LONDON: According to report, to convince travellers to leave their cars at home and travel by public transport,Heathrow airport plans to levy £15 Congestion Charge once a third runway is built.
It has been revealed by a newspaper that pollution on the M4, which sits north of the airport, is two thirds higher than the maximum allowed.
Once a third runway is built, the airport will run around 50 per cent more flights than they currently do.
The government is planning on improving public transport links to the airport, including a train line from both Reading and Waterloo, as well as the new Crossrail line.
While Heathrow Airport has denied the £15 figure quoted by a newspaper, they have admitted to another newspaper that they are looking at a congestion charge as a way to reduce road journeys.
But a spokesperson revealed that “appropriate exemptions” would be made for passengers who rely on their car, include those with disabilities.
They said: “We have an ambitious plan to treble our rail capacity by 2040 and enable 30 million more passengers to use public transport.
“If needed, we have various options to apply emissions based charging to vehicles travelling to and from the airport – for example, using drop off charges based on vehicle emissions as other UK airports do – which could be another way to reduce road journeys and support our sustainable transport plans.”
Heathrow is the busiest airport in Europe with 78 million passengers last year
Ed King, the president of the AA, told the paper: “Many people go by car to the airport for good reason – they have heavy baggage and children with them.
“We would be worried that this could be the thin end of the wedge and it could expand elsewhere.”
In March, The Sun revealed that Theresa May will ask MPs to kick-start Brexit and back the £15billion expansion of Heathrow in a Commons vote this June.
Sources revealed that the government has finally committed to putting the plans before the House in the belief a majority of MPs now back a third runway.
A vote in favour of the project will allow Heathrow to finally proceed with a detail design of the flagship development and seek planning approval.
