Heathrow Terminal 5: rail transportation systems

Critical to opening the new £4·3 billion Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow airport was the availability of a public transport service on extensions to both the Heathrow Express and London Underground's Piccadilly line, not least as this was a key requirement of the planning permission. A sub-surface tracked transit system also needed to be operational to provide a passenger link between the two main terminal buildings. This paper describes the challenge of managing the design, delivery and integration of new railway systems into existing, occasionally old, public systems with continually evolving management structures and without impacting on existing rail services. This was greatly assisted by the application of a system engineering approach.