IARO Report 21.15 Airport Rail Links in the Planning Stage
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IARO report 21.15 Airport Rail Links in the Planning Stage The EuroCAREX cargo rail express network includes plans for links to several airports. 1 IARO Report 21.15: Airport Rail Links in the Planning Stage Published by: International Air Rail Organisation Suite 3, Charter House, 26 Claremont Road, Surbiton KT6 4QZ UK Telephone +44 (0)20 8390 0000 Fax +44 (0)870 762 0434 Website www.iaro.com Email [email protected] ISBN tba © International Air Rail Organisation 2015 £250 to non-members IARO's mission is to spread world class best practice and good practical ideas among airport rail links world-wide. 2 Contents Chapter Page 1 Introduction 4 2 Planned Air-Rail Links 5 3 Western Rail Access to Heathrow 8 4 Glasgow Tram-Train Link 12 5 US Case Studies 16 6 Conclusions and Learning Points 24 IARO's Air/Rail conferences and workshops 26 3 1. Introduction This report looks at airport rail links in the planning stage, and is largely based on an IARO workshop held at Heathrow Airport, London, UK, in November 2014. Using examples of airport rail links in which IARO members have been involved, it seeks to answer the following questions: • Can we forecast air-rail link patronage? • Why do some plans succeed, and others fail? • Should we plan in-house or use consultants? • How do we get stakeholders involved? • Who pays and how do we negotiate between stakeholders? • What opportunities are there for IARO members? The examples discussed at the workshop were the Western Rail Access to Heathrow (WRAtH) project, the Glasgow Airport TramTrain Link, plus a number of projects in the USA. The report begins with an overview of the numbers and types of air-rail link at various stages of planning, design or construction. It then describes the case studies and concludes with some key learning points. The contributions from all participants at the IARO workshop is acknowledged, in particular from: Andrew Sharp, IARO Policy Advisor; Simon Earles, Head of Surface Access at Heathrow Airport; Ross Nimmo, Planning Manager at Glasgow Airport; Malcolm Parsons of Network Rail; and Matthew Coogan of the New England Transportation Institute. 4 2. Planned Air-Rail Links There are around 300 air-rail links of various types in operation around the world, and around 600 in various stages of planning, design or construction. The 600 can be divided by region and type as follows. Type/ High Airport Regional Suburban Light Rail Cargo Region 1 speed Express /metro Africa 4 0 5 7 7 1 Australia/ 3 0 4 5 7 2 New Zealand Europe 28 3 60 48 58 14 Far East 2 9 4 20 33 9 0 India/ 0 1 4 15 3 1 Pakistan Middle East 3 7 0 7 13 7 5 North 24 4 40 29 58 24 America Russia 4 1 1 1 13 5 3 South 4 3 0 13 8 0 America Total 80 16 141 176 16 2 50 planned (13%) (3%) (23%) (28%) (26%) (8%) Total in 19 21 92 128 37 20 operation (6%) (7%) (29%) (40%) (12%) (6%) Some trends can be noted from the totals. • A significant growth in high speed rail links is planned in virtually every region. • Relatively few airport expresses are planned. This type of link has been built at a number of large airports and has been successful in raising standards and attracting premium air passengers, but there are a number of countries where the concept has not been developed despite there being many large airports with rail links - for example in the USA, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. 1 The regions have been selected for convenience and do not imply any political affiliation. 2 Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam 3 Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates 4 Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan 5 • Large numbers of regional and suburban/metro links are planned, similar in proportion to the existing links of these types. The definition of these types may well overlap, so care should be taken when looking at the numbers. • The largest planned growth is in suburban/metro and light rail links. This huge growth is planned for all regions, but new light rail links are planned particularly in North America . • A growth in the number of cargo links is planned, particularly in North America. Some points can also be noted for each of the regions. African region • The number of air passengers in the region is low, representing only 3.5% of world revenue passenger km. • Four high speed links are planned, significant as there are no current high speed lines in the region, three of which are related to Egypt's plans for a high speed line. • No airport expresses are planned. • The number of regional, suburban/metro and light rail links is in line with the worldwide trend. Light rail is of interest as there are only limited light rail systems in operation in the region. Three light rail projects are in North Africa and three in Nigeria. Australia/New Zealand • The new high speed lines planned for the west coast of Australia (Brisbane-Canberra- Sydney-Melbourne) are controversial, with debate including whether they should serve airports. • The planning of Sydney's second airport has been a long-running saga, but it is now to be at Badgery's Creek, 50 km from the city centre, and is planned to be served by new spurs from two suburban lines. Europe • Many extensions to Europe's high speed rail networks are planned. • Two of the three airport expresses planned are additional links at larger airports (Paris CDG and Berlin). • Very large numbers of regional, suburban/metro and light rail projects are planned across all countries, particularly in Western Europe. • Cargo links are already developed in this region and there are several more planned. Some are used for building materials or aviation fuel, others are being trialled for air cargo, for example at Leipzig-Halle and Frankfurt but there ambitious plans for the EuroCAREX network. Far East • Growth in high speed links in this region is dominated by developments in China. • Currently this is the region with the highest proportion of airport expresses, and four more are planned • There are not many existing light rail links in this region, and only a few planned. • No cargo links are planned. 6 India/Pakistan • A new airport express was planned for Bangalore Kempegowda Airport, which opened in 2008 and is 40 km from the city centre. Initially a PPP, it has now changed and is likely to be a public sector metro link. • The largest number of planned links in this region are suburban/metro types, as many of the cities have existing systems which can be extended. Middle East • Very significant growth is planned, from the existing two links to 39. • High speed rail is being developed extensively, for example the GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council) Railway project which covers seven countries, with a number of the lines potentially serving airports. • There are no plans for airport expresses, but the Dubai metro is an example of a very high quality service. • A significant number of cargo links are planned, associated with a number of new freight railways. North America • Very large numbers of new links are planned if all types, including new airport expresses at Montreal, Chicago and Orlando. • A large number of high speed links are planned, albeit many of these are long term aspirations. • A very large number of regional. suburban/metro and, in particular, light rail links are planned. Many of these have good prospects for implementation as they are extensions of existing networks. • Cargo links are planned in association with the cargo aerotropolis concept, for example at Hunstville Alabama, with a co-located airport, rail freight terminal and processing facilities. Other plans are being developed in Fort Worth, Texas, Columbus, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky and a number of other airports in the US. Russian region • There are relatively few new links planned. • The possible new airport express is at St Petersburg, but the plans are very uncertain. • The largest number of planned links are suburban/metro. South America • Three airport links are proposed for the Sao Paulo high speed line. • Airport expresses are planned in Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo. 7 3. Western Rail Access to Heathrow Heathrow Airport contends that it is already the best connected airport in the UK, with 4 Heathrow Express, 2 Heathrow Connect and 12 Piccadilly Line trains per hour providing 5,000 seats and serving 7 stations at the Airport, complementing its road access. From 2019, Crossrail will connect Heathrow with London's main business centres. Crossrail's 4 trains per hour will replace Heathrow Connect with longer and more frequent trains. The Piccadilly Line is to be upgraded with new trains and signalling to a higher frequency and with more capacity. High Speed 2 (HS2), phase 1 of which is planned for completion in 2026, will include an interchange with Crossrail and Heathrow Express at Old Oak Common in West London, transforming connections to the Midlands, the North and Scotland. At the time of publication of this report, the UK Airports Commission is considering three options for additional runway capacity. Two of these options are at Heathrow and the third is at Gatwick. Current and future rail access is a critical element of the assessment of the options. The Airports Commission will publish their final report later in 2015 and the Government will then decide on future action.