New doubts over Heathrow expansion

Plans for a new runway at Heathrow have been thrown into doubt by a study that claims passengers will have to be charged £20 to drive to the airport. According to a report in The Times, the Department for Transport study says that the runway can only be built if the M4 motorway is buried in a five-mile-long tunnel, to restrict nitrogen oxide emissions within European Union limits. The newspaper reports that such huge costs mean it is unlikely that a government pledge to open the third runway by 2020 will be kept. Opponents of the Heathrow expansion greeted the news; the chairman of the Hacan ClearSkies group told The Guardian: “If they are talking about having to put the motorway in a tunnel, this really isn’t the real world. It show the Government is chasing an impossible dream in a third runway.” And a Friends of the Earth spokesman added: “This is really drastic action they are talking about. It might just about solve the problem but it would be enormously expensive.” Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad