OREGON

TRANSPORTATION

INSTITUTE

OTI is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to providing transportation information.

Main Menu

RAIL TRANSIT ACCESS TO LONDON AREA AIRPORTS

INTRODUCTION

Many people point to London's airports as models for what can be done in the United States. Rail certainly does plays a significant role at airports serving London's great metropolis. England was the first nation to develop a national rail network and London was the first metropolis to create a local one. London's rail transit system is heavily used and the two largest London airports have a very high proportion of passengers arriving by transit. However, there are three basic factors which should be understood about airport access in the London area:

That transit does well at London airports because of unique market factors which cannot be duplicated elsewhere;

That transit is losing market share at these airports; and

That the provision of rail transit, even in England, has neither increased transit usage nor halted the spiraling growth in traffic congestion near airports.

A close examination of the data on airport access in the London region also reveals the limitations of rail access, suggests its advantage over bus access may be more mythical than real, and shows a long term modal shift away from mass transit of all kinds towards private automobiles at every one of the four major airports which serve the London region.

Perhaps the most critical evidence is that in both cases where rail transit service to airports has been introduced, the share of trips by transit has actually fallen. In 1977 the London Underground was extended to Heathrow Airport; the survey of 1978 found a slightly smaller share of air passengers taking transit to the airport than before rail was introduced in 1972. In 1991 express rail service was extended to Stansted Airport; the survey later that year found a much smaller share of air passengers taking transit than before rail in 1987.

Both these rail-to-airport transit projects were given enormous fanfare by government at all levels. The Queen rode the first train in on both openings. Yet both projects resulted in much lower ridership than forecast and in an overall lower share of passengers arriving by transit.

The Civil Aviation Authority conducts surveys of access modes used by air travelers at London area airports. CAA survey results for 1972, 1978, 1984, 1987, and 1991 are shown in Tables 1-5. These show the ground access modes used by air travelers at Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, and Stansted airports. Of these, only Heathrow is in Greater London County and connected to London Underground rail transit system(1). As of 1995, Heathrow handled 54.1 million passenger enplanements (up 35% since 1991), Gatwick 22.3 million (up 19%), Luton 1.8 million (down 10%), and Stansted 3.8 million (up 123%).

This survey data is summarized below. Each mode is shown as well as sub-totals for Private Vehicles and Mass Transit. The Private Vehicle sub-total includes Auto, Taxi, and Hired (Rental) Car. The Transit sub-total includes British Rail (and privatized descendants), Subway (the London Underground), Coach, Bus, and Shuttle Van (these are lumped together under "Coach/Bus"). Coach is the British term for longer distance bus service, including Airline, Rail Link, Hotel, and Charter airport service; Bus is used to mean only local service.

HEATHROW: FLYING THE TUBE FAILS TO INCREASE TRANSIT USE

The extension of the London Underground Piccadilly Line ("the tube") in December of 1977 caused no modal shift to transit at Heathrow Airport (see Table 1). In fact, the total Transit share (bus, coach, tube) went down from 39% (1972) to 36% (1978) while the Auto share (Private Car, Hired Car, Taxi) rose from 59% to 63%. (The figures given in the 1993 CAA report misrepresent the 1972 and 1978 data for Coach/Bus; the figures used here are taken directly from the 1978 CAA report.) The forecast had predicted the total Transit share to rise to 54% with the tube's share to be 30%(2). It has turned out to be 20% and, as the CAA noted, "most of these passengers were thought to have previously used the airline coaches"(3).

While "the tube" has its own guideway and is well connected to one of the most celebrated rapid rail transit systems in the world (273 stations on eleven lines), it is essentially a local service. It can take 40-60 minutes to reach stations in Central London. With seventeen stops between Heathrow and Piccadilly, the line haul speed is only about 22 miles per hour. It has little provision for air travelers; they and their luggage must fit in with all the other riders. There is, as the Times noted, "inadequate space for luggage and a good chance of being obliged to stand for much of the journey"(4). They have a 10-minute walk from the train to the airline ticket counter although they can use luggage carts or moving sidewalks most of the way between the tube station and the air terminal.

FORE(cast) made for modal shares with 1977 rail extension.

