Richard Norman (Letters, 31 October) suggests among other things that a cheaper option than a ramp over the M25 for Heathrow’s third runway is traffic lights, so that vehicles could cross the runway between planes. It has been tried. Back in the 1960s, the bus I went to school on from Wilmslow to Hale Barns had to cross Manchester airport’s runway, which had traffic lights to stop vehicles crossing when a plane was coming. This meant we were often late to school, and the excuse that a plane was landing/taking off didn’t always go down well with the Christian Brothers! At least they couldn’t beat a whole busful of us. Today’s pupils don’t have such an exotic excuse as there is now a tunnel under the runway. Very boring.
Martin Riley
Stockport
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