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There will be no high-speed rail link between Heathrow Airport and the rest of the country, according to Tory transport peer, Lord Mawhinney, until the billion-pound scheme is extended to the north of England.

Mawhinney, who is a former MP, claims that the cost of extending the London-Birmingham route to Heathrow would not benefit the economy; rather, it would cost between £2-4bn at a time when the success of the high-speed rail project is not assured.

The news will come as a huge disappointment to airport bosses, who have already had their hopes of a third runway dashed by the Conservatives.

High-speed rail between Heathrow and the Midlands could have eased congestion at the London hub, and benefitted airports with spare aeroplane slots, such as Birmingham, Manchester, and East Midlands.

Lord Mawhinney claims that the rail infrastructure in the ‘spine’ of the UK, running from Edinburgh to London, needs to be improved. Consequently, the MP claims, the number of people wanting to travel from Heathrow would increase, justifying a high-speed station at the London airport.

“A direct high-speed link to Heathrow will only be in prospect after the network has been extended to Manchester and Leeds, at least,” Mawhinney explained. “Over time there will be greater demand for access to Heathrow, making a direct link more viable.”

Government agents are currently buying up properties in the ‘blight corridor’ between the capital and Birmingham. The houses, which could be demolished when high-speed track is laid, are in the towns of Amersham, Wendover, and Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.

The scheme echoes a recently cancelled project by the British Airports Authority (BAA). The BAA forked out millions of pounds to buy homes around Stansted and Heathrow, to save homeowners from the devastated housing market.