A NEW AIRPORT

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 117, 19 May 1937, Page 19

A NEW AIRPORT

DISTANCE FROM LONDON

I set out recently to test the accessibility of London's new airport at Liullingstone, near Eynsford, Kent, says a writer in the London "Daily Telegraph." . I found that like: other airports, re would not be easy to reach it quickly by road. Particular importance attaches to Lullingstone. It is understood that, if it. proves a success, Imperial Airways and other civil air companies may decide to transfer their Continental services there from Croydon. I drove over the route in a car, proceeding via Vauxhall Bridge, Peekham, New Cross, and Lewisham. Then I followed the main LondonFolkestone road as far as Farningham, which is about two miles from Eynsford. • • Leaving Victoria at 12.30, I reached Lullingstone at 1.20, having taken 50 minutes for the journey of 204 miles. A large motor-coach would probably take 10 minutes longer. It takes from 35 to 45 minutes to reach Croydon by road from London. Imperial Airways allows 45 minutes for its buses to travel to the airport from Victoria Station. Heston Airport is 12 i miles from Victoria and can be reached in threequarters of an hour by car. The fastest trains to Gatwick take 29 minutes for the 16-miles journey. ' It is clear that, like Gatwick, Lulling- | stone will be more easily accessible to London by rail than by road. I understand that one reason which prompted the Southern Railway to buy the Lullingstone site is that the main Victoria-Sevenoaks line runs beside it. The railway company is planning to build a new station at Lullingstone. between Shoreharn and Eynsford. Trains could be run direct to the aerodrome from a special platform at Victoria Station, which is included in the plans for the proposed new Buckingham Palace Road headquarters of Imperial Airways. At present Eynsford is the nearest station and the average, time taken by trains from Victoria is fifty-two minutes. Special non-stop aerodrome trains would accomplish,the journey in considerably shorter time, The proposed aerodrome covers nearly 1000 acres, and is surrounded by flat land. It was until two years ago the property of Sir Oliver Hart Dyke, of Lullingstone Castle, and is at present used for fruit cultivation.