Some years ago a company wanted to build a freight line to bypass London using the m25 western line, the NIMBYs put paid to that.

I dropped off swmbo a few weeks ago at Thiefrow and collected her 2 weeks later, and access to the airport is difficult now, to say the least,

Today in the news M4 closed most of the day j3-j1 Fuel spill.. A4 closed between sutton ct rd and hogarth roundabout.. A3 A40 and all w and sw london rds busier than usual as a result... moving from hendon flyover to neasden flyover took my Dr 2 hours. He gave up and went home.

Has anybody seen any REPORTS re the earliest date this runway will be operational?

Reading/viewing news reports today make it sound as if the runway will open tomorrow morning-once they've mowed the grass away and dealt with protesters in an urgently convened evening meeting.

Fine for the media to be positive--but.....

"And while we are at it - why not build a rail ringroad with strategic stations all around the M25 perimeter?'

I'm not sure that enough people would want to travel by train in that way - e.g. between Watford and Slough - but what is needed is 'parkway' stations at that distance from London with large car parls and direct trains into the relevant London terminus.

Crossrail, or the Eliazabeth Line as it will be called, is a start, but has anyone thought about extra car parking spaces at the stations? Maybe they have, but I haven't seen anything about it. Fortunately, having semi-retired to Dorset, I can look on it from afar.

It's easy to see why Heathrow would be a good choice, but there are as many good (but different) reasons for rejecting it .... perhaps with decent rail links the argument could be swayed, but in reality it's better to look for a less noise intrusive site - the much ridiculed Boris Island offered this ...

just thinking of life in West London whilst the construction is ongoing is enough to make me run a mile, the traffic congeston, walking pace journey times and pollution, for me I've escaped London to the Kent coast, other side of London too so hopefully no direct impact. I did fly from Heathrow last year, T5, lots of congestion and journey home took nearly 5 hours!