Heathrow Terminal 5 will be served with Elizabeth Line services once Crossrail fully opens by December 2019.
- Heathrow agrees new plan with TfL and DfT to boost rail services to the airport
- Elizabeth line services to serve Terminal 5
- From 2019 at least 22 trains per hour connecting Central London and Heathrow – up from 18 today
- Thousands of rail passengers to benefit from the convenience of Oyster and contactless ticketing – including on the Heathrow Express
- New services will increase choice of routes in and out of airport, strengthening rail network resilience for future generations
Heathrow, Transport for London (TfL) and the Department for Transport have agreed a commitment to boost integrated rail connectivity to the airport, including the addition of two new Elizabeth line trains per hour serving Terminal 5 from December 2019.
Under the plan, services to Heathrow will increase from 18 trains per hour today to at least 22 trains per hour in 2019, of which six will be on the Elizabeth line. A train will depart Central London to Heathrow on average every two-and-a-half minutes – including two Elizabeth line trains per hour to Terminal 5. Journey times to Heathrow from Bond Street will be 27 minutes, Liverpool Street 35 minutes and Canary Wharf will be only 39 minutes away on a direct train. There is also an ambition to add further services in the future. A joint feasibility study is underway to look at delivering a further two Elizabeth line trains per hour to Terminal 5 meaning eight Elizabeth line trains per hour serving Heathrow, as well as additional work on developing western rail access to Heathrow.
An interchange at Old Oak Common will connect High Speed 2 to Heathrow via the Elizabeth line in under 20 minutes, from 2026. Four Heathrow Express services from Paddington will continue to run every 15 minutes offering a fast 15-minute connection between Heathrow and central London.
From May 2018, new ticket readers will be installed at Heathrow, meaning passengers using Heathrow Express and TfL Rail between Paddington and Heathrow will be able to use pay as you go Oyster or a contactless device. The new ways to pay for journeys to the airport will mean more convenience and flexibility for passengers. Passengers travelling on the Heathrow Express will benefit from easier on-the-day ticketing and can still purchase tickets in advance online from as little as £5.50.
The initiative will support Heathrow’s plans to ensure that half of all journeys to and from the airport are by electric or low emission public transport by 2030. Together with planned co-operation in developing Heathrow’s bus service network, passengers travelling to and from Britain’s biggest airport can expect:
- Convenient and flexible ticketing with Oyster and contactless payments on all services
- Easier, more frequent access to all terminals
- Shorter journey times from more places across London and the UK
- More sustainable travel choices
- Improved travel network resilience
Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said:
“This agreement is a big step forward. Together Heathrow, TfL and the DfT are working together to boost rail connections to the UK’s hub, giving our passengers more choices to travel sustainably between Heathrow and London. With 22 trains per hour, an ambition to add even more services and easy to use Oyster and Contactless ticketing, Heathrow will be at the heart of an integrated transport network and our passengers will reap the benefits.”
Mike Brown, London’s Transport Commissioner, said:
“We have been working with Heathrow on how we can deliver the best services for customers to and from the airport. It is great news that we can now confirm that the Elizabeth line will serve all the Terminals.”
Rail services to Heathrow from December 2019:
- 12 Piccadilly Line trains per hour – 6 trains serving Terminals 2, 3 and 4 and 6 trains serving Terminals 2, 3 and 5
- 6 Elizabeth Line trains per hour – 4 trains serving Terminals 2, 3 and 4 and 2 trains serving Terminals 2, 3 and 5
- 4 Heathrow Express trains per hour – all trains serving Terminals 2, 3 and 5
Notes to Editors:
- These rail improvements are irrespective of the work on Heathrow’s expansion programme
- Any decisions around further additional services to the airport will be subject to detailed operational and feasibility work, and will require a robust business case
I can’t wait for the Crossrail Elizabeth Line to launch by the end of 2019 – I’m sure the time will fly past though.
This could decrease usage for the Piccadilly Line as the new Crossrail Elizabeth Line will reduce journey times from Heathrow Airport to various Central London stations.
Also with Heathrow Terminal 5, the Heathrow Pods are worth checking out as they link from Terminal 5 to T5 business parking; you can view the videos on a playlist here.
Here’s a bus news update from LOTS:
1) Consultation on numerous service changes in west, east and south-east London, most (though not all) of which are in connection with the opening of Crossrail (Elizabeth line) next year, is now published. A summary will be in TLB635 (July issue) but you may wish to look at www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/elizabeth-line for detail. There will be a main concentration at new Crossrail stations at Abbey Wood and Custom House, and in the west at Southall and Hayes. An express service (X140) will supplement the normal 140, one of seven new bus routes.
2) Much more immediate are the tendering changes in Thurrock and Essex, with the temporary operations by Ensign bus on routes 11 and 374 transferring to First Essex Buses from 1st July and route 61 (Brentwood-Blackmore) apparently moving in due course to EOS, according to local sources.
3) Routine tendering changes in Essex from 27th August will be summarised in TLB635 (July) but notably First Essex Buses gain the 32 from Stephensons, the 46 from NIBS and 565 from Regal, while the 71/72 go from Stephensons to Regal. The rural shoppers services around Ongar/ Epping, 47/146/147 (Regal) and 46A-G (NIBS) are replaced by community minibuses. In Harlow Arriva keep the evening town services and gain the Sunday network from Regal.
4) TLB634 summarised most of the changes in north-west Surrey on 2nd September and fuller detail will follow in due course. However Abellio will only be left with just part of the 441 (Staines & Englefield Green) and 461 (Kingston & Addlestone) and Hallmark will provide competition on the 461.
5) A few of the 31 new ADL E20Ds for Arriva the Shires have started to arrive at Luton and High Wycombe. At ASC at Stevenage, loans and transfers from other garages has provided a kaleidoscope of unusual types.
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Related article:
ULTra Heathrow Pods PRT – we need them everywhere!
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Image attribution
By Sunil060902 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60736360