Posted without comment:


Wandsworth reveals Waterloo-Heathrow direct rail plans


Wandsworth Council has today unveiled plans for a new direct rail
service from south London to Heathrow airport.

The proposal — which is based on BAA’s Airtrack scheme — would provide
four trains an hour from Waterloo to the airport’s Terminal 5 with
stops in Wandsworth at Clapham Junction and Putney.

The plans avoid routing extra trains through level crossings in
Mortlake and Egham. This was a key problem with the original scheme
which was scrapped by BAA in April.

Wandsworth’s new plan, called Airtrack-Lite, routes two trains an hour
from Waterloo via the Hounslow loop. Two existing services on the
Waterloo-Windsor line would split at Staines to provide a further
direct link to Terminal Five. Two services an hour would also come up
from Weybridge to Heathrow — again without adding extra frequencies
over level crossings at Egham.

The new scheme would require a new station at Staines and a new
stretch of track from there to Terminal 5. The rest of the route would
run along existing lines.

A map of the proposed route is available on the council’s website:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6xjzzoa
or:
http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/downloa...e_rail_service