§ Mr. Croninasked the Minister of Aviation what investigations he has now made as to methods of decreasing the time of travel between city centres and airports; and to what extent the advantages of a monorail system for this purpose have been considered, in view of the increasing speed, volume and all-weather capability of air travel between airports and the relative slowness of ground travel between city centres and airports.
§ Mr. AmeryThe surface traffic generated by any British civil aerodrome other than Heathrow is not yet sufficiently great to justify a special transport system. Forseeable needs can probably best be met by improving existing means of access or providing short links with existing roads.
The amount of traffic at Heathrow puts it in a different category. An interdepartmental Committee on which airlines are also represented has been studying the question of providing rail access, but so far no generally acceptable solution has been found. As regards monorail systems my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport has agreed to investigate along with my officials any proposals submitted to him in sufficient detail. Interested developers have been told the sort of detailed information that he requires.