Blame Ken Bloody Livingstone… our beloved London Mayor!
FROM BBC:
Heathrow ‘to get congestion charge’
London mayor Ken Livingstone has dropped his biggest hint yet that he is going to introduce a £5 charge for people to drive to Heathrow Airport.
He said the money raised would go towards the £100m needed to build the Crossrail link, which will connect the west London airport to the City via twin underground tunnels.
Speaking at his weekly press conference Mr Livingstone said Heathrow suffered the worst pollution outside central London, most of it caused by cars.
The toll would also deter people from getting family or friends to drop them off and pick them up, which he dubbed “kiss-and-fly”.
“This is the death of kiss-and-fly because that will cost you £10 for the two journeys,” he said.
“Heathrow is increasingly a business airport so the people can afford it.”
About 45,000 passengers a day, 39% of the total, travel to Heathrow by private car.
A further 30,000 who arrive by taxi would be exempt from the toll as would the airport’s 68,000 staff.
The mayor has said he would extend central London’s congestion charge zone – an area in which you have to pay £5 to drive into – westwards to cover Kensington and Chelsea and the rest of Westminster, if he was re-elected in 2004.
But he said: “We could do Heathrow more quickly than west London, which has now slipped to Christmas 2005, because it will take longer than we thought to improve public transport.”
The scheme would be much cheaper to install than the central London charge because enforcement cameras would only be needed on seven roads leading into the airport.
No timetable
BAA, which operates Heathrow, has also been considering a toll because of concerns that local roads will be overwhelmed when Terminal 5 opens in 2007.
On Wednesday a spokesman for the mayor’s office said: “This has been talked about for some time and is in the mayor’s plans.
“But no firm decision has been made and no timetable set.”
Angie Bray, London Assembly Conservatives congestion charge spokesman, said: “This is to do with raising money by taxing motorists who have no choice but to use their cars.
“The public transport links to Heathrow are inappropriate for many holiday makers with the Heathrow Express especially being very pricey.
“I also fail to see why Livingstone is so proud to say he will be ending what he calls “kiss and fly”.
“That Livingstone wants to charge people to say goodbye to loved ones is fundamentally wrong.”
By: Bhoy - 12th April 2003 at 01:59
right… just to get facts straight…
in Trafalgar Square, there’s a ruddy great Statue on top of a Pillar… Nelson’s Column (the Statue being of the afore mentioned Admiral Lord Nelson).
He did defeat Napoleon, in the battle of Trafalgar (Cape Trafalgar is at the Mouth of the Mediterranean, about 50 miles west of Gibraltar).
By: greekdude1 - 12th April 2003 at 00:35
Not a fan of names, per se, I just like Sir Winston.
By: mongu - 12th April 2003 at 00:08
I guess we have a different attitude to grandiose names GD! I’d prefer it to be named after its actual locations (like Heathrow village).
The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval success against Napoleon, won (I think) by Admiral Nelson.
By: greekdude1 - 12th April 2003 at 00:04
London Churchill, THAT IS NICE!!! I very much approve. I like Trafalgar, as well. Named after the square, or is the square named after a person that I’m not familiar with?
By: mongu - 12th April 2003 at 00:01
Well as long as they don’t go all immodest and start calling it “London Churchill International” or “London Trafalgar” or something, I’m happy! Keep the Blairster away from this!
By: greekdude1 - 11th April 2003 at 23:46
You’d have to cut the name down to 3 letters, however, unless they reserved a special 4-letter code, just for the sake of LHR2.
By: mongu - 11th April 2003 at 23:38
Correct, the airlines are in love with LHR.
But…why?
I would volunteer that it is the sheer magnitude of the airport, the number of airlines, the number of destinations…great for connecting pax, and handily a few miles away from one of the World’s main cities.
Trouble is….it is shocking. Infrastructure is appalling, whole thing is badly planned.
Ideally, we would knock LHR down and build LHR2.
By: greekdude1 - 11th April 2003 at 17:59
They can encourage airlines to use other airports, London or otherwise, till they’re blue in the face. The bottom line is, Heathrow slots are like gold. Airlines aren’t going to just give them up. Look what happened to TWA after they sold their Heathrow slots in ’91? They got swallowed up by the same airline they sold them to.
By: flyingfemme - 11th April 2003 at 16:38
Much as we have tried
the only way to get to and from Heathrow is by car (from the West Country). Trains require going into and out of London and buses just don’t run at the right time.
