Heathrow Terminal 5 building
Encyclopedia
London Heathrow Terminal 5 is an airport terminal
at London Heathrow Airport
, serving the English capital city of London
. Opened in 2008, the main building in the complex is the largest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom. Terminal 5 is currently used exclusively as the global hub of British Airways
. The terminal is designed to ultimately handle 35 million passengers a year.
The building's lead architects were from the Richard Rogers Partnership
and production design was completed by aviation architects Pascall + Watson. The engineers for the structure were Arup
. The building cost £4 billion and took 19 years from conception to completion, including the longest public inquiry
in British history.
or the expansion of Heathrow (advocated by BA) was the way forward for the UK aviation industry. Ron Rogers was selected to design the terminal in 1989 and BAA formally announced its proposal for T5 in May 1992, submitting a formal planning application on 17 February 1993. A public inquiry
into the proposals began on 16 May 1995 and lasted nearly four years, finally ending on 17 March 1999 after sitting for 525 days. Finally, more than eight years after the initial planning application, then-transport minister Stephen Byers
announced on 20 November 2001 the British government's decision to grant planning permission for the building of a fifth passenger terminal at Heathrow.
field. Therefore, the roof was assembled on the ground using smaller cranes, then lifted into place by eight custom-built towers, each fitted with two hydraulic jacks to pull the roof up. At peak there were around 8,000 people working on the construction site, whilst over the life of the project over 60,000 people have been involved.
Over 15,000 volunteers were recruited for a total of 68 trials lasting from September 2007 until March 2008 to test the operational readiness of Terminal 5 prior to its opening.
officially opened Terminal 5 in a ceremony on 14 March 2008. Used exclusively by British Airways
, the terminal opened for passenger use on 27 March 2008, with flight 26 from Hong Kong its first arrival at 04:50 GMT. The first passenger to enter Terminal 5 was Paul Walker, a UK ex-pat from Kenya who entered through security at 04:30 on 27 March 2008 and was presented with a boarding pass by the British Airways CEO Willie Walsh for the first departing flight, BA302 to Paris.
On the day of opening it quickly became apparent that the new terminal was not operating smoothly, and British Airways cancelled 34 flights and was later forced to suspend baggage check-in
. Over the following 10 days some 42,000 bags failed to travel with their owners, and over 500 flights were cancelled. British Airways was not able to operate its full schedule from Terminal 5 until 8 April 2008 and had to postpone the transfer of its long-haul flights from Terminal 4 to Terminal 5. The difficulties were later blamed on a number of problems with the terminal's IT systems, coupled with car parking. British Airways launched an advertising campaign to assure the public that things are working normally again.
. Two artificial watercourses, the Longford River
and the Duke of Northumberland's River
, originally ran through the middle of the site. Most of the terminal is on the religious parish of Harmondsworth. The southern section, including the train station, is in the religious parish of Stanwell
, but the area is now all in the Borough of Hillingdon.
sub-projects of the Terminal’s construction programme was the diversion of the Longford River
and Duke of Northumberland's River
around the western perimeter of the airport.
The Twin Rivers Diversion was a complex scheme, which involved not only the re-routing of two rivers but also the realignment of the A3044 dual carriageway and Western Perimeter Road. The challenge was complicated by strict time constraints and the proximity of the works to local residents. Further restrictions to site activities resulted from the overhead flight path from both runways. 95% of the diverted rivers were placed in two open man-made channels 6 km in length, compared with only 50% of the original rivers which were conveyed beneath the runways in culverts. The Twin Rivers Diversion scheme achieved a Civil Engineering Environmental Quality (CEEQUAL
) Award for its ability to maintain high environmental standards and quality during design and construction of the project. It involved much moving and planting of river wildlife and plants.
The entire Terminal 5 complex actually consists of 16 major projects and 147 sub-projects. These projects include several buildings and a railway station. Furthermore, in order for these buildings to be constructed, a new control tower had to be built.
Terminal 5 is made up of the main terminal building, referred to as Terminal 5A, together with two satellite buildings, referred to as Terminal 5B and Terminal 5C. At the time of opening, Terminal 5A and Terminal 5B were completed, whilst Terminal 5C was under construction and scheduled to open later in May 2010, however it opened over a year later in June 2011. The whole complex is fronted by a separate building containing road transport facilities.
Within the complex are more than 100 shops and restaurants.
