THE £32bn high-speed rail network from London to the Mid-lands will also benefit passengers in Swindon, the Government has insisted.

The rewards would be felt on the Great Western line – delivering a new interchange in West London and easing pressure of overcrowding, Transport Secretary Justine Greening said.

That interchange, at Old Oak Common station in west London, would enable passengers from Swindon to switch to the high-speed line from the capital to Birmingham and beyond, and on to the new Crossrail line, across London.

However, the announcement appeared to kill off the proposal for an interchange at Heathrow Airport, which would deliver Swindon rail passengers directly into Britain's busiest airport.

Late last year, a committee of MPs urged the department for transport to come clean over that £500m scheme, criticising ‘a series of nods and winks in the press’ as unacceptable.

According to reports in September, the department for transport believes the West link would slash the journey time to Heathrow from Swindon by as much as 30 minutes – and could be operational by 2021.

But the HS2 announcement made no mention of the proposed interchange. However, when asked at Westminster about benefits for passengers on the Great Western line, Ms Greening said: “This is not just about high-speed rail, but about taking pressure off existing lines.

“For people from the South West, on the Great Western line, this means they will be able to continue on to HS2 at Old Oak Common.

“The benefits of HS2 will be felt far more broadly than just in the cities with direct services.”

However, there will be no interchange at Old Oak Common until 2032 at the earliest – when the second phase of the scheme is completed.

William Dartmouth, a UKIP Euro-MP for the South West, criticised the plan.

He said: “This project will cost taxpayers in the South West almost £110m and will have absolutely no benefits whatsoever for local people.

“The whole project is a sop to the big parties marginal seats in the West Midlands. They have either forgotten, or don't care about the needs of people in the South West.”