We invest heavily in public transport initiatives. Around 38% of passengers currently use public transport to get to the airport. Providing passengers and employees with intelligent choices to get to the airport is an important way of helping to persuade people to leave their cars at home and take public transport. 

In addition to the existing options of getting to and from our airport, we are working hard to improve public transport services to Heathrow, including:

Improving bus services
We already operate the UK’s second busiest bus station at Heathrow and work in close partnership with Travel for London to ensure staff and passengers have a comprehensive bus service to and from the airport. We are also in talks with coach companies about the expansion of their services once Terminal 5 opens.

Improving rail services:

• Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect
  We have invested over £750 million in the Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect services, which replace 3,000 car journeys to the airport every single day.
  
• Heathrow AirTrack
  We are funding the Heathrow AirTrack application. Heathrow AirTrack is a proposal to create a new direct rail link between Terminal 5 and the rail network to the south and west of England, including Reading, Guildford and London Waterloo. Its construction could significantly ease congestion around Heathrow, carrying up to 3.2 million passengers a year by 2015 and taking some 800,000 car journeys a year off the road. 
  
• Crossrail
  We support the Crossrail project. Crossrail is a proposed rail route which will cross London from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west to Essex and Kent in the east. In light of recent Government approval, the project could be up and running by 2015.
  

Trialling an innovative new transport scheme
We are going to trial the Terminal 5 Personal Rapid Transport system, which uses driverless pods powered by electricity to replace coaching from airport car parks. The pods generate zero local emissions and are typically 70% more energy efficient than buses.