Cardiff Council leader Rodney Berman has today welcomed press reports that a £500m rail scheme linking Wales with Heathrow Airport is being drawn up by the UK Government.
Under the proposals a new railway station would be built at Heathrow Airport which would link directly to Cardiff, cutting journey times and avoiding the need to go via Paddington.
It is hoped that the link could be operational by 2021, with multi-million pound benefits to the South Wales economy.
Earlier this year the Government announced the £1bn electrification of the main rail line between London and Cardiff and the latest news follows lobbying by the Great Western Partnership (GWP), of which Cardiff Council is a member, for an electrified rail route running directly from South Wales to Heathrow Airport.
Councillor Berman said: “This is incredibly encouraging news. Along with the council leaders of Bristol and Swindon, I wrote to the Secretary of State for Transport calling for direct links to Heathrow from South Wales to be part of the future high-speed rail link. It sounds like the lobbying of the GWP has influenced Government thinking which is very pleasing.
“Electrification to London Paddington was good news, but by itself is not enough to give the boost to economic growth that South Wales needs. The link with Heathrow will help us attract new businesses to Cardiff and South Wales, opening up greater opportunities for inward investment. Travel links to major airports are a big consideration for businesses looking to relocate and if we can improve those links it can only mean that we attract more quality companies to Cardiff.
“This is ultimately going to be very important to the future growth of the economy in South Wales and the Cardiff city region.”
