Heathrow's third runway unlikely

Reprinted below is an article from The Telegraph (UK), published just before yesterday's general election in the United Kingdom.  The election returns are in; the Conservatives (Tories) & Liberal Democrats between them have enough seats in the new Parliament (306 & 57 respectively) to form a coalition government (even without the likely support of the minor Democratic Unionist Party, with 8 seats).   If the politicians stand by their campaign manifestos, Heathrow's proposed third runway is dead, & there is likely to be a strong push for very-high-speed rail in Great Britain.

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General Election 2010:  Heathrow's third runway unlikely after vote

Heathrow's third runway is likely to be a casualty of the election, with two of the three parties opposed to the project.


By David Millward, Transport Editor
Published: 7:30AM BST 07 May 2010
Both the Lib Dems and the Tories have said they would scrap the plans for a third runway at Heathrow Photo: EPA

Both the Lib Dems and the Conservatives have said they would scrap the plans and even some senior Labour figures have misgivings about the scheme.

Assuming poll predictions are accurate there is unlikely to be a majority in favour of the runway in the new House of Commons.

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Should Labour cling to power with Lib Dem support, the party could find that dropping Heathrow’s expansion will be part of the price it will have to pay even though it was a manifesto commitment.

With the exception of Heathrow, the gulf between the parties on transport is not particularly dramatic.

All three support the building of a high-speed rail line to the West Midlands and beyond.  ["Beyond" probably means Glasgow and Edinburgh] 

The Tories believe there should be a hub at Heathrow itself, while Labour has dismissed the idea arguing that it would add about £2 billion to the cost of the scheme. 
 

[balance of article, dealing with other UK transportation issues, not reprinted]