Heathrow Express is an
express trainExpress trains are a form of rail service. Express trains make only a small number of stops, instead of stopping at every single station. In many cases, trains often run express where there is overlapping local train service available, and run local at the tail ends of the line, where there is no...
service from
London Heathrow AirportLondon Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , located in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the world's busiest airport in terms of international passenger traffic. It is the world's second busiest airport in total passenger traffic. It is also the largest and busiest airport in the United Kingdom...
to London Paddington station in
Central LondonThe term Central London refers to the districts of London which are considered closest to the centre. There is no conventional definition, nor any official one, for the entire area that can be called "central London". Central London covers about 10 square miles on areas both north and south of the...
operated by the Heathrow Express Operating Authority, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BAA. It was opened by the then Prime Minister
Tony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
in 1998. It is not legally part of the
National RailNational Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...
system, even though it shares track with National Rail trains for much of its journey and terminates at a London mainline station.
Trains leave Paddington every 15 minutes from 05.10 until 23.25 (23.10 on Saturdays), and there is a similar quarter-hourly service in the return direction.
Heathrow Express is an
express trainExpress trains are a form of rail service. Express trains make only a small number of stops, instead of stopping at every single station. In many cases, trains often run express where there is overlapping local train service available, and run local at the tail ends of the line, where there is no...
service from
London Heathrow AirportLondon Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , located in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the world's busiest airport in terms of international passenger traffic. It is the world's second busiest airport in total passenger traffic. It is also the largest and busiest airport in the United Kingdom...
to London Paddington station in
Central LondonThe term Central London refers to the districts of London which are considered closest to the centre. There is no conventional definition, nor any official one, for the entire area that can be called "central London". Central London covers about 10 square miles on areas both north and south of the...
operated by the Heathrow Express Operating Authority, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BAA. It was opened by the then Prime Minister
Tony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
in 1998. It is not legally part of the
National RailNational Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...
system, even though it shares track with National Rail trains for much of its journey and terminates at a London mainline station.
Service
Trains leave Paddington every 15 minutes from 05.10 until 23.25 (23.10 on Saturdays), and there is a similar quarter-hourly service in the return direction. At Paddington, Heathrow Express trains use two dedicated platforms (6 and 7). There are two stops at Heathrow: Heathrow Central, serving Terminals 1, 2, 3 (journey time from Paddington 15 minutes), and
Heathrow Terminal 5Heathrow Terminal 5 station is a shared railway station at London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 which was opened on 27 March 2008. Designed by architects HOK International in conjunction with Rogers, Stirk, Harbour & Partners....
(journey time 21 minutes). Until the opening of Terminal 5 at Heathrow on 27 March 2008, Heathrow Express also served Terminal 4, but this has now been discontinued and Terminal 4 is now the terminus for
Heathrow ConnectHeathrow Connect is a train service in London provided jointly by Heathrow Express and First Great Western, connecting Heathrow Airport with Paddington station. The service follows the same route as the Heathrow Express service but serves intermediate stations en route, thus connecting several...
instead.
The service uses
Class 332The British Rail Class 332 is the type of electric multiple unit train used on the Heathrow Express between London Paddington station and Heathrow Airport. The fleet was built in 1998 by Siemens and CAF at the latter’s factory in Zaragoza, Spain...
electric multiple unit trains built by
SiemensSiemens AG is Europe's largest engineering conglomerate. Siemens' international headquarters are located in Berlin and Munich, Germany. The company is a conglomerate of three main business sectors: Industry, Energy and Healthcare with a total of 15 Divisions.Worldwide, Siemens and its subsidiaries...
. These incorporate video monitors and the ability to use mobile phones throughout the journey — even in tunnels. The monitors are mostly used for advertising purposes and for the broadcast of news and weather updates produced for Heathrow Express by BBC World News.
Since its opening, Heathrow Express has been generally well received, not least because steps were taken to reduce the environmental impact of the train line. Measures included disguising ventilation shafts as barns. The service has received some criticism, however, particularly of its high fares, the lack of a quiet zone on some trains, and the poor air quality at
Paddington stationPaddington station, also known as London Paddington, is a major National Rail and London Underground station complex in the Paddington area of central London, England....
due to the fact that all main-line trains there are diesel-hauled.
