Mr Hoon confirmed Government support for a third runway at Heathrow airport but not for "mixed mode" which would have seen the two existing runways used more intensively. Alongside this, he outlined measures to help protect jobs and put Britain on a footing to recover from the global economic downturn, including:
- Details of where up to £6bn to increase capacity on some of the nation's busiest roads will be spent - providing an extra 520 lane miles of road by widening and opening up the hard shoulder - as well as new plans to roll-out hard shoulder running across the core motorway network.
- The creation of a new company - High Speed 2 - to help consider the case for new high speed rail services between London and Scotland and tasked initially with developing a proposal for an entirely new line between London and the West Midlands which could link to Heathrow and Crossrail through a new international interchange station.
- Further work to consider the case for electrifying two of Britain busiest railway lines - Great Western and Midland Mainline - with decisions to be announced later in the year.
Alongside this the Transport Secretary announced new measures to protect the environment and help ensure that Britain meets its climate change commitments, including:
- Bringing international pressure for international aviation to be part of global deal on climate change, building on aviation's inclusion in the European Emissions Trading Scheme.
- New work to promote international agreement on progressively stricter limits on carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft, similar to those already in place for new cars within the EU.
- The intention to set a new target of reducing UK aviation emissions below 2005 levels by 2050.
- A limit on initial use of the third runway so that the total increase in flights does not exceed 125,000 a year - almost half the additional capacity which the Government originally proposed.
- Only allowing capacity increases beyond that to be approved by the Government after a review in 2020 by the Climate Change Committee.
- Allowing new capacity to only be released only once strict air quality and noise conditions are shown to be met and on the basis of independent assessment.
- The intention to bring in incentives for new capacity to be given to cleaner, quieter aircraft.
- £250m to get more ultra low-carbon vehicles on Britain's roads, helping motorists to go green by stimulating consumer uptake and helping to reduce emissions from road transport and improve local air quality.
Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon said:
"Transport is the lifeblood of Britain's economy. In spite of record levels of investment over the last decade, increasing demand means that in many places our transport infrastructure is operating at, or very near, capacity. It is essential we take the right decisions now: for the economy, to drive down greenhouse gas emissions by 2050; and to support British jobs.
"Heathrow is vital to our economy. It connects us to the growth markets of the future - essential for every great trading nation. But for too long it has operated at full capacity, losing ground to international hub airports in other countries and with relatively minor problems causing severe delays to passengers.
"This third runway will help secure jobs now and in the future and ensure that Britain remains a place where the world can come to do business."
Geoff Hoon added:
"However, we need to do more than just improve Heathrow to ensure that Britain's economy can cope with the transport demands of the 21st century.
"A new rail line between London and the West Midlands approaching London via a Heathrow International interchange would enable faster journeys to the North and Scotland and could link the airport with rail destinations throughout the UK. This would unlock Heathrow for the rest of the country, making it a truly national asset. I expect to receive advice from High Speed 2 by the end of the year on a credible plan for a new line with financing proposals.
"We also need to look at ways of making the railway more efficient and greener. The case for electrification on the Great Western and the Midland Mainline routes appears strong as electric trains are quicker, quieter and they emit less CO2.
"It is clear that many of our major roads also need more capacity and we are committing up to £6bn to improve the national road network - including extending hard shoulder running to some of the busiest parts of M1, M25, M6, M62, M3 and M4, providing much-needed relief from congestion."
Mr Hoon confirmed the Government's support for a third runway and additional terminal facilities at Heathrow after confirming that the strict environmental criteria it had placed as a condition to expansion would be met.
He also announced that as he had rejected mixed mode - he would expect the airport operator to bring forward a planning application for the third runway so that it could be built as soon as possible in the period 2015 - 2020 so as to reduce delays to for existing passengers and improve resilience.
In order to give further assurance that environmental limits will be met, Mr Hoon also announced that new capacity at Heathrow would be released only once strict air quality and noise conditions are shown to be met and on the basis of independent assessment and enforcement. He also confirmed the intention to introduce incentives for new capacity to be given to cleaner, quieter aircraft and that the first call on new capacity should ensure that journeys are more reliable for existing passengers.
Geoff Hoon said:
"Things have improved greatly for those living near the airport over the past 30 years. Improved aircraft technology means that, while in 1974 some 2 million people around Heathrow were affected by average levels of noise at or above 57 decibels, by 2002 that number had dropped to 258,000 people.
"People who live around the airport clearly value runway alternation and that is why I have rejected more intensive use of the existing runways through mixed mode.
"But we need to do more. The additional measures I am putting in place - on slot priority for cleaner, quieter aircraft and the release of new capacity only once environmental conditions are shown to be met - also demonstrate my determination to mitigate the effects of the airport on those who live nearby."
Today's announcements follow the 'Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport' consultation which began in November 2007 and attracted over 70,000 responses.
When the Government gave support to further development at Heathrow in its 2003 Air Transport White Paper in 2003 it made this support conditional on strict local noise and air quality limits and on an improvement in public transport access to the airport.
The 'Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport' consultation set out the grounds on which the Government believed those conditions could be met.
