As envisaged by the AirTrack Forum since its inception in 2000, the essentials of the AirTrack concept are:

• A proposal to connect Heathrow directly to the South West Trains rail network.
• Three new services to/from Heathrow Terminal 5, via Staines: London Waterloo via Richmond; Guildford via Woking and Reading via Bracknell, with stops at selected additional stations on each route.
• Services every 30 minutes in each direction on each route, making six trains an hour to and from Heathrow, with end-to-end journey times of between 35 and 45 minutes.
• Use of over 95km of the existing rail network.
• Construction of just 4 km of new railway to connect the sub-surface station at Heathrow Terminal 5 to the existing Windsor line near Staines and the re-building of 400m of railway in Staines (to allow trains to access the existing line to Reading).
• When completed, an opportunity for more rail service options in the future.

Since 2006, BAA/HAL (Heathrow Airport Ltd) have been developing a specific and detailed scheme proposal - "Heathrow Airtrack", which substantially reflects the scheme concept championed by the AirTrack Forum, but now includes some important revisions (see Infrastructure Requirements and Proposed Services). 

In July 2009, HAL submitted an application to the Secretary of State for Transport for an order under the Transport and Works Act 1992, seeking powers to construct, maintain and operate the railway and to acquire the necessary land and associated planning consents. 

Please note that the AirTrack Forum has no responsibility for the content of the HAL application to the Secretary of State.

Rail access to Heathrow from the area to the south and west of London - and much of southern England - is poor, so it is not surprising that the concept of a new link has been the subject of a number of major project proposals over the last 30 years.

The AirTrack concept would, at last, address this need for air passengers, as well as improving public transport access to Heathrow in its role as a major transport and employment hub.  It would assist in tackling the very real issues of traffic congestion in this busy area.

Studies undertaken or supported by the AirTrack Forum in 2004 and 2005 confirmed the practical and economic viability of the proposal; indeed, the AirTrack Forum believes its work demonstrated the AirTrack concept to be one of the most cost-effective rail schemes then under consideration anywhere in the UK.  It is a close fit with regional and national policies.

In 2006, BAA Ltd announced that it would provide the funding for HAL to promote a Transport and Works Act Order for the scheme; since which extensive consultation and the detailed work to prepare an application has been undertaken by BAA/HAL and their advisors.

If approved, the Transport and Works Act Order will give powers to construct, maintain and operate the railway, acquire the necessary land and associated planning consents.

The AirTrack Forum believes that Heathrow Airtrack is urgently required to meet the public transport demands of a five-terminal Heathrow, regardless of whether or not any further airport development ultimately happens.

The Forum recognises that there are genuine concerns about the environmental impacts of the scheme, but believes these can and should be mitigated through careful design and appropriate measures.