Railfuture will be calling for better rail connections to Stansted if the Government allows the airport to expand.

There is already a good service from London but it is almost impossible to reach by rail from Bedfordshire or most parts of East Anglia.

The Government has been dilly-dallying for years over the East-West rail link – ignoring the implications of expanding both Stansted airport and Felixstowe docks as well as large-scale house building in the region.

Now it must confront the issue of rail connections between Bedford and Cambridge. Combined with a rebuilt Bedford-Northampton line, the west and south Midlands could also gain rail access to Stansted.

Rail campaigners will be trying to ensure that the anti-rail bias of the Government Office for the East of England does not distort yet another transport scheme.

At least rail gets a mention in the launch by BAA of its public consultation on the possibility of a two-runway Stansted airport.

But the 14-week public consultation to consider the requirements for road and rail access to Stansted will mean that ideas have to go the The Government Office for the East of England.

GO-EAST, as it likes to call itself, has already been involved in developing a "surface access strategy" in conjunction with BAA, the Highways Agency, Network Rail, and the Department for Transport.

The proposals so far include:

measures to reduce the growth in car travel to the airport

longer trains to meet increased passenger demand

the Stansted Express to return to being a dedicated service for airport travellers at the busiest times of day

additional trains on the West Anglia Main Line serving Harlow and Bishop's Stortford

new and improved coach and bus services to build on the success of existing services

local road diversions to maintain connections between communities around the extended airport boundary.

The Highways Agency will be consulting over its proposals for widening the M11 south of Stansted between the M25 (junction 6) and the airport at junction 8, and on plans to improve access to the airport from the M11 and A120.

Responses to the consultation should go to: Transport Team, Government Office for the East of England, Eastbrook, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 8DF. Tel: 01223 372752. Fax: 01223 372862. Email: Transport.GOEast at goeast.gsi.gov.uk