Third runway will cripple Piccadilly Line
by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
15/08/2008
The Piccadilly Line could become nothing more than an unbearable tourist shuttle for holiday makers commuting to and from Heathrow if a third runway is built.
The Department for Transport (DfT) hopes to allow 222,000 additional flights at Heathrow every year by adding a third runway and relaxing flying restrictions.
Campaigners against uncontrolled Heathrow expansion say that, in addition to the extra night-flight misery over previously unaffected parts of the borough, like Hammersmith, building a third runway will mean hundreds of thousands of additional passengers on the Piccadilly Line every year.
Without extra capacity, in the form of longer and more frequent trains, this could spell more transport misery for already hard pressed Hammersmith & Fulham commuters.
Transport for London (TfL) research shows that a doubling of passengers is expected on the line, which runs from Heathrow Terminal 5 to Cockfosters, if a third runway is built. Statistics also show the line close to breaking point - running at 97 per cent of capacity.
Councillor Nicholas Botterill, H&F Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, says, “Many residents already struggle to find a space, let alone a seat, when the Piccadilly Line trains roll into the borough. If a third runway is built at Heathrow, there will be even greater numbers of tourists commuting from the airport in to central London. If this happens, catching a train from any one of Hammersmith & Fulham’s Piccadilly Line stations will become even more difficult than it is already.”
36 per cent of workers in the borough travel to work by tube - the highest proportion in London.
Cllr Botterill continues: “There are many other arguments against a third runway at Heathrow, not least the huge increases in aircraft noise and air pollution, but the knock-on effects for commuters trying to get in and out of our borough could be as damaging as anything else.”
H&F Council is part of the 2M Group of local authorities which is lobbying hard for expansion plans at Heathrow to be put on ice.
John Stewart, Chairman of campaign group HACAN ClearSkies, said: “The doubling of passengers on the Piccadilly Line doesn’t bear thinking about. HACAN is not against Heathrow Airport in principle but we are saying enough is enough. This is a prime example of a damaging by-product of uncontrolled airport expansion.”
Cllr Botterill concludes: “The momentum and weight of opinion against a third runway is growing. We are campaigning - through the 2M Group - for the third runway plans to be shelved. We are pushing TfL for more capacity on the Piccadilly Line. And we now want BAA to invest some time and money into improving the services they already have rather than clogging up our already over stretched tube network with extra passengers from a third runway.”
The Transport Secretary is expected to making a ruling on Heathrow expansion before the end of the year.
