Airtrack link to Terminal 5 Heathrow

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The Heathrow Airtrack project provided a link between the new Heathrow Terminal 5 and the existing rail network at Staines. For much of its length the line was to follow an old dismantled railway along the eastern side of the M25, between junctions 14 and 13, the southern section of which includes the western boundary of the Staines Moor SSSI. Along part of the route the Wraysbury River, lies within a highly modified channel between the motorway and dismantled railway and was likely to be impacted by the construction works. On Staines Moor a substantial pond, Butts Pond lies close to the proposed route, whilst the new railway would pass through and destroy a second pond, Greenhams Fishing Pond. As part of the larger EcIA being conducted for the scheme, surveys of the aquatic flora and invertebrates were required at the two ponds and along the Wraysbury channel.

A population of the nationally scarce riffle beetle Oulimnius major was recorded on the river, and whilst Greenhams Fishing pond was not particularly diverse, the flora and fauna of Butts Pond was very rich, despite it having reached an advanced stage of succession. A diverse community of water beetles in particular was recorded, including several nationally scarce species and the rare spangled water beetle Graphoderus cinereus at one of its few British locations.