As of September 2008, it costs around £16.50 for a single journey in standard class and around £26.00 for first class. This is an expensive "rate per mile" even by British train fare standards. Heathrow Express has been described as "renowned as one of the world's costliest train trips". There is a consistent debate within the transport community whether the high price makes this form of transport to Heathrow worthwhile.
There is now also a stopping service (
Heathrow ConnectHeathrow Connect is a train service in London provided jointly by Heathrow Express and First Great Western, connecting Heathrow Airport with Paddington station. The service follows the same route as the Heathrow Express service but serves intermediate stations en route, thus connecting several...
) which takes the same route from
Central LondonThe term Central London refers to the districts of London which are considered closest to the centre. There is no conventional definition, nor any official one, for the entire area that can be called "central London". Central London covers about 10 square miles on areas both north and south of the...
to Heathrow, using the slower relief lines, on which significantly lower fares are charged. This takes only 10 minutes longer than Heathrow Express, and usefully offers connections to the London Underground (
Central LineThe Central line is a London Underground line, coloured red on the tube map. It is a deep-level "tube" line, running east-west across London, and has the greatest total length of track of any line on the Underground. Out of the 49 stations served, 20 are below ground...
and
District LineThe District line is a line of the London Underground, coloured green on the Tube map. It is a "sub-surface" line, running through the central area in shallow cut-and-cover tunnels. It is the busiest of the sub-surface lines and the third busiest overall on the Underground network. Out of the 60...
) at
Ealing BroadwayEaling Broadway is an east-west National Rail and London Underground station in Ealing in west London. The station is located in Haven Green , at the termination of The Broadway, and is in Travelcard Zone 3.-Services:...
. The introduction of Heathrow Connect has probably somewhat deflected criticism of the high fares on Heathrow Express.
Airport workers can get a discount through the Airport Commuter scheme operated by BAA. A monthly pass costs £130 as of January 2007.
Construction
Construction began in 1993. The principal works were the construction of a 5-mile tunnel and underground stations at Heathrow, and electrification of the
Great Western Main LineThe Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in Great Britain that runs westwards from London Paddington station to the west of England and South Wales. The core Great Western Main Line runs from London Paddington to Temple Meads station in Bristol...
between Paddington and
Airport Junction. A
flying junctionA flying junction is a railway junction at which one or more diverging or converging tracks in a multiple-track route cross other tracks on the route by bridge to avoid conflict with other train movements. A more technical term is "grade-separated junction"...
known as
Stockley Flyover was constructed to connect the tunnel to the GWML fast lines.
On 21 October 1994 one of the partially-constructed tunnels carrying the line into the Terminal 1,2,3 complex collapsed without warning. An office building and a car park were consumed by the huge crater which opened up between Heathrow's two parallel runways. The principal contractor,
Balfour BeattyBalfour Beatty plc is a London-based construction, engineering, rail and investment services company. It is one of the largest construction companies in the UK, and the 15th largest in the world...
, was found guilty of negligence in February 1999 and fined £1.2 million. The collapse had far-reaching consequences, since it also held up construction of the extended
Jubilee LineThe Jubilee line is a line on the London Underground , in the United Kingdom. It was built in two major sections - initially to Charing Cross in Central London, and later extended in 1999 to Stratford in East London. The later stations are notable for their larger size and safety features...
of the
London UndergroundThe London Underground, Underground or Tube is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire in the UK. The first section opened in 1863, and was the first underground railway system in the world, and, starting in...
, where contractors were using similar tunnelling methods.
Beginning in January 1998, an interim service called
Heathrow FastTrain ran to a temporary station called
Heathrow JunctionHeathrow Junction was a short-lived railway station built to serve London Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom.Between 1988 and 1998, the Heathrow Express shuttle service was built to connect Paddington station to Heathrow Airport. A new spur was built from the existing Great Western Railway...
, where a coach took passengers the rest of the way. The full service opened on 23 June 1998.
