Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the surface access requirements in the draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement (HENPS) will require the promoter to deliver or fund a direct rail route between Woking and Heathrow Airport.

The Government recognises the importance of surface access to any future expansion of Heathrow Airport.

The draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement states that enhanced rail connectivity is necessary to support expansion and achieve public transport mode share targets. It requires any expansion promoter to set out in its surface access strategy, required as part of the development consent process, the rail enhancements it proposes to deliver, together with a credible delivery plan and how any necessary schemes will be financed, developed with Network Rail and other relevant stakeholders.

The Government has not identified a preferred rail scheme, giving promoters flexibility to develop proposals that support their wider surface access strategy.