T5A contains a check-in
hall, a departure lounge with retail stores and other passenger services, and a baggage reclaim hall. T5A contains the bulk of the terminal's baggage handling system
. This baggage handling system is the largest in the world with 8 kilometres (5 mi) of high-speed track and 18 kilometres (11.2 mi) of regular conveyor belts. It is designed to handle 4,000 bags per hour, and also has an “early bag store” which can temporarily store up to 4,000 bags.
Departing passengers enter the departures level on the third floor after taking one of the lifts or escalators from the interchange plaza. Upon entering the departures concourse, passengers see views across Heathrow and the surrounding area, and are in a space that is unobstructed to the rising roof above. After check-in and security screening, the airside departure lounge also provides views across the airport, its runways and beyond.
British Airways maintains offices overlooking the main Terminal 5 passenger handling areas, designed so staff can have, in the words of Aviation Transport Weekly, a "visual connection to customers." When Terminal 5 opened on 27 March 2008, British Airways staff, including crew check-in staff, relocated from the Compass Centre
to Terminal 5.
Terminal 5B is the first satellite building to be built. Terminal 5C is the second satellite building, opening unofficially on 20th May 2011, with official opening on 1st June 2011, in conjunction with the relaunch of British Airways service to San Diego. There is also the potential for an additional satellite building, T5D, to be located to the east of T5C, as displayed in Heathrow's Capital Investment Plan for 2009.
Terminal 5B measures 442 metres (1,450.1 ft) long by 52 metres (170.6 ft) wide and 19.5 metres (64 ft) high, and contains 37 lifts
and 29 escalator
s.
An underground automated people mover (APM) system, to the Bombardier Innovia APM 200 design, is used to transport passengers between Terminal 5A, Terminal 5B and Terminal 5C. The APM system is located air side and is only available to passengers and other authorised personnel. The system can accommodate up
to 6,800 passengers per hour and the trains run at 31 miles per hour with a journey time of 45 seconds. Passengers descend to the station via the longest open design escalator in Europe.
The frontal building is connected to the main terminal by covered walkways at ground level (which corresponds to the arrivals level of the main terminal building) and skybridges at level 5 (corresponding to departures level). The combination of the two buildings with the linking walkways creates a series of open courtyards. Whilst one of these courtyards is occupied by the access structures for the railway station below, others contain a dancing fountain and a grove of 40 London Plane trees, and are accessible by passengers and other terminal visitors.
and the construction of new branches of both the Heathrow Express
and the London Underground
Piccadilly line
.
A dedicated motorway spur
has been built from the M25
between junctions 14 and 15 to the terminal. The spur also connects to the airport's perimeter road, and provides direct connections to the frontal building at ground level (for bus station and taxi rank), level 4 (for car parking) and level 5 (for departure set down). The car parking on levels 1 to 3 is accessed from a series of spiral ramps that descend from level 4 to ground level.
Besides the short-stay car parking in front of the main terminal, Terminal 5 is also served by separate business and long-term car parks. These are accessed from the airport's perimeter road and are some distance from the terminal. Currently both car parks are linked to the terminal by bus, but eventually the business car park will be served by an elevated personal rapid transit system (see below).
The terminal is also connected to Terminals 1, 2 and 3 by the Heathrow Airside Road Tunnel
, although, as its name suggests, this is not available for public traffic.
, which is located beneath the main terminal building, and serves both the London Underground
and Heathrow Express
rail connections to the terminal. The railway station also has two additional, currently unused, platforms for use by a possible westward railway connection. BAA is currently consulting on the route of a new rail link, called Heathrow Airtrack
, to Staines High Street
and through direct services to Reading
, Guildford
and London Waterloo.
Heathrow Express provides an express service to Paddington station in central London, stopping only at Heathrow Central station. Trains run every 15 minutes and the journey time to Paddington is 21 minutes. Premium fares are charged for the service to Paddington. However no fares are charged for the journey to Heathrow Central, which provides access to Terminals 1 to 3, to the Heathrow airport central bus station
, and to the Heathrow Connect
semi-fast rail service to Paddington. Terminal 4 can be reached by changing trains to the Heathrow Connect service, which is also fare-free for this journey.
The Piccadilly Line
of the London Underground provides a slower stopping service to central London, with a journey time of between 45 minutes and one hour depending on exact destination. Trains run every 10 minutes, and provide service to many stations en route to and within central London, with interchange available to the rest of the London Underground network. The Piccadilly Line is integrated into the Transport for London
fare system.
Terminal 5 is also served by RailAir
express buses, which link the terminal's bus station (see below) with Reading station
, for rail services to the west, and Woking station
, for rail services to the south.
