Heathrow Express slashes prices – kids go free (permanently), adults pay just £10 over Easter

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• Lady London says:

  26 Mar26 March 11:05

  On aseparate but vaguely related topic, does anyone know why the government made the Eurotunnel a rail link rather than a road link? I’ve always wondered about why they forced such a complicated solution instead of just letting people drive through.

  • David says:

    26 Mar26 March 11:59

    I’m not sure if you are being serious, but:
    (1) Because it is not at all viable as a road tunnel. (50km in length). Think about breakdowns, accidents, lack of coordination, fumes needing to be cleared, evacuations.
    (2) Because that would not give a rail tunnel for Eurostar and other train services to use.

    • sandgrounder says:

      26 Mar26 March 12:17

      It was shortlisted, but a road tunnel was n’t chosen for the practical reasons above. It was just too expensive to do safely, and quite possibly would never be quite safe enough. But it was certainly technically possible and considered. Public opinion was firmly in favour at the time.

    • Tim says:

      26 Mar26 March 13:37

      It was considered, but was too expensive. The safety aspect made a road bridge preferred to a road tunnel I think that the road bridge plan also involved an island in the middle of the channel too which together with the bridge piers would have been a hazard to shipping

• Kai says:

  26 Mar26 March 12:08

  My hub in London is Liverpool Street so I never waste my money on HEX. So looking forwarding to Crossrail!

• Jerry says:

  26 Mar26 March 12:22

  I suspect there is a fair amount of politics at play here as well as economics. The London boroughs around Heathrow have been lobbying for HEX fares to be reduced to ease intolerable overcrowding on the Piccadilly line and also putting pressure on Mayor Boris to pull HEX into the Oyster card system, coupled with Crossrail and if HEX doesn’t do something it may have something done to it.

  Heathrow is also trying to win favour with councils and residents around Heathrow to back their expansion plans – I’m getting regular leaflets from them now.

  • David says:

    27 Mar27 March 11:19

    I hadn’t thought of this but you’re right. I get on at the Picadilly Line at Hammersmith most mornings and it’s easy to spot which trains have come from Heathrow as opposed to Uxbridge/Rayners Lane. The Heathrow trains are always packed to the rafters.

    HEX should be fully incorporated into the Oyster system now, or at least a modest surcharge for using it – still to be paid via Oyster/Contactless.

    If it doesn’t – as people above have noted, it will hopefully be beaten by Crossrail which will offer a much better array of destinations. Paddington isn’t very useful for many people and it’s tube connections are pretty dire.

• sandgrounder says:

  26 Mar26 March 12:42

  Another scam is the National Express LHR-LGW service. I need to make this journey over Easter, but no way am I being extorted for £25 each when I can get a bus to Croydon for £1.50 and a fiver on top for the train!

  (Although lets see what mood I am in when I get there…. 🙂 )

• Tim says:

  26 Mar26 March 13:31

  HEx is a rip off so this is good news thanks.

  I think that they may be starting to panic about Crossrail. They have already cut their costs by attempting to cut their wage bill (that was what the recent strikes were about)

• CV3V says:

  26 Mar26 March 15:20

  Just to add 🙂

  HEx is a rip off, which probably explains why the trains are usually so quiet. It’s a great service, shame it’s so expensive. The first time I used it we got delayed, and the journey took about 40 minutes!
  Stansted Express is another rip off, I could never even get a seat when travelling to the airport on it. I prefer to get the National Express coach, booked in advance.
  Gatwick Express, yes it’s a rip off too.
  DLR for London City – its great, included in Oyster system.

  Train services at Manchester and Birmingham are much cheaper (BHX = Virgin west coast mainline and a couple of pounds one way off peak).

  EDI has its nice new tram service, costs £2.50 one way. Shame the bus is still quicker (and all the seats face the direction of travel).

  They don’t compare well to other world cities, whether it’s AMS, HKG, BKK etc. which are all so much cheaper and equally as good. I thought the train service in Germany was great, however a lot of the Germans I spoke to thought their train service was suffering through lack of investment!

• AC says:

  26 Mar26 March 20:16

  I can get to my inlaws’ in Barcelona, from the airport, for €1. That’s a 30 minute train, 25 minute metro, and 10 minute bus.

• Bryan says:

  31 Mar31 March 09:53

  Has anyone heard anything more on these discounted Easter fares? I can’t see them on the website and have emailed HEX with no reply!

  • Rob says:

    31 Mar31 March 10:14

    Eh? Bookable on the website, I just tried. You need promo code EASTER2015 as per the article.

    • Bryan says:

      31 Mar31 March 13:31

      Just seeing the edit mid article. Thanks!

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