Access to Airports: A Comparison between the New APM to London City Airport with the Heavy Rail Links to Other London Airports

Following the successful completion of the extension of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to Lewisham, there is now a proposal to create a new APM extension serving London City Airport, with opening planned for 2004. London now has a wide variety of rail-based means of access to its airports, the most recent (1998) being the Heathrow express heavy rail link to Paddington, following the long established service from Victoria to Gatwick airport, and the more recent (1991) link to Stansted airport from Liverpool Street, and the new (1999) feeder bus service serving Luton airport from Luton parkway station. All these links, and the airports served, differ in character, with Stansted and Luton serving mainly low-cost and charter services, whilst Heathrow remains the major hub, with the high speed 15 minute service to central London serving as the world's most expensive ride for the distance covered, and Gatwick second to Heathrow, also having a heavy rail connection every 15 minutes. This paper assesses the role of the various rail-based means of gaining access to airports, and the potential role of APMs in serving this market.