Route
The service runs along the
Great Western Main LineThe Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in Great Britain that runs westwards from London Paddington station to the west of England and South Wales. The core Great Western Main Line runs from London Paddington to Temple Meads station in Bristol...
from Paddington to Airport Junction (
Network RailNetwork Rail owns and operates Britain’s rail infrastructure. It is a British "not for dividend" company limited by guarantee whose principal asset is Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, a company limited by shares....
owned infrastructure). The line from Airport Junction to the airport terminals is owned by BAA but maintained on their behalf by Network Rail. The line is
electrifiedRailway electrification in Great Britain describes the past and present electrification systems used to supply traction current to railways and tramways in Great Britain with a chronological record of development, a list of lines using each system, and a history and a technical description of each...
at
25 kV ACThe AC, railway electrification system is commonly used in railways worldwide, especially on high-speed lines.-Overview:This electrification system is ideal for railways that cover long distances and/or carry heavy traffic...
overhead and uses
Automatic Train ProtectionAutomatic Train Protection in Great Britain refers to either of two implementations of a train protection system installed in some trains in order to help prevent collisions through a driver's failure to observe a signal or speed restriction. Note that ATP can also refer to automatic train...
(ATP). The controlling signalbox for the entire route is Slough (New)
IECCThe Integrated Electronic Control Centre was developed in the late 1980s by the British Rail Research Division for UK-based railway signalling centres, although variations exist around the world...
.
Stations
| Station | Image | Time |
|---|
| Paddington |
 |
0 mins |
| Heathrow Central |
 |
15 mins |
Heathrow Terminal 5Heathrow Terminal 5 station is a shared railway station at London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 which was opened on 27 March 2008. Designed by architects HOK International in conjunction with Rogers, Stirk, Harbour & Partners....
|
 |
21 mins |
Sights en Route
There are a number of striking sights on the route which may be unfamiliar to visitors:
- A number of gasometers (gas holders), including a prominent one at Southall
Southall is a suburb in the London Borough of Ealing, West London. It is situated west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Yeading, Hayes, Hanwell, Heston, Hounslow, Greenford and Northolt...
- The Southall
Southall is a suburb in the London Borough of Ealing, West London. It is situated west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Yeading, Hayes, Hanwell, Heston, Hounslow, Greenford and Northolt...
station sign is in both LatinThe Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. It evolved from the western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, and was initially developed by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language.During the...
and Gurmukhī alphabets, due to the large PunjabiThe Punjabi people are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group from South Asia. They originate from the Punjab region, which has been host to some of the oldest civilizations in the world including one of the world's first and oldest civilizations, the Indus Valley Civilization...
population there.
Current fleet
| Class |
Image |
Type |
Top speed |
Number |
Routes operated |
Built |
| mph |
km/h |
Class 332The British Rail Class 332 is the type of electric multiple unit train used on the Heathrow Express between London Paddington station and Heathrow Airport. The fleet was built in 1998 by Siemens and CAF at the latter’s factory in Zaragoza, Spain...
|
 |
electric multiple unitAn electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of many carriages using electricity as the motive power.- Types :...
|
100 |
160 |
14 |
London PaddingtonPaddington station, also known as London Paddington, is a major National Rail and London Underground station complex in the Paddington area of central London, England....
- Heathrow AirportLondon Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , located in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the world's busiest airport in terms of international passenger traffic. It is the world's second busiest airport in total passenger traffic. It is also the largest and busiest airport in the United Kingdom...
|
1998 |
 |
External links
See also
- Heathrow Connect
Heathrow Connect is a train service in London provided jointly by Heathrow Express and First Great Western, connecting Heathrow Airport with Paddington station. The service follows the same route as the Heathrow Express service but serves intermediate stations en route, thus connecting several...
- Gatwick Express
|}Gatwick Express is the name given to the frequent rail shuttle service between Victoria station in London and Gatwick Airport in South East England. Until June 2008, Gatwick Express was a separate train operating company owned by National Express, that operated the separate Gatwick Express...
- Stansted Express
Stansted Express is a sub-brand of National Express East Anglia. It is the direct train service linking central London to Stansted Airport, one of London's major air hubs...
- First Great Western
First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup, which operates services in the west and south west of England and South Wales....
- Airport rail link
An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport from an airport to a nearby city; by mainline- or commuter trains, rapid transit, people mover or light rail...