MANY of the road, rail and port schemes being considered by Rod Eddington, the Government’s transport adviser, have been under discussion for decades but not built because of lack of funds.

Mr Eddington’s main brief is to develop multibillion-pound schemes through partnerships between the public and private sectors. The British Airways chief believes that major investment is needed in all modes of transport and is keen to dispel fears that he will favour roads and airports over railways.

He believes that most domestic trips made by air should be made on high-speed rail lines. He told The Times that the 46 flights a day between London and Manchester should be replaced with a fast train service like France’s TGV.

“Everyone should be taking the train. Rail makes sense for any journey which lasts less than three hours. People wouldn’t need to fly from Manchester to London if the service was better and faster.”

Alistair Darling, the Transport Secretary, has promised to consider building a high-speed line between London and Scotland and one option is a magnetic levitation (maglev) train capable of 300mph.

Mr Eddington said that he had been impressed by the speed with which the Chinese had built a maglev line in Shanghai. The 19-mile line was completed only 22 months after the contract was signed in January 2001. “That’s what we have to compete with to avoid being left behind. We cannot continue with a system in which it takes 20 years to get an airport terminal built.”

Mr Eddington, who retires from BA on September 30, is also keen to expand key airports. People living under the Heathrow flight path fear that his association with BA will mean that he will favour building a new runway at the West London airport before one at Stansted. While at BA, Mr Eddington has led the campaign for a short third runway at Heathrow.

He said: “London’s pre-eminence as a world-class city is built around its infrastructure. If we allow that infrastructure to decline then London will be overtaken by other cities.

“A lot of work needs to be done before Heathrow gets the go-ahead for a third runway, but it is absolutely essential.”

BA has 40 per cent of the runway slots at Heathrow but does not operate from Stansted.

In December 2003, the Government recommended a new runway at Stansted by 2012 and one at Heathrow by 2015-20.

But Mr Darling attended the unveiling last month of a BA-backed campaign group called Future Heathrow, which believes that the airport must take priority in the expansion to accommodate a doubling of air passenger numbers by 2020.

Mr Eddington, who drives to work on the M4, one of Britain’s most congested motorways, also believes that new road capacity is needed to relieve pinch points. He said that he had been shocked by the level of congestion since coming to Britain five years ago.

Mr Eddington believes that Britain’s ports need to be expanded to avoid losing container traffic to terminals on the Continent. He said: “Britain is currently conceding maritime supremacy to Rotterdam because it can’t deliver capacity.”

The Chamber of Shipping has given warning that unless new terminals are built many companies will be forced to unload containers in France and Belgium and carry them to Britain by lorry.

THE HIGH-FLYER

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