DEPARTMENT FOR
TRANSPORT News Release (007) issued by COI News Distribution
Service. 15 January 2009
Britain will
benefit from major air, rail and road improvements as Transport
Secretary Geoff Hoon today outlined radical new plans for the
UK's transport infrastructure, designed to support the
economy and secure jobs in the long term.
Mr Hoon confirmed Government support for a third runway at
Heathrow airport but not for "mixed mode" which would
have seen the two existing runways used more intensively.
Alongside this, he outlined measures to help protect jobs and put
Britain on a footing to recover from the global economic downturn, including:
* Details of where up to £6bn to increase capacity on some of the
nation's busiest roads will be spent - providing an extra 520
lane miles of road by widening and opening up the hard shoulder -
as well as new plans to roll-out hard shoulder running across the
core motorway network.
* The creation of a new company - High
Speed 2 - to help consider the case for new high speed rail
services between London and Scotland and tasked initially with
developing a proposal for an entirely new line between London and
the West Midlands which could link to Heathrow and Crossrail
through a new international interchange station.
* Further
work to consider the case for electrifying two of Britain busiest
railway lines - Great Western and Midland Mainline - with
decisions to be announced later in the year.
Alongside this the Transport Secretary announced new measures to
protect the environment and help ensure that Britain meets its
climate change commitments, including:
* Bringing international pressure for international aviation to
be part of global deal on climate change, building on
aviation's inclusion in the European Emissions Trading
Scheme.
* New work to promote international agreement on
progressively stricter limits on carbon dioxide emissions from
aircraft, similar to those already in place for new cars within
the EU.
* The intention to set a new target of reducing UK
aviation emissions below 2005 levels by 2050.
* A limit on
initial use of the third runway so that the total increase in
flights does not exceed 125,000 a year - almost half the
additional capacity which the Government originally
proposed.
* Only allowing capacity increases beyond that to be
approved by the Government after a review in 2020 by the Climate
Change Committee.
* Allowing new capacity to only be released
only once strict air quality and noise conditions are shown to be
met and on the basis of independent assessment.
* The
intention to bring in incentives for new capacity to be given to
cleaner, quieter aircraft.
* £250m to get more ultra
low-carbon vehicles on Britain's roads, helping motorists to
go green by stimulating consumer uptake and helping to reduce
emissions from road transport and improve local air quality.
Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon said:
"Transport is the lifeblood of Britain's economy. In
spite of record levels of investment over the last decade,
increasing demand means that in many places our transport
infrastructure is operating at, or very near, capacity. It is
essential we take the right decisions now: for the economy, to
drive down greenhouse gas emissions by 2050; and to support
British jobs.
"Heathrow is vital to our economy. It connects us to the
growth markets of the future - essential for every great trading
nation. But for too long it has operated at full capacity, losing
ground to international hub airports in other countries and with
relatively minor problems causing severe delays to passengers.
"This third runway will help secure jobs now and in the
future and ensure that Britain remains a place where the world can
come to do business."
Geoff Hoon added:
"However, we need to do more than just improve Heathrow to
ensure that Britain's economy can cope with the transport
demands of the 21st century.
"A new rail line between London and the West Midlands
approaching London via a Heathrow International interchange would
enable faster journeys to the North and Scotland and could link
the airport with rail destinations throughout the UK. This would
unlock Heathrow for the rest of the country, making it a truly
national asset. I expect to receive advice from High Speed 2 by
the end of the year on a credible plan for a new line with
financing proposals.
"We also need to look at ways of making the railway more
efficient and greener. The case for electrification on the Great
Western and the Midland Mainline routes appears strong as electric
trains are quicker, quieter and they emit less CO2.
"It is clear that many of our major roads also need more
capacity and we are committing up to £6bn to improve the national
road network - including extending hard shoulder running to some
of the busiest parts of M1, M25, M6, M62, M3 and M4, providing
much-needed relief from congestion."
Mr Hoon confirmed the Government's support for a third
runway and additional terminal facilities at Heathrow after
confirming that the strict environmental criteria it had placed as
a condition to expansion would be met.
He also announced that as he had rejected mixed mode - he would
expect the airport operator to bring forward a planning
application for the third runway so that it could be built as soon
as possible in the period 2015 - 2020 so as to reduce delays to
for existing passengers and improve resilience.
In order to give further assurance that environmental limits will
be met, Mr Hoon also announced that new capacity at Heathrow would
be released only once strict air quality and noise conditions are
shown to be met and on the basis of independent assessment and
enforcement. He also confirmed the intention to introduce
incentives for new capacity to be given to cleaner, quieter
aircraft and that the first call on new capacity should ensure
that journeys are more reliable for existing passengers.
Geoff Hoon said:
"Things have improved greatly for those living near the
airport over the past 30 years. Improved aircraft technology means
that, while in 1974 some 2 million people around Heathrow were
affected by average levels of noise at or above 57 decibels, by
2002 that number had dropped to 258,000 people.
"People who live around the airport clearly value runway
alternation and that is why I have rejected more intensive use of
the existing runways through mixed mode.
"But we need to do more. The additional measures I am
putting in place - on slot priority for cleaner, quieter aircraft
and the release of new capacity only once environmental conditions
are shown to be met - also demonstrate my determination to
mitigate the effects of the airport on those who live nearby."
Today's announcements follow the 'Adding Capacity at
Heathrow Airport' consultation which began in November 2007
and attracted over 70,000 responses.
When the Government gave support to further development at
Heathrow in its 2003 Air Transport White Paper in 2003 it made
this support conditional on strict local noise and air quality
limits and on an improvement in public transport access to the airport.