Because Terminal 5 is close to the boundary of Greater London
, some local buses are part of the London Buses
network, whilst others are run by operators from outside the London Buses area. , the following local buses serve T5:
* Routes marked with an asterisk are part of the TfL
London bus network.
A 2.4 miles (3.9 km) long elevated and at grade personal rapid transit
system links the business car park nearby and the main Terminal 5A building. The system opened to public usage in May 2011, although its usage is currently described as passenger trials, with a general opening forecast during the summer of 2011.
This system has been designed by Bristol
based Advanced Transport Systems to their ULTra
design, and the intention is that it will eventually transport passengers around the perimeter fence to Terminals 1, 2 and 3.
was constructed. Costing £50 million it was assembled off-site before being manoeuvred into position within the central terminal area near to Heathrow Terminal 3, during 2004. This new control tower weighs nearly 1000 tons and is 87 m (285 ft) in height, making it one of the tallest in Europe and twice the height of London's Nelson's Column
. It became operational in April 2007.
Airport terminal
An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from aircraft....
at London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...
, serving the English capital city of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Opened in 2008, the main building in the complex is the largest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom. Terminal 5 is currently used exclusively as the global hub of British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
. The terminal is designed to ultimately handle 35 million passengers a year.
The building's lead architects were from the Richard Rogers Partnership
Richard Rogers
Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside CH Kt FRIBA FCSD is a British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs....
and production design was completed by aviation architects Pascall + Watson. The engineers for the structure were Arup
Arup
Arup is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom which provides engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment. The firm is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the...
. The building cost £4 billion and took 19 years from conception to completion, including the longest public inquiry
Public inquiry
A Tribunal of Inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body in Common Law countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland or Canada. Such a public inquiry differs from a Royal Commission in that a public inquiry accepts evidence and conducts its hearings in a more...
in British history.
Plans
The possibility of a fifth terminal at Heathrow emerged as early as 1982, when there was debate over whether the expansion of StanstedLondon Stansted Airport
-Cargo:-Statistics:-Infrastructure:-Terminal and satellite buildings:Stansted is the newest passenger airport of all the main London airports. The terminal is an oblong glass building, and is separated in to three areas: Check-in concourse, arrivals and departures...
or the expansion of Heathrow (advocated by BA) was the way forward for the UK aviation industry. Ron Rogers was selected to design the terminal in 1989 and BAA formally announced its proposal for T5 in May 1992, submitting a formal planning application on 17 February 1993. A public inquiry
Public inquiry
A Tribunal of Inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body in Common Law countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland or Canada. Such a public inquiry differs from a Royal Commission in that a public inquiry accepts evidence and conducts its hearings in a more...
into the proposals began on 16 May 1995 and lasted nearly four years, finally ending on 17 March 1999 after sitting for 525 days. Finally, more than eight years after the initial planning application, then-transport minister Stephen Byers
Stephen Byers
Stephen John Byers is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for North Tyneside from 1997 to 2010; in the previous parliament, from 1992, he represented Wallsend...
announced on 20 November 2001 the British government's decision to grant planning permission for the building of a fifth passenger terminal at Heathrow.
Construction
Construction began in September 2002, with earth works for the construction of the buildings' foundation. A preparatory archaeological dig at the site found more than 80,000 artefacts. In November of the following year, work started on the steel superstructure of the main terminal building. By January 2005 the nine separate tunnels needed to provide road and rail access, and to provide drainage, were completed. In March of the same year, the sixth and final section of the main terminal roof was lifted into position, and in December the building was made weather proof. This roof could not have been lifted with conventional cranes because it would have penetrated vertically into the airport's radarRadar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
field. Therefore, the roof was assembled on the ground using smaller cranes, then lifted into place by eight custom-built towers, each fitted with two hydraulic jacks to pull the roof up. At peak there were around 8,000 people working on the construction site, whilst over the life of the project over 60,000 people have been involved.
Over 15,000 volunteers were recruited for a total of 68 trials lasting from September 2007 until March 2008 to test the operational readiness of Terminal 5 prior to its opening.
Opening
Queen Elizabeth IIElizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
officially opened Terminal 5 in a ceremony on 14 March 2008. Used exclusively by British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
, the terminal opened for passenger use on 27 March 2008, with flight 26 from Hong Kong its first arrival at 04:50 GMT. The first passenger to enter Terminal 5 was Paul Walker, a UK ex-pat from Kenya who entered through security at 04:30 on 27 March 2008 and was presented with a boarding pass by the British Airways CEO Willie Walsh for the first departing flight, BA302 to Paris.
