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BAA buys Heathrow rail link

BAA, owner and operator of Heathrow airport, has taken sole control of the troubled Heathrow Express rail project.

The company announced yesterday that it had purchased the 30 per cent share of the venture owned by British Rail for pounds 19.8m. This gives BR, which is being broken up and sold, a small profit on its pounds 15m outlay made in March 1993 when the venture was created. The remainder of the project is funded by BAA.

In 1994, it ran into problems when a tunnel in the airport complex collapsed, bringing down an office block. The project, which had originally been scheduled to be completed in March 1997, will now not open until 1 June 1998, and the cost has increased from pounds 300m to over pounds 350m. When open it will offer travellers a 16-minute service between Paddington and the airport.

BAA's Director of rail strategy, Rod Hoare, said: "This is a logical move which makes sound commercial sense. Having full control of the new high-speed rail link will help us achieve our airport access public transport strategy."

The move was prompted by BR's need to sell off all its assets by next spring in line with government policy. BAA will work in partnership with Railtrack.

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