Originally Posted by
lcylocal
Would be great to see but cost of this would surely mean the chance of this being delivered in the next 30 years is very slim.
I guess the 3rd runway at LHR is more likely. The plan relies on HS2 operating (Phase 2 of HS2 is estimated to open in the early 2030s). Moreover, they cancelled the HS2-HS1 link (that would've enable trains to use the HS2 and HS1) to save £700 million.
Originally Posted by
d3vski
It’s actually a good idea.
I doubt that LHR and LGW would be happy about the idea. Both have no interest in sharing passengers (unless of course there is no other alternative to increase passenger numbers). You could see the "pick me, pick me" mentality when the choice was a 3rd runway at LHR or a 2nd runway at LGW.
Originally Posted by
d3vski
With High Speed rail, you can potentially cut European flights as a train would bring them to LGW or LHR
Not sure if that would actually convince customers. The train journey will always be longer than those short haul services, you'd have to lug around your checked bags, and you'd have to clear immigration and customs in Heathrow and possibly in Calais (depending on how this Brexit malarkey turns out).
The only reason where rail+train really seems to work is if the city in question has no airport in the first place: Rather than potentially driving hours to a smaller airport and connecting in LHR, they could drive a smaller distance to the high speed train station and get to LHR quickly.
Originally Posted by
d3vski
... and launch even more long haul destinations without having to add more runway capacity.
The number of flights would however reduce. Bigger airplanes require larger wake turbulence separation.