On the day of opening it quickly became apparent that the new terminal was not operating smoothly, and British Airways cancelled 34 flights and was later forced to suspend baggage check-in
Airport check-in
Airport check-in uses service counters found at commercial airports handling commercial air travel. The check-in is normally handled by an airline itself or a handling agent working on behalf of an airline...
. Over the following 10 days some 42,000 bags failed to travel with their owners, and over 500 flights were cancelled. British Airways was not able to operate its full schedule from Terminal 5 until 8 April 2008 and had to postpone the transfer of its long-haul flights from Terminal 4 to Terminal 5. The difficulties were later blamed on a number of problems with the terminal's IT systems, coupled with car parking. British Airways launched an advertising campaign to assure the public that things are working normally again.
Site
The Terminal 5 building is on a 260 hectares (642.5 acre) located on the western side of the airport, between the western ends of the northern and southern runways. The site was previously occupied by the former Perry Oaks sewage works, and lies to the east of the M25 motorwayM25 motorway
The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
. Two artificial watercourses, the Longford River
Longford River
The Longford River is an artificial waterway that diverts water 19km from the River Colne at Longford to Bushy Park and Hampton Court Palace where it reaches the Thames on the reach above Teddington Lock....
and the Duke of Northumberland's River
Duke of Northumberland's River
The Duke of Northumberland's River consists of two sections of artificial waterway. The older name: "Isleworth Mill Stream", or River, more accurately describes the economic motivation for their construction.-The western section :...
, originally ran through the middle of the site. Most of the terminal is on the religious parish of Harmondsworth. The southern section, including the train station, is in the religious parish of Stanwell
Stanwell
Stanwell is a suburban village in the Surrey borough of Spelthorne. It is located 15.7 miles west south-west of Charing Cross and half a mile from the southern boundary of London Heathrow Airport and the London Borough of Hillingdon...
, but the area is now all in the Borough of Hillingdon.
Twin Rivers Diversion Scheme
One of the most time-critical civil engineeringCivil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
sub-projects of the Terminal’s construction programme was the diversion of the Longford River
Longford River
The Longford River is an artificial waterway that diverts water 19km from the River Colne at Longford to Bushy Park and Hampton Court Palace where it reaches the Thames on the reach above Teddington Lock....
and Duke of Northumberland's River
Duke of Northumberland's River
The Duke of Northumberland's River consists of two sections of artificial waterway. The older name: "Isleworth Mill Stream", or River, more accurately describes the economic motivation for their construction.-The western section :...
around the western perimeter of the airport.
The Twin Rivers Diversion was a complex scheme, which involved not only the re-routing of two rivers but also the realignment of the A3044 dual carriageway and Western Perimeter Road. The challenge was complicated by strict time constraints and the proximity of the works to local residents. Further restrictions to site activities resulted from the overhead flight path from both runways. 95% of the diverted rivers were placed in two open man-made channels 6 km in length, compared with only 50% of the original rivers which were conveyed beneath the runways in culverts. The Twin Rivers Diversion scheme achieved a Civil Engineering Environmental Quality (CEEQUAL
CEEQUAL
CEEQUAL, is an assessment and awards scheme for improving sustainability in civil engineering and public realm projects, based in the United Kingdom. It is promoted by the Institution of Civil Engineers and a group of civil engineering organisations including CIRIA, CECA and ACE...
) Award for its ability to maintain high environmental standards and quality during design and construction of the project. It involved much moving and planting of river wildlife and plants.
Buildings
Terminal 5 is made up of the main terminal building, referred to as Terminal 5A, together with two satellite buildings, referred to as Terminal 5B and Terminal 5C. At the time of opening, Terminal 5A and Terminal 5B were completed, whilst Terminal 5C was under construction and scheduled to open later in May 2010, however it opened over a year later in June 2011. The whole complex is fronted by a separate building containing road transport facilities.
Within the complex are more than 100 shops and restaurants.
Main terminal building
The main terminal building is 396 metres (1,299.2 ft) long, 176 metres (577.4 ft) wide and 40 metres (131.2 ft) tall. It is the largest building in the Terminal 5 complex and is the biggest free standing building in the United Kingdom. Its four storeys are covered by a single-span undulating steel frame roof, with glass façades angled at 6.5 degrees to the vertical. The area covered by the roof is the size of five football pitches, and each section weighs 2,200 tonnes.Check-in
Check-in is the process of announcing your arrival at a hotel, airport, sea port or social network service.-Airlines and airports :Check-in desks are found in the majority of commercial airports. Their main function is to take in luggage that passengers wish to, or are required to, place within the...
hall, a departure lounge with retail stores and other passenger services, and a baggage reclaim hall. T5A contains the bulk of the terminal's baggage handling system
Baggage Handling System
A baggage handling system is a type of conveyor system installed in airports that transports checked luggage from ticket counters to areas where the bags can be loaded onto airplanes...
