Heathrow Airport transport proposals

Over the years, a number of transport proposals have been made to improve public access to Heathrow Airport, near London in the United Kingdom.

[1] The British government's Department for Transport has considered various proposed schemes for new links to improve access to the airport.

[1] The mainline rail service was enhanced and extended to central London and Essex when the Elizabeth line opened in 2022.

[3] A number of schemes have been proposed over the years to develop new rail transport links with other parts of London and with stations outside the city.

[5][6] Two schemes known as SuperCrossrail and Superlink were put forward in 2004 by a group of rail industry managers as alternative proposals to the Crossrail route being planned at the time.

[10] The project was abandoned in 2011 due to lack of funding and difficulties with a high number of level crossings on the route into London.

[18][19] In 2018, the Department for Transport began to invite proposals for privately funded rail links to Heathrow Airport.

[22][23] In a November 2019 document from the DfT, this proposed link is renamed Southern Access to Heathrow (SAtH) since other options besides heavy rail are being considered.