Britain’s business travellers feel that investing in high speed rail should be
a priority over expansion of capacity at the UK’s airports. That is one of
the major findings contained in a “business travel manifesto” released this
week by the Guild of Travel Management Companies (GTMC).
Nearly 70% of those who responded felt that high-seed rail should take
precedence over airport expansion while 66% said they would switch from air
to rail if the journey was faster compared with 55% who would switch of the
fare was cheaper.
Any new high-speed rail network should also link into Heathrow airport, to
shift travellers on short-haul services on to rail and free up long-haul
capacity there, the survey said.
The manifesto also calls for “cross-party consensus“ on high-speed rail since
such a project would run over many Parliaments.
The GTMC, which represents most of the UK’s major business travel agencies,
carried out a survey of 1,250 business travellers as a litmus test of their
views in advance of this year’s General Election. The manifesto is intended
to outline exactly what business travellers want from whichever party takes
control after this year's polls.
The manifesto also called on travel companies, such as rail and airport
operators, to hep business travellers work throughout their journey by the
provision of wi-fi, working space and power sockets.
The respondents to the survey also said that the UK’s airports, and Heathrow
in particular, should retain “disruption capacity” to enable them to reduce
delays when there are incidents, such as fog. The survey found that business
travellers also feel that airports are geared too much towards commercial
sales rather than getting people through them quickly.
Quick journeys were called for on the roads. Almost two thirds of those
answering the GTMC’s srvey said that road congestion was unsatisfactory.
Many of the business travellers polled in the survey said that toll
motorways should be extended where possible, with almost 60% saying that
funding for such schemes should come through public-private partnerships.
Car-using business travellers also called for action on airport parking
charges, more than 60% of those surveyed felt the issue was a serious one.
Speaking at the launch of the manifesto, Louise Ellman MP, chair of the
all-party Transport Select Committee, said the findings were particularly
important when a future government of whatever colour is looking at public
funding cuts.
When pressed on the question of funding cuts for transport in particular,
Ellman said that because the area needed medium or long-term planning, those
campaigning for investment needed to be “vigilant and vocal”.
Anne Godfrey, chief executive of the GTMC, said that the level of support for
high-speed rail was something of a surprise. The organisation had previously
been a supporter of a third runway at Heathrow but, in the light of the
results from the survey, had now changed its view and was a supporter
instead of greater capacity in general but was agnostic on how that was
achieved.
The GTMC has also traditionally had a policy of pushing for air passenger duty
to be abolished. Most travellers who answered the survey seemed to be
resigned to paying such taxes although there was support for taxes raised in
this way to be ring-fenced and used to improve transport infrastructure.
Godfrey admitted that not all of the points in the manifesto are likely to be
delivered, especially given the state of the UK’s finances, but she hoped
for some quick wins. “I’m looking for better access to wi-fi and making
train stations nicer places to work, with places to sit and plug in . It’s
not a big expenditure and the big train companies are willing to contribute
to that.”
Some rail companies have already started down this route. Jon Reeve, trade
relations director at rail booking technology company Evolvi, said: "The
experience for business travellers on trains has improved significantly in
recent years, with introduction of facilities such as at-seat wi-fi.
"There has also been massive infrastructure investment to key routes and the
benefits of this in terms of reduced journey times are now flowing through.
A prime example of this is the new very high frequency Virgin Trains service
between London and Manchester.
"Moreover, rail travel is not as disjointed as air – and corporates
increasingly acknowledge the productivity gains that this brings. Travel
time is no longer wasted time, particularly with the availability of quiet
carriages and at-seat internet connectivity – this is a key reason why there
has been a modal shift away from air on a number of key trunk domestic
routes."
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