. This baggage handling system is the largest in the world with 8 kilometres (5 mi) of high-speed track and 18 kilometres (11.2 mi) of regular conveyor belts. It is designed to handle 4,000 bags per hour, and also has an “early bag store” which can temporarily store up to 4,000 bags.
Departing passengers enter the departures level on the third floor after taking one of the lifts or escalators from the interchange plaza. Upon entering the departures concourse, passengers see views across Heathrow and the surrounding area, and are in a space that is unobstructed to the rising roof above. After check-in and security screening, the airside departure lounge also provides views across the airport, its runways and beyond.
British Airways maintains offices overlooking the main Terminal 5 passenger handling areas, designed so staff can have, in the words of Aviation Transport Weekly, a "visual connection to customers." When Terminal 5 opened on 27 March 2008, British Airways staff, including crew check-in staff, relocated from the Compass Centre
Compass Centre
Compass Centre is an office building on the grounds of London Heathrow Airport in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The building serves as BAA Limited's head office...
to Terminal 5.
Satellite terminal buildings
Terminal 5B measures 442 metres (1,450.1 ft) long by 52 metres (170.6 ft) wide and 19.5 metres (64 ft) high, and contains 37 lifts
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
and 29 escalator
Escalator
An escalator is a moving staircase – a conveyor transport device for carrying people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individual, linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.Escalators are used around the...
s.
An underground automated people mover (APM) system, to the Bombardier Innovia APM 200 design, is used to transport passengers between Terminal 5A, Terminal 5B and Terminal 5C. The APM system is located air side and is only available to passengers and other authorised personnel. The system can accommodate up
to 6,800 passengers per hour and the trains run at 31 miles per hour with a journey time of 45 seconds. Passengers descend to the station via the longest open design escalator in Europe.
Frontal building
Unlike most airport terminals, the main terminal building does not have direct road access. Instead it is fronted by a 6-level frontal building, which contains a bus station and taxi rank (at ground level), a 3,800 space short stay multi-storey car park (levels 1 to 4) and a drop off zone (level 5). A walkway at level 1 of the frontal building provides under-cover access to the SOFITEL Heathrow Airport T5 Hotel, whist a section of level 2 will be used for the link to the long term business car park (see below).The frontal building is connected to the main terminal by covered walkways at ground level (which corresponds to the arrivals level of the main terminal building) and skybridges at level 5 (corresponding to departures level). The combination of the two buildings with the linking walkways creates a series of open courtyards. Whilst one of these courtyards is occupied by the access structures for the railway station below, others contain a dancing fountain and a grove of 40 London Plane trees, and are accessible by passengers and other terminal visitors.
Airlines and destinations
Ground transport
The transport network around the airport has been extended to cope with the increase in passenger numbers. This has involved widening of the M25 motorwayM25 motorway
The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
and the construction of new branches of both the Heathrow Express
Heathrow Express
Heathrow Express is an airport rail link from London Heathrow Airport to London Paddington station in London operated by the Heathrow Express Operating Authority, a wholly owned subsidiary of BAA. It was opened by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1998...
and the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
Piccadilly line
Piccadilly Line
The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fifth busiest line on the Underground network judged by the number of passengers transported per year. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with...
.
Road links
Spur route
A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important route . A bypass or beltway is never considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with the major road...
has been built from the M25
M25 motorway
The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
between junctions 14 and 15 to the terminal. The spur also connects to the airport's perimeter road, and provides direct connections to the frontal building at ground level (for bus station and taxi rank), level 4 (for car parking) and level 5 (for departure set down). The car parking on levels 1 to 3 is accessed from a series of spiral ramps that descend from level 4 to ground level.
Besides the short-stay car parking in front of the main terminal, Terminal 5 is also served by separate business and long-term car parks. These are accessed from the airport's perimeter road and are some distance from the terminal. Currently both car parks are linked to the terminal by bus, but eventually the business car park will be served by an elevated personal rapid transit system (see below).
