RailAir

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

RailAir

RailAir, Railair or Rail Air describes a number of airport bus

Airport bus

National Rail

National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies. ATOC is an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger Train Operating Company of Great Britain which now run the passenger services previously provided by the British Railways Board ....
network to airports in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
. Services are currently concentrated on Heathrow airport, with one other from Luton airport. Railair services are operated as public transport

Public transport

Public transport comprises passenger transportation services which are available for use by the general public, as opposed to modes for private use such as automobiles or vehicles for hire....
services by or on behalf of train operators, where the whole journey is paid for as a through ticket which combines the railway and bus journey, although journeys can be made using the bus only.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'RailAir'

Start a new discussion about 'RailAir'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

RailAir, Railair or Rail Air describes a number of airport bus

Airport bus

National Rail

United Kingdom

Public transport

History

National Bus Company era

Railair services originated as a partnership between the nationalised bus operator, the National Bus Company, and the nationalised rail operator, British Rail

British Rail

British Railways , which later traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the Rail transport in Great Britain from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until Privatisation of British Rail in stages from 1994 to 1997....
, under the Railair Link brand name.

In Luton, the NBC subsidiary Luton and District operated a Railair Link branded shuttle bus between Luton railway station

Luton railway station

Luton railway station is located in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The station is near to the town centre, about three minutes' walk from the The Mall ....
and Luton Airport, as the Luton Flyer. Luton Airport Parkway railway station

Luton Airport Parkway railway station

Image:Luton AP Concourse.jpg|thumb|right|Intermediate-level concourse adjacent to Platform 4]]Luton Airport Parkway railway station is the railway station for London Luton Airport in Bedfordshire, England....
has since been built closer to the airport.

From 1967, Thames Valley Traction

Thames Valley Traction

Thames Valley Traction Company Limited was a major bus company operating services to and from Reading, Berkshire, Bracknell, Maidenhead, Newbury, Berkshire, High Wycombe and Oxford and surrounding areas for over 50 years during the 20th century....
, (later Alder Valley

Alder Valley

The Thames Valley and Aldershot Omnibus Company, trading as Alder Valley, was a former bus operator in England....
), operated a Railair Link coach between Heathrow and Reading in a yellow striped livery as the X25, and later in the NBC coach livery. A Railair Link service was also operated by coach operator Rickards from Heathrow to Woking.

Post deregulation

After bus deregulation

Bus deregulation

Bus deregulation in Great Britain came into force on 26 October 1986, as part of the Transport Act 1985.The 'Buses' White Paper was the basis of the Transport Act 1985, which provided for the deregulation of local bus services in the whole of the United Kingdom except for Northern Ireland and Greater London....
, the existing Reading and Woking to Heathrow Railair services passed to private companies.

Privatised Alder Valley, as the Bee Line bus company, owned by Q-drive, operated the Heathrow to Reading Railair service in bottle green liveried coaches as the Rail Air service with marketing for the onward rail links to South Wales and the West of England. When Beeline passed to First Group, the Railair service was operated ultimately by First Berkshire, which in 2003 relaunched the service with Scania Irizar

Scania AB

Scania Aktiebolag is a global manufacturer of heavy trucks , buses, and diesel engines, with its head office in S?dert?lje, Sweden. Scania has production facilities in Europe and Latin America....
coaches. The serviced operates as the First Group branded service .

The Woking to Heathrow service was operated by Speedlink Airport Services in a blue livery. This later passed to National Express, which operated it in a light blue version of their 2003 ‘smile’ livery, in conjunction with Stagecoach group’s South West Trains

South West Trains

South West Trains is a List of companies operating trains in the United Kingdom operating in the United Kingdom, providing train services to the south-west of London, chiefly in Greater London and the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight ....
subsidiary, also with branding promoting rail connections to the South West.

In 2006 privatised rail operator Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom, which currently provides services from Euston railway station to the West Midlands , North West England, North Wales and Scotland, and from Birmingham New Street station to North West England and Scotland, on the West Coast Main Line....
, which is 49% owned by Stagecoach Group, introduced Virgin Trains liveried coaches for Railair links to Virgin trains services from Luton and Heathrow airports, as the Virgin ExpressCoach services, operated by Stagecoach bus subsidiary Stagecoach East. From June 1 2008, the Virgin service to Hethrow was withdrawn, with passengers directed to Green Line

Green Line Coaches

Green Line Coaches is a commuter coach-operating company in the Home Counties of England. It is part of the Arriva group.Green Line has its origin in the network of coach services established by the London General Omnibus Company in the 1920s and 1930s....
route 724 as a replacement.

Current Services

Railair is used as a generic term for these services by the public and airline operators, such as British Airways

British Airways

British Airways plc is an airline of the United Kingdom. The airline has the largest fleet of aircraft of any United Kingdom airline, but is only second in terms of international passengers carried....
at Heathrow, and as a specific brand name of some of the services. Typically, these allow connection from London airports to the north and west of the UK via the rail network, without transferring to central London rail terminals.

