Plans to build Heathrow Express depot in Langley scrapped

Councillors have rejoiced at the cancellation of plans to build a Heathrow Express maintenance depot in Langley.

Following negotiations with the Department for Transport (DfT) and Great Western Railway, there will no longer be a requirement to build the depot in the borough.

Maintenance for the Heathrow Express service, which will continue until at least 2028, will instead be managed by GWR in Reading.

At a meeting on Monday, April 16, Slough Borough Council (SBC) cabinet members saw the irony of celebrating not receiving £6.25m from the DfT but said the compensation money was not worth the potential traffic and infrastructure pressures.

Cllr James Swindlehurst (Lab, Cippenham Green) said the depot no longer being required reduces the number of rail lines having to arc across eastern Langley and changes the profile of the Western Rail Access to Heathrow (WRATH) rail track.

But SBC’s head of transport and highways Savio De Cruz says the decision does not affect the possible future closure of Hollow Hill Lane, connecting Langley and Iver.

He added: “Network Rail are still of the view that this will need to happen if western rail is to proceed.”

He said SBC is exploring relief options with Network Rail, specifically a bridge connecting Iver and Langley over the existing mainline, and is in talks with Bucks County Council and and South Bucks District Council.

The meeting to place at The Curve in William Street.