Major Crossrail changes as Heathrow Terminal 5 included – and HEx joins Oyster PAYG

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• RTS says:

  5 Jul5 July 10:01

  Cant wait for Xrail to come soon enough. It will literally cut my journey time from SE London to LHR in half!

• Alex W says:

  5 Jul5 July 11:25

  What about getting to LHR from West of England. Will we still have to change at Paddington? This is a pain and driving is usually the best option at the moment.

  • Nick says:

    5 Jul5 July 12:01

    1. You don’t have to go to Paddington, there’s a frequent railair coach from Reading station forecourt, integrated in the rail ticketing scheme.
    2. With Crossrail you can change at Hayes. Same as now but hopefully a bit more convenient with better connections. Will still be faster on the GWR train though, assuming they do stop at Hayes (the plan keeps changing).
    3. At some time in the future (2023 apparently, but you know what UK infrastructure programmes are like) there will be a direct rail link to Heathrow from the mainline at Iver. Then there will be local trains from Reading straight to T5. These will use the ‘secret’ T5 platforms – they were designed for a SWT link via Staines but that won’t happen because the Richmond/Mortlake poshos went up in arms over the impact on their local roads (there are lots of level crossings on their line which would be down most of the time).

    • Alex W says:

      5 Jul5 July 19:48

      There is already an excellent direct national express coach service, which much cheaper than the train. But if you’re tight for time then it’s got to be car. Train then bus from reading I can’t see solving that problem.

• Paul says:

  5 Jul5 July 12:21

  Interesting how only Heathrow have so far announced this, AFAIK TfL has announced a feasibility study into the 2 extra trains to T5.

  The Elizabeth Line is taking over the connect, hence why ‘only’ going to T4, and then once the whole route opens up in 2019, there is the possibility that TfL will close the T4 Underground Station to save costs when it has another service to the same terminal.

  • Aeronaut says:

    5 Jul5 July 12:44

    First time I’ve come across the suggestion that the T4 Picadilly line tube station and service might close.

• Paulm says:

  5 Jul5 July 13:31

  OT – Norwegian starting Chicago and Austin next year from Gatwick. More competition for BA!

  • AVM says:

    5 Jul5 July 14:25

    Austin? That is the best news of the day! Do you know when?

    • Paulm says:

      5 Jul5 July 14:28

      March, 3 x weekly

    • AVM says:

      5 Jul5 July 14:29

      Found it – end of March 2018. DId a dummy booking – low Fare + is 520£ (+ CC fee). Not cheap at all…

      • Anna says:

        5 Jul5 July 16:10

        That is Easter though, so price probably inflated accordingly.

        • Lumma says:

          5 Jul5 July 16:23

          It’s “from £235 one way” to Austin + £100 return ìf you want to pick a seat, gave something to eat and check a bag.

          What’s always annoyed me about Norwegian is that it’s no cheaper if you just want the seat selection and food. Couldn’t care less about checked luggage personally, but it would still cost £50 each way

• Nick Burch says:

  5 Jul5 July 13:55

  OT Tesco Clubcard changes coming! 3x value on Uber and Hotels.com, not sure about Avios? http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/shopping/2017/07/major-changes-to-tesco-clubcard-scheme-revealed

  • Rob says:

    5 Jul5 July 14:50

    Wow, very interesting.

  • Anna says:

    5 Jul5 July 16:13

    Let’s just hope they don’t use the BA concept of “enhancements”…

    • the real harry1 says:

      5 Jul5 July 18:05

      I’m more positive than that – whilst Uber means nothing to me, I think it’s a good sign that Tesco marketing bods are looking at ways to keep Clubcard salient

  • Matt says:

    5 Jul5 July 16:34

    A bit less interesting than it looks with Hotels.com – non-refundable voucher, so makes flexible bookings inflexible, and no hotels.com rewards on stays booked using the clubcard vouchers. Might still be worthwhile vs redeeming for avios, but not obviously better.

• Paulm says:

  5 Jul5 July 14:08

  Another OT – virgin trains will now only earn 1 virgin flying club point per £ spent (currently 2)

• Andy says:

  5 Jul5 July 18:17

  Once crossrail starts will people still use HEX?

  The time saved on HEW will be lost in changing trains at Paddington. While Crossrail will take you direct to the West End, City, Canary wharf etc

• Richard says:

  5 Jul5 July 23:36

  I think this is wrong Re. Oyster – I believe oyster will work for Heathrow connect by 2018 (which cross rail will replace), but Heathrow express will continue to need a ticket purchased

  • Quark999 says:

    6 Jul6 July 01:02

    Yes, I don’t think Heathrow EXPRESS will gain Oyster, but Heathrow CONNECT. This is because next year will see phase 2 of Crossrail, which is TFL taking over the Connect Service from GWR, just like has happened on the Eastern Branch. Both will continue to be known as “TFL Rail” until the tunnel opens. And because they are TFL services you can use Oyster on them. HEx will remain Heathrow’s for a good while longer.

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