The Windsor Link Railway is a proposed new railway to better connect the Thames Valley, Heathrow and the surrounding region. It is an alternative to the Air Track proposals.
It works by joining the small gaps in the existing rail network that currently frustrate effective travel. This includes restoring the link between High Wycombe and Maidenhead, between Ascot and Farnborough and linking Heathrow to Windsor - all in sympathy with local and national needs.
The other problem with projects such as HS2 and Airtrack is that whilst they have national benefits, they are harmful to the local economy and the environment. In the case of Airtrack, this destroys the ability of local people to get around. It will close level crossings on lines west from Waterloo for up to 45 minutes per hour and Windsor Riverside will lose its direct trains to London.
The Windsor Link Railway, by contrast, serves not just the national interest but also local needs. It better connects towns in the Thames Valley and surrounding counties, solving local as well as national road and air traffic problems.
National schemes such as Crossrail and HS2 are fully integrated, with the latter being connected whichever route is eventually decided for it (via the Chilterns or the M6 corridor), meaning that more citizens benefit from these enormous investments by British taxpayers.
WLR will improve connections between towns in and around the Thames Valley region.
Mostly, this will make better use of the existing rail links throughout the region. However, significant gaps that currently exist will be addressed. These include:
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Connecting Heathrow, to make it more accessible to local towns and the region.
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Restoring north-south links throughout the region, such as between:
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Farnborough and Ascot
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High Wycombe and Maidenhead
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Bedford and Aylesbury
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Guildford and Staines
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The WLR will ensure that the region shares the benefits from investments in national infrastructure and will not be used as the nation's doormat, simply providing a through route for other parts of the country or Europe, but instead fully participating and sharing in improved communications.
The magic of the WLR is that it mostly uses existing rail infrastructure that is currently under-utilised. It works by joining up small existing gaps in the existing rail network to make a major new strategic railway for the UK at a fraction of the usual cost.
Visit http://windsorlink.co.uk for more details.