Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the documents provided by Transport for London to Greenpeace in response to a Freedom of Information request in April 2016, what steps his Department is taking to assess the accuracy of the estimate made by Transport for London that £18.4 billion would need to be spent on surface access to Heathrow Airport should that airport be awarded a third runway.

The Airports Commission assessed the surface access requirements of each shortlisted scheme as part of its work in completing its Final Report and Transport for London’s (TfL) views were considered by the Commission as part of this work.

The Government has noted Transport for London’s recent estimates of the surface access costs necessary for the expansion of Heathrow airport and understand that TfL’s figures include the costs of infrastructure schemes which may be needed to cater for wider population and economic growth up to 2040, as well as schemes which would be required to cater for additional airport users.

The Government will consider the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report, including its examination of the costs of the surface access proposals associated with airport expansion, before taking any decisions on next steps.