The terminal is also connected to Terminals 1, 2 and 3 by the Heathrow Airside Road Tunnel
Heathrow Airside Road Tunnel
The Heathrow Airside Road Tunnel is a tunnel at London Heathrow Airport. It connects the airside roads around Terminals 1, 2 and 3 to the airside roads around Terminal 5....
, although, as its name suggests, this is not available for public traffic.
Railway links
Terminal 5 is served by the Heathrow Terminal 5 stationHeathrow Terminal 5 station
Heathrow Terminal 5 station is a shared railway station at London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 which was opened on 27 March 2008. It was designed by architects HOK International in conjunction with Rogers, Stirk, Harbour & Partners....
, which is located beneath the main terminal building, and serves both the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
and Heathrow Express
Heathrow Express
Heathrow Express is an airport rail link from London Heathrow Airport to London Paddington station in London operated by the Heathrow Express Operating Authority, a wholly owned subsidiary of BAA. It was opened by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1998...
rail connections to the terminal. The railway station also has two additional, currently unused, platforms for use by a possible westward railway connection. BAA is currently consulting on the route of a new rail link, called Heathrow Airtrack
Heathrow Airtrack
Heathrow Airtrack is a proposed railway link in west London, England, UK. The line as proposed by BAA, would have run from into central London and across the suburbs of south-west London. BAA announced that it was abandoning the project in April 2011...
, to Staines High Street
Staines High Street railway station
Staines High Street railway station was on the Windsor & Eton line of the London and South Western Railway. It was opened on 1 July 1884 and closed on 1 February 1916 and was built for trains using the West Curve...
and through direct services to Reading
Reading railway station
Reading railway station is a major rail transport hub in the English town of Reading. It is situated on the northern edge of the town centre, close to the main retail and commercial areas, and also the River Thames...
, Guildford
Guildford railway station
Guildford railway station can refer to:* Guildford railway station , England* Guildford railway station, Sydney, Australia* Guildford railway station, Perth, Western Australia* Guildford railway station, Victoria, Australia...
and London Waterloo.
Heathrow Airport Central bus station
Heathrow Airport Central bus station serves Heathrow Airport, Greater London, England.The bus station provides local bus and long distance coach services. It is located between Terminals 1 and 3 is open 24 hours...
, and to the Heathrow Connect
Heathrow Connect
Heathrow Connect is a train operating company in London provided jointly by Heathrow Express and First Great Western, connecting Heathrow Airport with station. The service follows the same route as the Heathrow Express service but serves intermediate stations en route, thus connecting several...
semi-fast rail service to Paddington. Terminal 4 can be reached by changing trains to the Heathrow Connect service, which is also fare-free for this journey.
The Piccadilly Line
Piccadilly Line
The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fifth busiest line on the Underground network judged by the number of passengers transported per year. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with...
of the London Underground provides a slower stopping service to central London, with a journey time of between 45 minutes and one hour depending on exact destination. Trains run every 10 minutes, and provide service to many stations en route to and within central London, with interchange available to the rest of the London Underground network. The Piccadilly Line is integrated into the Transport for London
Transport for London
Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
fare system.
Terminal 5 is also served by RailAir
RailAir
RailAir, Railair or Rail Air describes a number of airport bus and coach services designed to connect the National Rail network to airports in the United Kingdom. Services are currently concentrated on London Heathrow Airport, with one other from London Luton Airport...
express buses, which link the terminal's bus station (see below) with Reading station
Reading railway station
Reading railway station is a major rail transport hub in the English town of Reading. It is situated on the northern edge of the town centre, close to the main retail and commercial areas, and also the River Thames...
, for rail services to the west, and Woking station
Woking railway station
Woking railway station is a railway station in England, serving the town of Woking, Surrey. It is a major stop on the South Western Main Line and is used by many commuters...
, for rail services to the south.
Bus links
The bus and coach station in the frontal building is served by a number of bus and coach services, including long-distance National Express coach service, "The Airline" service running from Oxford, RailAir buses, local public bus services, shuttle buses to airport hotels, long term car parking and car hire lots, and staff shuttle buses.Because Terminal 5 is close to the boundary of Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
, some local buses are part of the London Buses
London Buses
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London that manages bus services within Greater London, UK. Buses are required to carry similar red colour schemes and conform to the same fare scheme...
network, whilst others are run by operators from outside the London Buses area. , the following local buses serve T5:
- 60 – Heathrow - WraysburyWraysburyWraysbury, traditionally spelt Wyrardisbury, is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is located in the very east of the county, in the part that was in Buckinghamshire until 1974...
