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BAA Stansted Surface Access Strategy Consultation

Author: eMB
Date: 01 Jun 2007

The West Anglia Routes Group responded to the British Airport Authority’s consultation on the strategy for improving transport services to meet the growth predicted at a two runway Stansted Airport.

Key points from the response included:

• WARG’s response should not be considered as a sign of support or otherwise for the expansion of Stansted – it is an expression of the potential implications on rail services such an expansion could pose.
• Without infrastructure improvement the West Anglia Routes will be unable to handle additional passenger loads deriving from an expanded G2 Stansted.
• 4-tracking between Copper Mill junction (south of Tottenham Hale) and Broxbourne Junction is WARG’s view of a minimum infrastructure requirement for an expanded Stansted. This should include addressing the issues caused by the level crossings along the Lea Valley.  The 3-tracking option, as presented in the most recent BAA consultation on rail access, represents an insufficient answer to the totality of capacity pressures that will be faced along the West Anglia Route.
• WARG advocates that stations servicing an expanded Stansted should include accessibility for the mobility impaired as one condition of approval
• WARG believes any expanded Stansted should be delivered alongside an improvement in intermediate services – a “Stansted Connect” service similar to that currently enjoyed by Heathrow, and a better service to Stratford for the Thames Gateway. Some intermediate stations can be candidates for expansion as primary rail/airport interchanges, with local public transport interchange improvements, eg Waltham Cross, Cheshunt, Broxbourne.
• WARG urges BAA to work with other stakeholders along the line, to secure funding certainty and to maximise the overall capacity that can be delivered along the West Anglia Route – including in relation to 4-tracking.
  

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