The FINANCIAL — Starting this week, Berkshire residents will benefit from an extended, 24-hour bus route service into Heathrow Airport.
The popular 7-Series hybrid buses, covering routes 75 and 78, will connect passengers and Heathrow colleagues from the airport’s Central Terminal area, including London underground services and Heathrow Express, to Slough and Windsor and Maidenhead respectively, according to Heathrow.
The new service has been launched as part of Heathrow Airports’ £1 million Local Transport Development Fund, in partnership with the Slough and Windsor and Maidenhead Councils and First Group. Heathrow colleagues using this service will be able to use a monthly travel card facilitated by the airport, which allows them to benefit from the cheapest non-subsidized bus travel in the United Kingdom.
Simon Earles, Heathrow Director of Planning and Surface Access said:
“For colleagues working on late night and early morning shifts at the Heathrow, we know that travelling to and from the airport can be a challenge, especially if they want to travel in a sustainable way. That is why the launch of this 24-hour bus service is so important to the 5,000 Slough area residents working for the airport and why it is so important to encourage even more Berkshire residents to pursue a career at the airport.”
Matthew Callow, Commercial Manager, First Berkshire, said: “We are delighted to have been invited to operate the new service on behalf of Heathrow Airport’s staff and passengers.
“Our 75 and 78 services to Heathrow provide very important links from Langley and Slough to the airport. Extending them to operate on a 24/7 basis is a positive step forward in attracting even greater numbers of people to consider using the bus as their first choice of transport.”
Councillor Sohail Munawar, commissioner for social and economic inclusion, with a responsibility for transport, said: “A 24-hour bus service to Heathrow is great news for Slough, particularly for the large number of our residents who work at the airport.
“Combined with our forthcoming rapid bus scheme, which will see six buses per hour travelling along the A4, Slough is going to be more connected than ever.
“It will also encourage more people out of their cars and onto the buses, helping to reduce congestion, improve air quality and grow the local economy.”
Heathrow is the UK’s best-connected transport hub. It has the UK’s only dedicated non-stop express airport rail-link and free travel zone, contains the UK’s busiest bus and coach station, and is the only airport served by London Underground stations.
Over the last 20 years, Heathrow’s passenger numbers have risen by almost 80% but airport related road traffic has remained broadly static. The number of passengers using public transport every year has nearly doubled from 10 million to 19 million and now Heathrow is acting on plans to persuade 3,800 more Heathrow colleagues to choose sustainable transport.
Over the past 10 years, Heathrow has spent over £25 million on public transport projects, and because of that, single occupancy car journeys by colleagues has been reduced by 10%, and passenger public transport use has increased to over 40%.
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