- DatchetDatchetDatchet is an English Thameside village and civil parish situated in the unitary authority of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire. It was transferred to Berkshire from Buckinghamshire in 1974....
- SloughSloughSlough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London...
- EtonEton, BerkshireEton is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, lying on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor and connected to it by Windsor Bridge. The parish also includes the large village of Eton Wick, 2 miles west of the town, and has a population of 4,980. Eton was in Buckinghamshire until...
- Eton WickEton WickEton Wick is a village in the English county of Berkshire on the western outskirts of London, immediately north of the River Thames. It is located very close to both the historic towns of Windsor and Eton, as well as Slough and Dorney Lake, the planned rowing venue for the 2012 Olympics...
; - 51 – Heathrow - StainesStainesStaines is a Thames-side town in the Spelthorne borough of Surrey and Greater London Urban Area, as well as the London Commuter Belt of South East England. It is a suburban development within the western bounds of the M25 motorway and located 17 miles west south-west of Charing Cross in...
- AddlestoneAddlestoneAddlestone is a town in the borough of Runnymede in the county of Surrey, England.Immediate surrounding towns and villages include Weybridge, Ottershaw, Chertsey, and New Haw. It is near Junction 11 of the M25 motorway and is served by Addlestone railway station on the Chertsey Branch Line. It also...
- ChertseyChertseyChertsey is a town in Surrey, England, on the River Thames and its tributary rivers such as the River Bourne. It can be accessed by road from junction 11 of the M25 London orbital motorway. It shares borders with Staines, Laleham, Shepperton, Addlestone, Woking, Thorpe and Egham...
- WeybridgeWeybridgeWeybridge is a town in the Elmbridge district of Surrey in South East England. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the River Wey, from which it gets its name...
- ByfleetByfleetByfleet is an inland island village forming a suburb of Woking in Surrey, England. It is in the east of the borough between the River Wey and the River Mole, and is within the M25 motorway....
- BrooklandsBrooklandsBrooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...
; - 71 – Heathrow - Staines - EghamEghamEgham is a wealthy suburb in the Runnymede borough of Surrey, in the south-east of England. It is part of the London commuter belt and Greater London Urban Area, and about south-west of central London on the River Thames and near junction 13 of the M25 motorway.-Demographics:Egham town has a...
- WindsorWindsor, BerkshireWindsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
- Slough; - 77 – Heathrow - Langley - Slough - Windsor - DedworthDedworthDedworth is the most westerly area of Windsor in the English county of Berkshire.-History:The name Dedworth is formed from the words 'Dydda', meaning a man's name and 'Worth', a Saxon word for enclosure....
; - 78 – Heathrow - Langley - Slough - BritwellBritwellBritwell is a residential housing estate and civil parish in the north west of Slough, Berkshire, in the south of England. It is about 23 miles west of London.The name Britwell derives from the old English beorhtan wiellan meaning 'bright, clear well'....
; - 350London Buses route 350London Buses route 350 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Abellio London .-History:...
* – Heathrow - West DraytonWest DraytonWest Drayton is a suburban area in the London Borough of Hillingdon in the far west of London, England. Formerly part of the Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District of Middlesex, the district became part of Greater London in 1965....
- Stockley ParkStockley ParkStockley Park is a business estate located between Hayes and West Drayton in the London Borough of Hillingdon.It is home to over 33 companies such as Apple Inc...
- Hayes and Harlington stationHayes and Harlington railway stationthumb|right|Up freight west of Hayes & Harlington in 1962Hayes and Harlington railway station is a railway station in Hayes and Harlington in the London Borough of Hillingdon.-History:...
; - 423* – Heathrow - Hatton Cross stationHatton Cross tube stationHatton Cross tube station is on the Heathrow branch of the London Underground Piccadilly line. It is in Travelcard Zones 5 and 6 and stands between the Great South West Road and the Heathrow Airport Southern Perimeter Road....
- HounslowHounslowHounslow is the principal town in the London Borough of Hounslow. It is a suburban development situated 10.6 miles west south-west of Charing Cross. It forms a post town in the TW postcode area.-Etymology:...
; - 441 – Heathrow - StanwellStanwellStanwell is a suburban village in the Surrey borough of Spelthorne. It is located 15.7 miles west south-west of Charing Cross and half a mile from the southern boundary of London Heathrow Airport and the London Borough of Hillingdon...
- Staines - Egham - Englefield GreenEnglefield GreenEnglefield Green is a large village in northern Surrey, England. It is home to Royal Holloway, University of London, the south eastern corner of Windsor Great Park and close to the towns of Egham, Windsor, Staines and Virginia Water...