HEATHROW COACH/BUS for 1972/1978 included 2% Public Bus, 3% British Rail Coach and 2% Hotel Coach (1978 only), with the balance Charter and Airline Coach.

Extending the London Underground to Heathrow was expensive. It cost roughly $130 million in 1996 dollars to cover the 1.5 miles from Hattan Cross, near the edge of the airport, to the station serving Terminals 1, 2, and 3(5).(An earlier two-mile extension from Hounslow West to Hattan Cross had also been necessary.) The Underground line was later extended to a second airport station when Terminal 4 opened in April of 1986 (costing over $50 million in 1996 dollars)(6) and may be extended further for proposed Terminal 5. However, the London Underground is now able to operate without any subsidies from government; the 45,000 rides a day generated at the two Airport stations generate so much revenue that they may be considered among the more profitable of tube stations.

The tube extension obliterated 76% of the profitable airline coach business at Heathrow. Their market share dropped from 30% (1972) to 7% (1978). Some of this loss was due to the lower cost charged to Underground rail travelers. Bus and coach services at Heathrow have lost somewhat more market share since 1978, declining from 17% to 13% even though the difference in coach versus tube fares is now small.

Yet coach service still thrives at Heathrow; in 1991 about four million trips by air passengers were transported by this mode while six million went by tube. The coaches do provide some advantages. They operate entirely for airport travelers and therefore provide ample luggage space and go directly to several hotels. They also provide direct service to several key rail stations. They reach Euston and Victoria Stations in not much more time than a tube traveler takes as the tube traveler has alot more walking and a transfer to make along the way.

The coaches held a 28% market share in 1991 among passengers whose destinations were outside Southeast England (Greater London and the surrounding Home Counties). Among this same group only 12% used the tube (see Table 6). Conversely, among passengers whose destinations are in London or elsewhere in Southeast England, 22% took the tube while under 11% took buses or coaches(7). Coaches also have a transit monopoly in providing the connecting service between the four London airports.

Future surveys at Heathrow will include a new mode: express rail to Paddington Station, the key London rail station serving areas to the west. This service is planned to begin in June 1998; it was preceded by indirect rail service in January. It is forecast that the "Heathrow Express", costing a half-billion U.S. dollars to create, will carry 16% of all Heathrow air passengers, mostly diverted from existing transit modes. The "Express" will likely cut deeply into coach service to the Southwest. Coaches in 1991 held 33% of the Southwest access market while only 63.6% of it was held by private vehicles -- less than for the airport overall. Because there is already such high transit use in areas the "Express" would serve, the forecast indicates that the construction of both the "Heathrow Express" and the London Underground to a new Terminal 5 would only increase the overall transit use from 33% to 38%(8).

There are plans to add other Heathrow rail express lines to London's Saint Pancreas Station, serving Northern England and Scotland. Yet all of Northern England and Scotland together account for only 2.8% of Heathrow's passengers and of these 57.4% were already taking transit in 1991 -- as opposed to only 32.4% from Southeast England(9). These people are also closer to several other fast growing airports with excess capacity or the potential to expand.

Were it not for foreigners, transit use at Heathrow would be even less. They account for just over half of the transit ridership among air passengers. While less than 28% of British air passengers at Heathrow used transit, nearly 42% of foreigners did -- 23% on the tube and 19% on coaches (see Table 7)(10). Of the 53,000 employees who work at the airport 81% arrive by auto, 10% by bus, and only 4% by the tube(11).

GATWICK COACH/BUS for 1972/1978 included 1-2% Public Bus and 1% Hotel Coach (1978 only), the balance Charter and Airline Coach.

GATWICK: RAIL EXPRESS SERVES A SHRINKING MARKET SHARE

Gatwick Airport began with rail service in the 1930's, the first major airport in the world to do so. The original local rail service, between Brighton and Victoria Station in London, has since been greatly improved and expanded. The Gatwick rail station was rebuilt in 1958 and 1980 and is linked to all terminals by an elevated people mover system. Popular express runs to London were added by British Rail in 1984 with 15-minute headways and a 30-minute non-stop trip to London.

