SOMERSET residents could be able to get to Heathrow Airport within two hours if a new billion pound railway project comes to fruition.

Network Rail has been consulting on proposals for a new 6.5km rail tunnel between the Great Western Mainline and Heathrow Terminal 5.

The tunnel is designed to reduce congestion at London Paddington station by allowing rail passengers from the west to reach the airport direct from Reading or Slough, rather than having to change at Paddington and use the existing underground system.

If the government approves the scheme – which is backed by councils in Somerset, Devon and Cornwall – it could mean that Taunton station will be only two hours from the country’s biggest and busiest airport, potentially bringing more jobs to the West Country.

The fastest train journey between Taunton and London Paddington is currently two hours and eight minutes, according to The Trainline website.

From there, the fastest rail service to Heathrow can take around 20 minutes to Terminal 5, according to Transport for London.

Under the plans put forward by Network Rail, trains would be able to reach the airport from Reading in 26 minutes – and from Slough in six or seven minutes.

With fast trains from Taunton to Reading taking one hour and 20 minutes, visitors could get to Terminal 5 within two hours.

The proposed Western Rail Link to Heathrow would leave the mainline between Langley and Iver stations on the approach to London.

It will then enter a 5km tunnel under the M4 and M25 motorways, and merge with existing lines near Terminal 5.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “This rail link would reduce rail journey times by delivering a new, faster, frequent, more reliable direct train service to Heathrow with four trains per hour in each direction.

“All trains would call at Reading and Slough and alternate trains at Twyford and Maidenhead. Journey times could be as short as 26 minutes from Reading and six to seven minutes from Slough.

“This would ease congestion on roads, including the M4, M3 and M25 , resulting in lower CO2 emissions equivalent to approximately 30 million road miles per year.”

Network Rail will be submitting its formal plans for the scheme – known as a development consent order – in 2019.

If approved, the project is expected to take five years to complete, with 24-hour tunnelling for 15 months at a cost 'in the region  of £1bn'.

The project has been designed on the basis of Heathrow’s current capacity – meaning that it does not depend on plans for a third runway going ahead.

Somerset County Council put forward its views on the project as part of the Peninsula Rail Task Force, which is lobbying for better rail infrastructure and greater resilience across Cornwall, Devon and Somerset.

A spokesman said: “We have outlined that access to Heathrow Airport is important to both businesses and communities in the south west and therefore strongly support the principle of a Western Rail Link to Heathrow, which will give direct access from services on the Great Western network at Reading.”