Heathrow may get £4.5 billion rail hub - minister

The government's plans to expand Heathrow airport could include a new, £4.5 billion rail hub as well as a third runway, said transport minister Andrew Adonis.

The government is expected to rule later this month on whether a new runway should be built at Ferrovial-owned Heathrow, already the world's busiest international airport flying more than 65 million passengers a year. Mr Adonis told the Sunday Times the development of the airport - currently packed to full capacity - could also include investment in new rail links.

"It's vital that we have an integrated approach to planning new rail capacity and any new airport capacity that's also required,"

Mr Adonis told the newspaper, suggesting that a joint rail-runway proposal could be in the pipeline.

"It makes good sense to plan improvements to Heathrow and the rail system together."

The Financial Times yesterday interpreted the comments as placing Heathrow at the centre of a proposed new high speed rail link between the UK and mainland Europe. New Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon postponed making a decision on a third runway last month amid mounting political opposition to the project, which would have an environmental impact as well as increasing traffic to the west London hub.

The opposition Conservatives have come out against the proposal, arguing Britain should instead invest in high speed rail links between London and northern England.

The expansion of Heathrow comes at a time of major upheaval at London's airports. The Competition Commission has proposed that Spain's debt-laden Ferrovial sell its other two airports in the capital, Gatwick and Stansted.