Infrastructure Summit

Delegates were reminded at last Wednesday’s Transport Times UK Infrastructure Summit that the National Infrastructure Commission will shortly publish its first report. 

"It will be truly ground-breaking, offering an analysis of the UK's long-term needs, assessing national policy and looking across several key sectors," promised commission chair Sir John Armitt, who gave the keynote speech at KPMG’s Canary Wharf headquarters. 

He added: "It has taken far too long to reach a decision on a third runway at Heathrow, 13 years since a statement of government policy in favour of expansion, and three years since the Airports Commission report. We must make progress on this crucial project." 

Sir John helped to produce the Davies Report and made it clear that while Gatwick was a fine regional operation, there was only going to be one winner, Heathrow. That airport’s CEO, John Holland-Kaye, another speaker, beamed. 

On the ground, there was a need to ease congestion on roads and embrace zero emission and driverless vehicles, Sir John noted.

Holland-Kaye emphasised that the new Heathrow complex would not be a building site, as commonly accepted. “It is essentially an assembly plant, putting together a jigsaw of components congregated at key points around the country”, he said. Following Heathrow’s I-Pace electric Jaguar chauffeur service (BTN 14 May), the airport would be totally electric airside by 2025.

www.transporttimes.co.uk

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