Airtrack rival could 'solve level crossing problem'

Dec 21 2009 By Russell Butt

The Egham level crossing

An independent railway company is proposing a competitor service to Airtrack that would solve Egham's level crossing worries.

The Windsor Link Railway Company is putting forward a new service offering multiple access to Heathrow Airport, which it claims would save enough money compared to Airtrack, to fund bridges or tunnels over Egham's congested level crossings.

Chief executive of the Windsor Link Railway Company, George Bathurst, said that by combining the transport needs of other areas, not just commuting to Heathrow, gave them a cheaper enginereering solution,

"BAA's project is based on how to make profit, this is based on how to make life better for local people, so we're coming from two different perspectives. The purpose of Airtrack is solely to help people get to Heathrow, so it's very Heathrow-centric. But the purpose of our scheme is to address a whole raft of transport problems in the region."

Mr Bathurst claims Airtrack's need for expensive tunneling at Staines Moor and under the M25 means budgets won't stretch to pay for bridges or tunnels in Egham. However their scheme, which would use a bridge over the M25 and less tunnelling, would allow the budget to incorporate these solutions to prevent excessive barrier down times at Egham's three level crossings.

Mr Bathurst added: "The plan is to replace all the level crossings with bridges, because you can't increase the train frequency and ignore the consequences for local people. And because this is more than one scheme we can afford to do this."

The Windsor Link Railway will look to link Great Western services with Heathrow, including trains from Slough and Buckinghamshire.

The increased services proposed by Airtrack would lead to level crossing barriers in the town being down for up to 38 minutes each hour. The Egham Chamber of Commerce has been campaigning for Airtrack to only proceed if a solution to this problem is found.

Vice chairman of the chamber, Meijer Oliaji said she was in favour of improving rail infrastructure but was sceptical of this project. She said: "I don't see how they can do it for anything like a remotely sensible budget. It's an interesting project, but too complicated for words."

The Windsor Link Railway Company are now seeking support from local authorities to help with funding for the entirely privately financed project and if the anticipated budget of £500million is achieved a Transport and Works Act application will be submitted to the secretary of state in 2010.