Decisions concerning HS2 and Heathrow should be made together rather than in isolation, an all-party parliamentary group (APPG) has said.
The APPG for an integrated transport strategy has called on the government to consider a joint approach to the new high-speed rail link and the development for an extra runway at Heathrow.
Both have been big political issues with the Airports Commission recently shortlisting Gatwick Airport and Heathrow Airport in the options to expand airport capacity in the south east.
HS2, which is expected to cost about £50 billion, would link London to Birmingham by 2026, with tracks to cities including Leeds and Manchester built in a second phase, to be completed by 2032-33.
Eurotunnel’s CEO and chairman, Jacques Gounon, said full connectivity between the UK and the continent is “vital” for the UK to continue to grow and compete.
“It’s essential that we adopt the proven European models of seamlessly integrating the UK’s planned high-speed rail network with major airports and HS1,” said Gounon.
“Let’s learn from our history and build our integrated transport system for the future, not the past,” he added.
In its report, HS2 and Intermodality for the UK: How do we better link up the UK?, the APPG said all major airports should be directly served by rail lines, carrying a mix of local, regional, long distance and high speed services via airport interchanges located on through lines, not branches or loops.
It claims the integration of air and rail will have numerous benefits including modal shift from road to rail, potential air/rail substitution of short haul flights to release scarce airport capacity, wider airport catchments and customer choice and easier regional access to global markets.
The APPG said there is a “unique opportunity” to develop this integrated approach before the Airports Commission issues its final report in summer 2015.
Conservative MP and APPG chair Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, addressing the GTMC's annual industry lunch, said: “HS2 will be our most expensive peacetime civil engineering project ever.
“The current weak business case would be hugely strengthened if the route were amended so that it properly links with Heathrow and connected with HS1.
“These changes will have an enormous long term benefit for the growth of our economy and passengers travelling to and from the UK”.
The APPG was formed in late 2013 with the objective of encouraging the government to adopt a long term integrated approach to national transport policy.
It was created in response to increasing concern at the lack of joined-up thinking in the UK’s transport strategy.