With rail privatization, which began during the 1980's, service to other locations besides Victoria were added. Three private rail companies now operate rail service from Gatwick and serve other London stations besides Victoria as well as cities beyond London. InterCity has operated Cross-London service directly from Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham. Thameslink operates rail service from Luton and Bedford. Gatwick's express rail service has been highly praised. It provides such rapid service that many commuters now use it. Victoria Station has a dedicated "Gatwick Express" terminal at which an air traveler may check in baggage.

In spite of all this, the air passenger rail share at Gatwick declined from 37% in 1972 to 32% in 1984 to "an all time low of 24%" by 1991 (see Table 2)(12). The rail mode share may have been over 50% earlier in the 1960's or late '50's so may he half now what it was then.

Airline coaches at Gatwick actually increased their market share at the expense of rail between 1972 and 1991. Coach passengers represented less than 20% of all those conveyed by mass transit from Gatwick in 1972; by 1991 they represented 33% of Gatwick transit passengers. These "Flightline" coaches take twice as long as the Gatwick Express to reach Victoria and charge generally about the same fare. Yet many coach passengers find a more convenient trip if they are traveling via intercity coaches from Victoria Coach Station or going to many points south of Central London.

As at Heathrow, coaches held a greater market share than rail among passengers whose destinations are outside Southeast England. Over 20% of these passengers used coaches in 1991 as opposed to 16% who used rail (see Table 6). Among passengers whose destinations are in London or elsewhere in Southeast England the reverse pattern prevailed: 27% of these passengers used rail while only 9% used coaches.

Transit use at Gatwick would be even less were it not for its heavy use by foreigners. In 1991 foreign nationals accounted for 46% of all transit ridership by air passengers. While only 26% of British air passengers at Gatwick used transit, nearly 62% of foreigners (40% on rail and 22% on coaches). The 1978 survey had found that 39% of British air passengers at Gatwick used transit while 75% of foreigners did(13).

STANSTED: THE RAIL LINK FAILS TO INCREASE TRANSIT USE

Prior to March 1991 there was no direct rail service from Stansted Airport north of London; there was express coach service to London and bus or coach service to a few other towns. To use British Rail one had to first take a short trip via "Rail Link" bus nearby Bishop Stortford's Station.

Direct (and express) rail service between Stansted Airport and Central London (Liverpool Street Station) was begun in March 1991 after a 3.4-mile railway branch was built off the London-Cambridge main line and a rail station built beneath the airport terminal. This rail service to London from Stansted is much faster and more frequent than coach though coaches serve many other points better than rail(14).

The direct rail link instituted in 1991 did not cause a modal shift to Transit at Stansted. Instead, as at Heathrow in 1977, the total Transit share (bus, coach, rail) actually went down. This seems to be part of a precipitous decline of transit use at Stansted. Transit use declined from the 72% share it held in 1972 to 39% in 1987 before rail service was available at Stansted. In the first few months of rail service in 1991 it dropped further to 22%. while the Auto share rose from 60% to 77% between pre-rail 1987 and post-rail 1991 (see Table 3).

Were it not for foreigners, transit use would be far less. The 1991 survey found they accounted for most of the transit use among air passengers. While less than 13% of British air passengers at Stansted used transit, nearly 54% of foreigners did (see Table 7). At Luton Airport only 26% of British air passengers used transit yet nearly 62% of foreigners did, 40% on rail and 22% on coaches. The 1978 survey had found that only 16% of British air passengers at Luton used transit while 72% of foreigners did(15).

An unspecified but higher market share for rail at Stansted Airport had been forecast and several sources indicate that since its early days in 1991 the express rail service from Stansted may have increased its share.

OVERALL TREND TOWARDS AUTO AT LONDON AREA AIRPORTS

Use of automobiles for access to airports has increased at all four major London area airports since 1972. As shown on Table 5, the auto share of all air passenger trips at the four airports has grown from 42% to 47% between 1972 and 1991 while use of transit has shrunk from 40% to 33%. During this 19-year period over 14.1 million more person trips by air passengers were made annually by private automobile to London area airports. An additional increase of 5.9 million more person trips by air passengers were added by taxis or rental cars. Overall, private vehicle person trips grew by 154%, from 13 to 33 million annually.

