28.06.13
Rail improvements to ‘transform’ airport demand
Improved rail connections will vastly improve access to Birmingham Airport, new research has shown.
Birmingham Airport commissioned Steer Davies Gleave to examine air-rail connectivity and how new service and infrastructure improvements will affect passengers’ ability to reach the airport from further afield.
In 2012, 23% of passengers accessed the airport by rail, but only 20% of these live outside the Midlands. Steer Davies Gleave identified limitations as requirements to interchange, few early morning, late night and Sunday services, as well as variable service frequencies.
By 2019 a number of committed or ‘highly likely’ schemes are anticipated to enhance local rail connectivity and bring an additional one million air passenger journeys to/from core UK airports from key population centres to within one hour of Birmingham Airport.
Paul Kehoe chief executive of Birmingham Airport said: “The research found that in the next few years, rail schemes already in the pipeline are set to increase the 60 minutes rail catchment of the airport by 300,000. This number could be amplified through rail improvements such as increased early/late/weekend services, through-ticketing and so forth. My team will be working hard to achieve this over the next few years.”
“Taken together, rail service improvements provide an opportunity to transform surface access connectivity to Birmingham Airport. Its rail catchment could develop from a sizeable but regionally focused offering to one of national significance, enhancing the potential ability of the Airport to compete for belly-hold freight and passenger traffic to/from a wide range of UK destinations,” the report concludes.
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