Business body calls for £620m Stansted plans
A LEADING industry body has called on the government’s airports commission to commit to a £620m package of proposals that would improve rail access to Stansted Airport and cut journey times.
London First – a business organisation that promotes the capital — has put forward a list of proposals that would cut the journey time of the Stansted Express to under 40 minutes, almost halve delays and deliver around £1.2bn in economic benefits.
The proposals include removing speed restrictions to ease congestion on certain lines such as Bethnal Green, and building new tracks so that express trains can overtake stopping services.
Baroness Jo Valentine, chief executive of London First, said: “We are at least a decade away from new runways serving London. We have no choice but to make more use of the assets we have to improve Britain’s air links to global markets.
Airports commissioner Sir Howard Davies will publish an interim report in December on how to boost airport capacity in the short term.