Measured since the 1950's this modal shift from transit to auto has undoubtedly been even greater. The modal share of private vehicles (auto and taxi) at Luton (85%) and Stansted (77%) Airports by 1991 was similar to that of major American airports with under 2.5 million passengers annually. It actually exceeded the private vehicle share at JFK and LaGuardia in New York City, and at Boston, Chicago O'Hare, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco. The modal shift away from transit for airport access is part of a steadily increasing trend toward higher auto use generally in Britain since the early 1950's. This is shown in Table 8.

LUTON COACH/BUS for 1978 included 7% Public Bus and 1% British Rail Coach with the balance Charter and Airline Coach.

1978 data excludes Stansted Airport (no survey done).

The private vehicle mode share at other airports in Britain is also similar to American airports. By the early 1980's the private vehicle share at Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, and Birmingham Airports all were in the 83-93% range(16). Other than Heathrow and Gatwick, all British airports have access patterns similar to medium-sized American airports, with a lower share of passengers arriving by transit than do nine of the largest American airports.

None the less, transit access is important for England and the use of transit certainly helps to minimize roadway congestion and parking problems. While transit trips to London area airports represent a smaller share of the market than in the past, the sheer number of trips carried by transit is significant. There has been an upsurge in airport use in Britain since 1991, when the Persian Gulf War dampened demand for international travel. Applying the same mode shares to 1995 levels, roughly 21.5 million person trips would have been made annually by air passengers on mass transit to London area airports in 1994. This comes out to about 59,000 trips daily, trips which won't -- much to the relief of local motorists -- be going by private vehicle.

SE -- SOUTHEAST ENGLAND (Greater London & Surrounding Counties)

AO -- ALL OTHER Destinations Within United Kingdom

SOURCE: CAA 1993, Tables 37-41, Passengers at the London Area Airports in 1991.

SOURCE: Table 31, CAA, 1991.

SOURCE: Central Statistical Office, Annual Abstract of Statistics, London.

CONCLUSIONS FROM THE LONDON EXPERIENCE

Transit use in Britain is much higher than in the United States because fewer people own cars and because they use them less. Roughly half the households in Greater London, for example, have no car while the gasoline price of $1.30 per gallon prevailing in America contrasts sharply with the $4 per gallon which prevails in Britain. In the late 1980's, per capita automobile ownership in Great Britain was one-seventh what it was in the United States, total miles driven were one-eighth as many, while there were 7.3 times as many rail trips in Britain per capita as there were in the United States(17).

The high use of the tube at Heathrow is unique to London and would not apply to medium-sized cities. There are no other British cities that even come close to London in density, degree of rail transit use, and low auto ownership among the middle class. In all these respects London most closely resembles New York and has little in common with cities of lesser size in either Britain or America. Indeed, the only North American city which has massive underground rail transit ridership like London is New York (New York has 3.6 million daily; London 2.2 million.)

As in New York, a high proportion of the population of London live within walking distance of Underground rail transit or "tube" stations. Also nearly all Central London locations are a short distance from the tube. The 1991 CAA survey found that 72.3% of air passengers who take the tube from Heathrow use no other mode to reach their destination -- they walk from the station. Another 17.3% take the tube to reach a British Rail station and then travel further (usually beyond London). Only 10.4% of tube riders transfer to bus, taxi, or car to reach their destination. These access conditions could not be duplicated in any American city except New York.

Similarly, 27% of those who took the train from Gatwick Airport used only the tube to travel the rest of the way; clearly these passengers were going to within walking distance of a tube station. In contrast, over 46% of Gatwick express rail air passengers required taxi or private car access to rail stations; only 14% required no other mode(18).

As has been shown on Tables 6 and 7, actual transit use by Britons is much lower than average at all airports examined. At Stansted and Luton Airports it was in the 11-13% range in 1991 -- a range little different from American airports -- and had been falling steadily since 1972. Overall transit use by Britons at London area airports was only 26%. This was lower than transit use at the airports for San Francisco, Copenhagen, or Helsinki, none of which have rail access(19).