If traffic was going to be such a problem – why the HELL did they ever start on T5?
The only sensible thing to do is encourage the airlines to use other airports (and I don’t mean other LONDON airports) and give us all a shorter journey.
Could somebody explain to me just what the “planners” are doing for their wages?
By: T5 - 10th April 2003 at 21:38
I think our transport-guy, Mr Livingstone should rectify our absolutely knackered public transport system before even attempting to introduce a congestion charge.
The only way I can to Heathrow without a car is to ge the Southwest Trains Reading to Waterloo service and get off at Feltham, connecting onto a bus. These trains are pathetic. Only about 15-20% of the time are they actually running on-time!
By: wysiwyg - 10th April 2003 at 20:26
I wouldn’t expect it to affect many airport workers at LHR as the staff car parks are outside the perimeter and staff are then bussed in.
Regards
wys
(previously LHR based with another company!)
By: Ren Frew - 10th April 2003 at 15:13
Sounds like a BAA thing the more I hear about it ?
By: Gaurav - 10th April 2003 at 14:50
Originally posted by A330Crazy
Just a thought here, going on what Bhoy said… that people will be looking to use the other airports around London.If people do this, which could very well happen, wouldn’t T5 be a waste of time and money? You know what with less demand?
Yeah sure £5 charge to start with but, in the coming years you just know the prices will be hiked!!! Which could cause a turn away in passenger numbers.
Then the demand for things to be bigger and better at London’s other airports would be on!
I never thought of this before, but now you bring this up, mayber in other airports a charge will be issued
By: martin_EGTK - 10th April 2003 at 14:44
This seems completely wrong. I have several friends who are based at EGLL with BA and I wonder what the effect of this will be on them.
We are lucky here in Oxford to have a 24 hour bus service that runs every 30 minutes, but what about those who live in villages or have too much to carry to take public transport, it seems totally unreasonable.
By: A330Crazy - 10th April 2003 at 13:12
Just a thought here, going on what Bhoy said… that people will be looking to use the other airports around London.
If people do this, which could very well happen, wouldn’t T5 be a waste of time and money? You know what with less demand?
Yeah sure £5 charge to start with but, in the coming years you just know the prices will be hiked!!! Which could cause a turn away in passenger numbers.
Then the demand for things to be bigger and better at London’s other airports would be on!
By: Gaurav - 10th April 2003 at 12:00
This is a ridiculous idea. Although I can understand why this is happening, but we pay enough taxes as it is
By: Ren Frew - 10th April 2003 at 10:34
Now now Bhoy and to think I was gonna keep you a match programme from tonight’s game ? (lol)
Seriously though, if you know the route of the old Babcocks Engineering rail line then that is currently under discussion as the most viable route for the GLA rail link. It would come out the other side of the airport and head west over the M8 at St James interchange and public playing fields to meet the Greenock/Gourock and Ayrshire main line to Prestwick Airport.
As for Love Street… It may be a Morrisions supermarket before long by all accounts. 😮
By: Bhoy - 10th April 2003 at 01:26
Originally posted by Ren Frew
Glasgow Airport is talking about introducing a £1 pick up and drop off fee for motorists visiting the airport. I think the public will vote with their feet on this one.
They shouldn’t even consider that till they get the (long over due) train link up and running…
I mean, much as you obviously like Love Street, I can think of better sights to welcome foreign travellers to Scotland who are taking the Arriva bus to Gilmour Street station… 😉
By: Bhoy - 10th April 2003 at 01:23
:S seems totally pointless to me… :S
Not that I’ve ever been to Heathrow by car, but considering that the Heathrow Express is £16 one way, it just dosen’t seem to make any sense whatsoever for people to access the place.
I’ve only once had Heathrow as my ultimate destination on a trip, and took the Airbus into Euston that time (years and years ago) (i’ve also once had to take the Bus to Gatwick for a connection).
I’ve checked in at Heathrow twice, both times arriving by Bus (once the Airbus on the return trip, and once the Bus from Oxford), although almost all my air trips I’ve transferred at LHR.
But it seems to me that if Livingston goes ahead with this, people will look to use Gatwick/Stansted/Luton more, which will really just cause congestion…
By: Ren Frew - 10th April 2003 at 01:12
Glasgow Airport is talking about introducing a £1 pick up and drop off fee for motorists visiting the airport. I think the public will vote with their feet on this one.
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April 9, 2003 at 7:35 pm