Passengers who were promised direct trains from Reading to Heathrow will have to wait a number of years for the route to open due to delays.

In 2012, plans were announced to build a railway line from Reading to Heathrow to speed up travel for those seeking to use the airport.

But delays to the project, in part due to the coronavirus pandemic, mean that the planning submission phase is not likely to start until Winter 2022.

The scheme has been touted as a major boost for Berkshire, the South West and South Wales, as it would mean travellers would no longer have to go through London Paddington to get to Heathrow by rail.

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Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, the Labour MP for Slough, raised the issue of the delay of the project in Parliament on May 19. He said: “Way back in 2012, in the good old days, the Conservative-led Government promised to build a western rail link to Heathrow that would benefit not only my Slough constituents, but the many Welsh businesses and families who would have a shorter, more direct route to our major national transport hub.

“So can the Secretary of State tell us when we can finally expect work to begin on that line? Can he also guarantee that Welsh and other UK steel manufacturers will be at the front of the queue when the line is being built?”

Slough Observer:

His question was put to Simon Hart (Conservative), Secretary of State for Wales and MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, who was fielding questions during a Manufacturing Industry hearing in Parliament.

Mr Hart said: “I would be a beneficiary of that line, so I am with the Honourable Member in terms of our ambition to always try to improve on our infrastructure links.

“It is good for the economy and particularly good for the supply chain economy, as he rightly points out. Plenty of businesses in Wales could benefit from that. I hope the recent announcement on procurement in the Queen’s Speech will give him and others encouragement that we are taking that extremely seriously.”

Mr Hart referred to a Procurement Bill mentioned in the Queen’s Speech which aims to make it easier for the Government to obtain goods and services.

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Details of the railway link have been drawn up, which will involve building a rail tunnel from Langley to Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport.

Once it is completed, every train to Heathrow will stop at Reading and Slough, with alternating trains also stopping at Twyford and Maidenhead.

Slough Observer: The plan for the Western Rail Link to Heathrow. Credit Network Rail

However, difficulties that have arisen from the pandemic has meant that Heathrow Airport Limited -the company that runs the airport- is unable to make such big financial commitments. Negotiations between Heathrow Airport Limited and the Government are ongoing.

Because of the need to make financial arrangements, the scale of the project, it can only receive planning approval through a Development Consent Order, with a final decision by the Secretary of State for Transport. Because of the need to make financial arrangements before the project can start, the Department of Transport has asked Network Rail to delay its planned submission of the Development Consent Order from winter 2021 to winter 2022.

Work can only begin once the Development Consent Order is approved.