Heathrow link 'should wait'

Heathrow Airport should have a direct high-speed rail link – but only after the network is extended in the north of England, a report concluded.

Lord Mawhinney, the Tory peer commissioned to review access to the London airport, said there is "no compelling case" for a direct link in the initial stages of the scheme.

He said diverting the high-speed route via Heathrow would cost between 2bn and 4bn extra and is "not likely to represent value for money."

But the case would become more "persuasive" once a high-speed rail network is extended beyond Birmingham.