The 'Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport' consultation
set out the grounds on which the Government believed those
conditions could be met.
Notes to Editors
Heathrow
1. The 2003 White Paper 'The Future of Air Transport'
made clear that given the economic benefits to the UK, the
Government supports the further development of Heathrow by adding
a third runway and exploring the scope for making greater use of
the existing runways, subject to meeting strict local conditions
on air quality and noise and improving public transport access.
2. In full, the local conditions which must be met to permit
expansion of Heathrow are:
- There should be no net increase in the total area of the 57dBA
noise contour. This would be measured at 127sq.km which was the
size of the contour in the summer of 2002.
- Government would need to be confident that levels of nitrogen
dioxide (the critical pollutant) would be contained within EU
limits, which will apply from 2010 or 2015 where the European
Commission agrees the case for extension.
- There must be improvements to public transport access to the airport.
3. In November 2007, the Department published a consultation on
the future expansion of Heathrow airport which invited views on:
- A proposal for a third runway and associated passenger terminal
facilities, and the Government's assessment of how the strict
local environmental conditions mentioned above could be met;
- A proposal to introduce 'mixed mode' on
Heathrow's existing two runways as an interim measure and the
Government's assessment of how the same strict local
environmental conditions could be met. In considering the
'mixed mode' options the consultation looked at the
position with or without additional air traffic movements;
- The results of a review of operational procedures on the
existing runways - 'westerly preference' (the preferred
direction of operation) and the 'Cranford agreement'
(which generally prohibits easterly departures off the northern
runway) - irrespective of any further changes; and
- An assessment of the effects of night-time rotation between
westerly and easterly preference, and of the current trial of
runway alternation in the 0600 to 0700 period.
4. Today's announcement confirms support for a third runway
and associated passenger terminal facilities, while rejecting the
case for mixed mode. Westerly preference is retained, but the
Cranford agreement is ended. Night time rotation and early
morning runway alternation are both confirmed.
5. Allowing 'mixed mode' to go ahead on the two
existing runways would have seen them used simultaneously for both
arrivals and take-offs. This would have ended the current system
of runway alternation which gives local residents respite from
overhead aircraft noise for at least 8 hours each day.
6. Ending the Cranford agreement, which generally prohibits
easterly take-offs from the northern runway, will spread noise
more fairly around affected communities and extends the benefits
of runway alternation to the residents of Windsor and others to
the west of the airport, and Hatton and North Feltham to the east.
7. These decisions are set out in Adding Capacity at Heathrow
Airport - Decisions Following Consultation which is published
today with a number of other documents including:
- Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport: Report on Consultation
Responses
- Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport - Impact
Assessment
- Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport - Equalities
Impact Assessment
- UK Air Passenger Demand and CO2 Forecasts 2009
8. All these documents and other supporting material will be
available from the DfT website at:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/aviation/heathrowconsultations/heathrowdecision/
High-speed rail and electrification
1. The formation of High Speed Two will build on Network
Rail's study of options for new lines and the formation last
October of the National Networks Strategy Group chaired by Andrew
Adonis. Network Rail's work has pointed to a strong case for
a new line from London at least to the West Midlands. This would
both improve connectivity and increase capacity on the existing
West Coast Main Line, which is forecast to become overcrowded by
about 2025.
2. High Speed Two will be chaired on an interim basis by Sir
David Rowlands. Sir David was until 2007 Permanent Secretary at
the DfT. Earlier in his career at the Department he led the team
which advised Ministers on the preferred route for the Channel
Tunnel Rail Link and subsequently oversaw delivery of the Link on
time and on budget.
3. Network Rail and DfT have been jointly examining the case for
further rail electrification. This can have advantages on busy
parts of the network, given the lower carbon emissions and better
performance of electric trains. A decision on electrification of
the most heavily used parts of the Great Western mainline from
Paddington and the Midland mainline north of Bedford will be
announced later this year, alongside decisions on the deployment
of the new inter city express trains.
4. Further details are set out in Britain's transport
infrastructure: High Speed Two which is published today. The
relevant documents will be found on the DfT website: http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/pi/highspeedtwo/
Roads
1. The document supporting today's announcement,
Britain's Transport Infrastructure: Motorways and Major Trunk
Roads, details the locations where capacity will be added to the
motorway and major trunk road network, including through hard
shoulder running.
2. This builds on our command paper, Roads - Delivering Choice
and Reliability' published in July 2008, which set out the
challenge that we face in sustaining the key role of the national
road network in supporting economic growth and productivity, in
the face of current congestion at peak times and traffic growth.
It announced that up to £6 billion had been made available to fund
improvements to national strategic roads in England, and set out
the national schemes which were being considered for this funding.
3. This funding is in addition to the £3 billion allocated to
strategic regional roads before 2015/16 through the Regional
Funding Allocation process. Regions are currently reviewing their
priorities for the period up to 2018/19.
4. The document also explains the way in which we will apply the
'managed motorways' concept progressively across key
parts of the network in England, and the schemes that will be
taken forward. It also sets out our programme of other capacity
enhancements on the national network.
5. The relevant documents will be found on the DfT website:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/network/policy/motorways/
Ultra - low emission cars
1. £250m has been committed for consumer incentives and
infrastructure development, supplementing an existing £100m
programme for research, development and demonstration, to help the
Government aim of bringing ultra low carbon vehicles to mass
market more quickly.
2. The funds will help stimulate consumer uptake of ultra-low
emission cars and support provision of infrastructure that may be
required. Further details will be made available later this year.
Public Enquiries: 020 7944 8300
Department for Transport
Website: http://www.dft.gov.uk