In contrast, transit use by foreigners at London airports was 47%. They are a large part of why transit use remains high at London airports. They don't require a car in London and they may well find driving on the left hand side of the road so daunting that they choose transit instead. This is another major factor which cannot be duplicated in many places.

Where rail access draws a high proportion of users, it is usually where a national rail system acts as a major medium distance mode for travelers. This is exceptionally so for Switzerland. Swiss airports may get passengers arriving by rail because Switzerland has so committed itself to rail service that under their "Fly/Baggage" scheme, an air traveler may hand in his baggage at any of 116 rail or postal bus stations, checked through to his final destination. At 23 rail stations he may even obtain his boarding pass(20).

Yet the Zurich Kloten Airport transit mode share for air passengers traveling from the airport to downtown is less than that of San Francisco's, which has no rail access. The only reason that the rail mode share is so high at Zurich is that half the air passengers traveling to points outside the Zurich area travel via the intercity rail system(21). And even in Switzerland, rail access patronage has failed to live up to government forecasts. At Zurich, 50% were forecast to arrive by transit; the latest survey indicates just 35% do(22).

In spite of all these positive for transit use market factors, transit use at London area airports is slowly losing its market share. The overall loss of market share at these airports from 1972 to 1991 (the first to the latest CAA survey) was from 40% to 33% (Table 5), an 18% loss in share. This parallels an overall drop in transit for all trips from 20% to 12% (Table 7) in the same period, a 38% loss in share.

As Table 7 makes clear, there has been a far longer decline in overall transit use in Britain, a steady decline as the country has become more prosperous and more people have cars. It is likely that transit use to London airports had declined considerably prior to 1972; its present share of the market may be half to two-thirds what it was in the 1950's.

The same is likely true for non-London British airports serving cities of a size like Portland's. From what data was examined, these may have mode shares similar to what Portland have now -- in spite of their much lower rate of car ownership, their gasoline prices at three times American levels, and their linkage to a heavily used national rail system.

The London experiment of adding rail transit to airports has not increased transit market share. Both new rail access projects in Southeast England -- the 1977 tube extension to Heathrow and the 1991 rail link to Stansted -- resulted in a smaller transit share.

Nor has adding rail transit to London airports halted the spiraling growth in traffic congestion. Between 1972 and 1991, private vehicle person trips to London area airports grew from 13 to 33 million annually. Applying the 1991 mode shares to 1995 levels, roughly 43.4 million person trips by air passengers would have been made annually in private vehicles (autos and taxis) to London area airports in 1995.

In 1995 there were about 83,000 more daily auto person trips than in 1972, or 119,000 person trips per day. This is close to the same number of person trips as occur daily on these Oregon freeway sections:

• I-205 or I-405 through Portland

• I-84 between I-205 and 181st Avenue

• I-5 through Wilsonville or North Portland

• Sunset Freeway (Route 26) by Murray Road

High transit access shares, many over 20%, have also been recorded at the many European airports which lack any direct rail service, depending entirely on buses and vans to provide airport transit service. This means transit mode shares similar or better than Stansted Airport. Copenhagen and Helsinki are in this category -- like San Francisco they have transit mode shares over 25% -- as are likely many other European airports.

Indeed, an impressive array of foreign airports get along with bus service alone. These include the ones for Athens, Belfast, Belgrade, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Genoa, Glasgow, Helsinki, Lisbon, Madrid, Milan, Montreal, Naples, Oslo, Peking, Prague, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney, Toronto, Warsaw, Vancouver, and Venice. This list includes airports which serve metropolitan areas of roughly the same size as Portland is projected to be. The list further shows how unnecessary rail service is for "world class" airports. Outside of the United States, Japan, and Western Europe, airport rail service is rare. It is absent at all airports in Canada, Australia, and at most major airports in Europe.