With the exception of London Buses route 285

London Buses route 285

London Buses route 285 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Transdev London....
, Railair services are direct express coach services, longer and in contrast to local airport bus

Airport bus

An Airport bus, or airport shuttle bus or airport shuttle is a bus used to transport people to/from or within airports. These vehicles will usually be equipped with larger luggage space, and incorporate special branding....
es from nearby stations, and offering through ticketing as opposed to bus only ticketed airport hub connected coach networks, such as National Express Airport branded services.

In 2008 National Express dropped the smile livery for a group wide re-branding, thus more normally National Express are running the route.

Brand	Number	Airport	Train Station	Rail operator	Bus operator
Feltham Railair	285	Heathrow London Heathrow Airport London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , located in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the largest and Busiest airports in the United Kingdom by total passenger traffic airport in the United Kingdom....	Feltham Feltham railway station Feltham railway station is a railway station in Feltham, in the London Borough of Hounslow. It was opened in 1848 by the Windsor Staines and South Western Railway....	South West Trains South West Trains South West Trains is a List of companies operating trains in the United Kingdom operating in the United Kingdom, providing train services to the south-west of London, chiefly in Greater London and the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight ....	Transdev Transdev Transdev is a major international multi-modal transport group based in Paris, France. It has operations in France, the United Kingdom, Australia, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Canada and Italy.... for London Buses London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London that manages bus services within Greater London, United Kingdom. Buses are required to carry similar red colour schemes and conform to the same fare scheme....
Rail Air.com	X25	Heathrow London Heathrow Airport London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , located in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the largest and Busiest airports in the United Kingdom by total passenger traffic airport in the United Kingdom....	Reading Reading railway station Reading railway station is a major rail transport hub in Reading, Berkshire, England. It is situated on the northern edge of the town centre, some 5 minutes' walk from the main retail and commercial areas, and close to the River Thames....	First Great Western First Great Western First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a United Kingdom List of companies operating trains in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup, which operates services in the west and south west of England and South Wales....	First Berkshire & The Thames Valley First Berkshire & The Thames Valley First Berkshire & The Thames Valley is a bus operator serving Bracknell, Slough and Wokingham, in England. It is part of First Group, a major bus and train operator with a turnover of nearly ?2.5 billion a year and 62,000 employees across the UK and North America....
train2plane		Luton London Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway....	Luton Airport Parkway Luton Airport Parkway railway station Image:Luton AP Concourse.jpg\|thumb\|right\|Intermediate-level concourse adjacent to Platform 4]]Luton Airport Parkway railway station is the railway station for London Luton Airport in Bedfordshire, England....	First Capital Connect First Capital Connect First Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006. It is owned by First Group and combines the service on the cross-London Thameslink railway line between Brighton and Bedford with services along the East Coast Main Line from London King's Cross railway...	First Capital Connect First Capital Connect First Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006. It is owned by First Group and combines the service on the cross-London Thameslink railway line between Brighton and Bedford with services along the East Coast Main Line from London King's Cross railway... , a ftr route
Virgin ExpressCoach	VT99	Luton London Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway....	Milton Keynes Central Milton Keynes Central railway station Milton Keynes Central is a railway station that serves the central area of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire#Ceremonial county. The station is located on the West Coast Main Line where it is served by Virgin Trains inter-city services and by London Midland local services....	Virgin Trains Virgin Trains Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom, which currently provides services from Euston railway station to the West Midlands , North West England, North Wales and Scotland, and from Birmingham New Street station to North West England and Scotland, on the West Coast Main Line....	Stagecoach East
Woking Railair	701	Heathrow London Heathrow Airport London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , located in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the largest and Busiest airports in the United Kingdom by total passenger traffic airport in the United Kingdom....	Woking 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....	South West Trains South West Trains South West Trains is a List of companies operating trains in the United Kingdom operating in the United Kingdom, providing train services to the south-west of London, chiefly in Greater London and the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight ....	National Express Coaches
80 Dyce Airlink 80 Dyce Airlink 80 Dyce Airlink is a shuttle bus link between Aberdeen Airport and Dyce railway station which began operation on 15 December 2008, intended to provide a better link to the airport following an increase in the frequency of train services to Dyce station by First ScotRail which now provide an almost half-hourly service to and from Aberdeen duri...	80	Aberdeen Aberdeen Airport Aberdeen Airport is located in Dyce, approximately northwest of Aberdeen city centre. 3.41 million passengers used Aberdeen Airport in 2007, an increase of 7.8% compared with 2006....	Dyce Dyce railway station Dyce railway station is a railway station serving the town of Dyce, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The station is managed by First ScotRail and is on the Aberdeen to Inverness Line, with some trains operating on the East Coast Main Line beginning or terminating at the station....	First ScotRail First ScotRail First ScotRail is the FirstGroup train operating company running domestic passenger trains within Scotland and the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper service to London....	First Aberdeen First Aberdeen First Aberdeen Ltd is the main bus company serving Aberdeen, Scotland and is part of FirstGroup. It was renamed First Aberdeen Ltd in 1998, having previously operated buses in Aberdeen as Aberdeen Corporation, Grampian Regional Transport and First Grampian....

RailAir

History

National Bus Company era

Post deregulation

Current Services

See also

External links