SIGNAL FAILURES Runway train
GATWICK airport bosses displayed a touching faith in joined-up government last week, imagining that chancellor Rachel Reeves would back her enthusiastic consent for airport enlargement with support for better access by train.
Under the terms of the expansion, before Gatwick can regularly use its second runway, 54 percent of its customers must come by public transport (in 2023 just 39 percent used trains, and 5 percent buses or coaches). The airport said that depends on the government supporting “delivery of the necessary conditions and improvements” – but Reeves has made the target harder to meet by cutting fuel duty for cars in real terms while hiking train fares.