FOOTNOTES

1. CAA 1980 Tables 4.1 - 4.4; and CAA 1993, Table 30.

2. Ashford, Stanton and Moore, 1984, page 416.

3. CAA 1980, page 9.

4. London Times, December 17, 1977, page 1.

5. Ibid

6. London Times, April 2, 1986.

7. CAA 1993, Table 32.

8. Duff, 1994; and Kirkup and Gannon 1996; and CAA 1993, Table 38.

9. CAA 1993, Table 38.

10. CAA 1993, Table 32.

11. Duff, 1994.

12. CAA 1993, page xii.

13. CAA 1980, Table 4.4; and CAA 1993, Table 31.

14. Breakwell 1991; and London times, March 16, 1991.

15. CAA 1980, Table 4.4 and CAA 1993, Table 34.

16. Ashford, Stanton and Moore, 1984, page 399.

17. The Economist Book of Vital World Statistics, 1990.

18. CAA 1993, Table 44.

19. CAA 1993, Table 31 and Coogan, 1995, page 7.

20. Jud, 1994.

21. Coogan, 1995, pages 5 and 7.

22. Ashford, Stanton and Moore, 1984, page 414; Coogan, page 8.

BIBLIOGRAPHY -- LONDON AIRPORTS

The Economist Book of Vital World Statistics, 1990, New York.

Central Office of Information, Britain 1996: An Official Handbook, London, 1996.

Matthew Coogan, "Comparing Airport Ground Access, a Trans-Atlantic Look", Transportation Research News, November/December 1995.

Board of Trade, Passengers at the London Area Airports, 1968, London, 1970.

Civil Aviation Authority, Passengers at the London Area Airports in 1978, London, July 1980.

Civil Aviation Authority, Passengers at the London Area Airports in 1991, 1993.

J. E. D. Richmond, "Flying the Tube", Horizon, 1979.

Norman Ashford, H.P. Martin Stanton, Clifton Moore, Airport Operations, New York, 1984.

Robin Young, "Heathrow Tube Link to Open in December", The Times, September 7, 1977, page 2.

John Young, "Fast Trains Link Heathrow With West End", The Times, December 9, 1977.

"Queen Goes By Tube", The Times, December 17, 1977, page 1.

Michael Baily, "Heathrow Opens New Terminal", The Times, April 2, 1986, page 1.

Robin Young, "Stansted Airport", The Times, September 7, 1977, pages 10-11 in Weekend Times section.

Harvey Elliot, "£ 400 Stansted Terminal Opens Under A Cloud", The Times, March 16, 1991, page 1.

Callum Murray, "The Advent of a London Airport Too Far", The Times, July 28, 1990, page 17.

"In London's Underground Gloom, A Ray of Light", Railway Age, Page 38, March 12, 1979.

G. D. Bell, "The Development of Gatwick Airport" and J. D. C. Prideaux, "Airport-City Centre-Rapid Transit", Airports for People: Proceedings of the 8th World Airports Conference Organized by the Institution of Civil Engineers, June 1987, London.

R. W. Breakwell, "Stansted Express", Airports and Automation: Proceedings of the 9th World Airports Conference Organized by the Institution of Civil Engineers, September 1991, London.

P. Fox, "Heathrow Express High-Speed Rail Link", Airports and Automation: Proceedings of the 9th Airports World Conference Organized by the Institution of Civil Engineers, September 1991, London.

Alastair Duff, "Rail-Air: A Multi-Modal Opportunity in a Changing World", Aviation Crossroads, Challenges in a Changing World: Proceedings of the 23rd Air Transport Conference, American Society of Civil Engineers, June 1994, Arlington, Virginia.

Eugene Jud, "Switzerland: Rail Access to Airports and the Fly-Luggage System", Aviation Crossroads, Challenges in a Changing World: Proceedings of the 23rd Air Transport Conference, June 1994, Arlington, Virginia.

Bernard Ashley and John Kateley, "Freeflow Heathrow, Bus and Coach Operations at a Major International Airport"; Jon Kirkup and Mark Gannon, "Public Transport Rail Links to Heathrow Airport"; and Roland Niblett, "Long Distance Rail Distance to Airports", 24th European Transport Forum: Airport Planning Issues, Planning and Transport Research & Computation Conference at Brunel University, England, September 1996.

Howard Humphreys and Partners, Heathrow Surface Access Study, for Department of Transport, Leatherhead, Surrey, England, 1988.

Norman Ashford and Sara Bollard, An Investigation of Ground Access Mode Choice for Departing Passengers, for University of Technology, Loughborough, Leicester, England, April 1992.