; - 482* – Heathrow - Hatton Cross station - HestonHestonHeston is a place in the London Borough of Hounslow, west London. It is a suburban development area, based on a former farming village west south-west of Charing Cross.-History:...
- SouthallSouthallSouthall is a large suburban district of west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Yeading, Hayes, Hanwell, Heston, Hounslow, Greenford and Northolt...
; - 490* – Heathrow - FelthamFelthamFeltham is a town in the London Borough of Hounslow, west London. It is located about west south west of central London at Charing Cross and from Heathrow Airport Central...
- TwickenhamTwickenhamTwickenham is a large suburban town southwest of central London. It is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan...
- Richmond - North SheenNorth SheenNorth Sheen, an area of London, England in the former Municipal Borough of Richmond ,was incorporated into Kew in 1965 when the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames was created....
; - 724Green Line route 724Green Line route 724 is a high-profile limited-stop express bus service, currently operated by Arriva Shires & Essex as part of the large Green Line Coaches network. It operates between Harlow and Heathrow Airport, and is partly funded by airport operator BAA...
– Heathrow - UxbridgeUxbridgeUxbridge is a large town located in north west London, England and is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. It forms part of the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is located west-northwest of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres...
- WatfordWatfordWatford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
- St AlbansSt AlbansSt Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...
- HatfieldHatfield, HertfordshireHatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It has a population of 29,616, and is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House, the home of the Marquess of Salisbury, is the nucleus of the old town...
- Welwyn Garden CityWelwyn Garden City-Economy:Ever since its inception as garden city, Welwyn Garden City has attracted a strong commercial base with several designated employment areas. Among the companies trading in the town are:*Air Link Systems*Baxter*British Lead Mills*Carl Zeiss...
- HertfordHertfordHertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. Forming a civil parish, the 2001 census put the population of Hertford at about 24,180. Recent estimates are that it is now around 28,000...
- HarlowHarlowHarlow is a new town and local government district in Essex, England. It is located in the west of the county and on the border with Hertfordshire, on the Stort Valley, The town is near the M11 motorway and forms part of the London commuter belt.The district has a current population of 78,889...
; - Night Bus N9* – Heathrow - Hounslow - ChiswickChiswickChiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...
- HammersmithHammersmithHammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
- KensingtonKensingtonKensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
- Trafalgar SquareTrafalgar SquareTrafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
- AldwychAldwychAldwych is a place and road in the City of Westminster in London, England.-Description:Aldwych, the road, is a crescent, connected to the Strand at both ends. At its centre, it meets the Kingsway...
;
* Routes marked with an asterisk are part of the TfL
Transport for London
Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
London bus network.
Personal rapid transit system
A 2.4 miles (3.9 km) long elevated and at grade personal rapid transit
Personal rapid transit
Personal rapid transit , also called podcar, is a public transportation mode featuring small automated vehicles operating on a network of specially built guide ways...
system links the business car park nearby and the main Terminal 5A building. The system opened to public usage in May 2011, although its usage is currently described as passenger trials, with a general opening forecast during the summer of 2011.
This system has been designed by Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
based Advanced Transport Systems to their ULTra
ULTra
ULTra is a personal rapid transit system developed by ULTra PRT,...
design, and the intention is that it will eventually transport passengers around the perimeter fence to Terminals 1, 2 and 3.
New control tower
At the time of its design Terminal 5's proposed height was so tall that it would have blocked runway views from Heathrow Airport's then control tower. Therefore, before construction began on the terminal building, a new taller air traffic control towerControl tower
A control tower, or more specifically an Air Traffic Control Tower , is the name of the airport building from which the air traffic control unit controls the movement of aircraft on and around the airport. Control towers are also used to control the traffic for other forms of transportation such...
was constructed. Costing £50 million it was assembled off-site before being manoeuvred into position within the central terminal area near to Heathrow Terminal 3, during 2004. This new control tower weighs nearly 1000 tons and is 87 m (285 ft) in height, making it one of the tallest in Europe and twice the height of London's Nelson's Column
Nelson's Column
Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in central London built to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The monument was constructed between 1840 and 1843 to a design by William Railton at a cost of £47,000. It is a column of the Corinthian...
. It became operational in April 2007.
External links
- British Airways site about T5
- BAA site about T5
- Richard Rogers Partnership site about T5
- The logistical challenge of engineering T5, Ingenia magazine, March 2008