Fresh calls for new western rail link to Heathrow
It would save passengers from the West having to travel in and out of Paddington to access the airport.
Last updated 1st Mar 2025
MPs are calling on the government to support a new rail link from Langley in Slough to Heathrow Airport.
The call– backed by 18 MPs and former Prime Minister baroness Theresa May of Maidenhead– comes after the government said last month it would support a third runway at Heathrow.
It would involve building a tunnel east of Langley station- a suburb of Slough- linking the Great Western mainline with Heathrow Airport.
Currently people travelling by rail to the airport from the West must take the train through Reading and Slough into London Paddington, then change to go back out towards the airport.
It would see journey times reduced by an average of half an hour.
In a letter, the group said: “We believe the business case for the western rail link to Heathrow is as strong as it was in 2019, especially given the recent developments regarding the proposed third runway at Heathrow Airport.”
“This proposed link would eliminate the need to travel into London for more than 20 per cent of the UK’s population, reducing their journey time by an average of 30 minutes.”
The letter was written on behalf of the all party parliamentary group on the western rail link to Heathrow, which is headed by Slough MP Tan Dhesi and baroness May, on Wednesday, February 26th.
Other Berkshire MPs to sign the letter were Wokingham’s Clive Jones, Woodley and Earley’s Yuan Yang and Windsor’s Jack Rankin.