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London Heathrow - Central Terminal Area Study


London Heathrow Central Terminal Area ULTra network.

This year the world’s first Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system will open at London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR), connecting one station in Terminal 5 to two remote stations in the business car park

Long-range planning at Heathrow involves the option to expand this system to the Central Terminal Area, with a network connecting three northside passenger and staff car parks to the CTA (Terminals 1, 2 and 3).

With the primary objective being to solve critical problems of congestion in tunnel access to the CTA, a study of such a network resulted in the following conclusion:

ULTra is an excellent solution to the landside transport needs of LHR

  • Excellent value for money, especially compared to APM: 30-year NPV of +£73M at 6% discount.
  • Saving in operating cost of 40% over current bus service.
  • Typical passenger time saving of 60%.
  • Premium service for passengers
  • Valuable reduction in emissions
  • Highly efficient use of space

Details of the study are given below - see also the London Heathrow CTA Study Assessment page and the Assessments Overview page.

Heathrow Long-Range Objectives

  • Solve critical problems of congestion in tunnel access to Central Terminal Area (CTA) - both for staff and air passengers.
  • Offer a transport solution which minimizes impact to LHR during construction and operation.
  • Provide a service with high availability which is very resistant to disruption.

Tunnel Links


London Heathrow CTA Tunnel with ULTra.

Existing sidebore tunnels are well matched to ULTra:

  • Up to four tracks per sidebore
  • Full use of sidebore offers considerable excess capacity over north side connectivity requirements
  • Outline Safety case approved by HMRI

Travel Time Comparison

A comparison of total travel time* between ULTra PRT and the shuttle bus:

London Heathrow CTA travel times

*Time is given in minutes, and is the sum of walking, waiting and trip times.

Connections

Results of initial studies into car park and terminal connections found:

  • Excellent service to car parks can be provided
  • Service to stops at Terminals 1, 2, 3 with stations inside buildings where appropriate
  • Unexpectedly simple integration with complex CTA site
  • Small scale infrastructure permits service at high or low level floors
  • Low interference during construction
  • Simulation results confirm practicability

Cost-Benefit Analysis

The results are based on detailed costing, reported car-park demand, travel time measurements and simulation of the network.

  • User benefits (time saved): £5 million p.a.
  • Operating costs: £0.7 million p.a. less than shuttle buses
  • Capital cost (incl. vehicles): £3M per kilometre
  • First year rate of return: 25%
  • 30-year Net Present Values at 6% discount: £88M user benefits; £12.5M operator benefits
  • Overall NPV after investment: £73M (some of user benefit could be converted to higher charges if required)
  • Reduced emissions by 2.9 tonnes CO, 0.9t VOC, 12.9t NOx, 1.7t PM10, 311t CO2
  • Noise levels much lower than background