be drawn up so that the effects of extra trains can be discussed and examined.

Objections can also be raised at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=51908604986&ref=search and http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/waterloo-road/

All notices and proposals for Airtrack can be read here .