TODAY’S THE DAY: Take a direct Elizabeth line train from Heathrow to central London

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• Sam says:

  6 Nov6 November 08:24

  It is great for me living in Cambridge. I can now get a train all the way to Heathrow (albeit not today it seems as Thameslink on Sunday is patchy)

  • Alex G says:

    6 Nov6 November 12:09

    Although it will still be quicker to stay on the Thameslink train at Farringdon and go to Gatwick!

    Does nothing for me. If I absolutely have to use public transport to LHR, it will still be the Piccadilly Line from King’s Cross.

  • CamFlyer says:

    6 Nov6 November 15:27

    +1
    Makes lhr doable from Cambridge by train.

• yorkieflyer says:

  6 Nov6 November 08:56

  Totally useless to many oop north wanting to use British Airways as this London centric service is only every 30 mins and doesn’t call at Euston or King’s Cross. Ah well I’ll just carry on wi t Piccadilly line and doff my flat cap to those wizzing past

  • Nick says:

    6 Nov6 November 09:04

    Because the Piccadilly line does serve Euston?!

  • Lynx says:

    6 Nov6 November 09:17

    Not sure why it would be useless. If it was me I’d take go 1 stop on Northern Line to TCR, or 1 stop on Thameslink to Farringdon, and then take the Lizzy Line to LHR. If you want any London terminus other than Paddington or Liverpool Street you have to change, so I don’t think it’s a grand conspiracy against ‘the north’.

    • SK says:

      6 Nov6 November 09:28

      👍🏻, Yorkieflyer – do take this advice pls

      • yorkieflyer says:

        6 Nov6 November 12:23

        Nah I’ll stick wi Piccadilly line from King’s Cross thank you, no changes and far cheaper!

        • Londonsteve says:

          6 Nov6 November 13:41

          Not all that much cheaper since off-peak fares to and from LHR were abolished if travelling to or from Zone 1. £5.50 versus £10.50 or thereabouts. The tube saves a few bob but it it’ll usually be considerably more crowded with precious little space for luggage, especially in the central core. It’s also noisy, bouncy and cramped. The Lizzie Line is centuries ahead in every way. Addressing your concerns about it being useless to those ‘oop north’, it’s called Crossrail and it’s designed to be an East-West commuter service for London and environs. Residents of the north of England (or Scotland) were never part of its design brief, so your point is what exactly?

    • Mike Hunt says:

      6 Nov6 November 09:31

      The closure of Doncaster airport – an airport with the highest levels of customer satisfaction- certainly is a conspiracy against the North.

      • Oliver says:

        6 Nov6 November 10:12

        Same as Leeds Bradford new terminal finally was approved by council, then government stopped it and said they need to review. Nothing heard since, the airport investor just decided to pull out after waiting too long. They clearly don’t want the North to develop, Grant Shapps mentioned this week new railway line between Liverpool and Hull is scrapped as well.

      • Lynx says:

        6 Nov6 November 10:34

        Given that the airport is owned by Peel Group, which is a company based in Manchester, whose owner was born in Bury, I struggle to see how this can be a conspiracy against the North. After all, the people from Yorkshire and Lancashire get along fine don’t they, no rivalry there…

        • yorkieflyer says:

          6 Nov6 November 12:26

          I think you’ve put your finger on it

  • Alex says:

    6 Nov6 November 15:40

    If heading on the line into Euston from the north, you don’t want to go anywhere near central London to get to LHR. Much pleasanter, and probably as cheap, to alight at Watford Junction and take a taxi from there.

• NorthernLass says:

  6 Nov6 November 09:24

  So – taking OH to the IC Park Lane for his birthday next summer and trains don’t seem to be getting any better up north! If we fly MAN-LHR will this new service get us to where we want to be reasonably quickly and cheaply?

  • John says:

    6 Nov6 November 09:33

    Not really, as the best station for IC park lane is Hyde Park Corner. The tube may be marginally less crowded if people going elsewhere use crossrail instead. If you don’t want to use the tube nothing has changed as you would still get a taxi from Paddington

    • Nick says:

      6 Nov6 November 09:45

      I’d be walking from Bond St for a Park Lane hotel. Use the exit at the rear of the train if coming from the airport. Would still prefer train from the north though, then bus from euston.

      • Ziggy says:

        6 Nov6 November 18:35

        Presumably, that depends on which end of Park Lane? With light hand baggage and non-rainy weather, that would probably be fine but with properties like the Hilton and IC being a good 20-minute walk from Bond Street EL station, that’s not a walk that many will want to do with suitcases (or when it’s raining).

        • memesweeper says:

          6 Nov6 November 22:43

          A couple of days visit I assume? HBO it’s a perfectly fine walk from Bond Street EL to IC Park Lane. If it’s pouring down get a cab.

• George K says:

  6 Nov6 November 09:27

  Wouldn’t it have made more sense to add two more services to T5, even if that meant fewer to T4?

  • Nick says:

    6 Nov6 November 09:46

    That would require Heathrow’s permission (they own the tracks and tunnels). And they don’t want to give it. Be thankful they finally agreed to 2tph. To be fair, T5 does have 6tph overall compared with 4 at T4, which seems about right to me.

    • jj says:

      6 Nov6 November 12:26

      Rob’s article says T5 is only 2 trains ph

      • Thegasman says:

        6 Nov6 November 12:29

        2 EL & 4 HEX. If you don’t want to pay for HEX to Paddington then change to EL @ T2/3.

• lumma says:

  6 Nov6 November 09:29

  I’m not sure why changing at Whitechapel is promoted here, the only slight benefit would be, if heading west, there’s no exit at the eastern end of the platforms so it’s likely to be less crowded there.

  If heading to say Stratford from Heathrow, you’d be better changing at Paddington, where you’d be more likely to get a seat.

  • Rob says:

    6 Nov6 November 10:22

    Those are the words of TfL, not us!

  • Paul says:

    6 Nov6 November 13:07

    Because Paddington will be busy (and is an island platform) and Whitechapel has wide, separate platforms. If you’re coming from Heathrow you will have a seat until Whitechapel and then, worst case, it is only one stop standing to Stratford.

• J says:

  6 Nov6 November 09:41

  Does anyone know whether the Elizabeth Line will be running on Boxing Day (between Heathrow and central London)? I’m getting mixed messages from Googling. Seems like everything else is closed, leaving National Express coaches or taxis as the only direct option (I think there’s an indirect route via replacement bus and tube, but it sounds like a bit of a faff, and I don’t fancy it with luggage and jetlag). Lesson learned – don’t fly in on Boxing Day if you need public transport onward 😉

  • lumma says:

    6 Nov6 November 09:56

    If you can drive, Zipcar is available even on Christmas Day

    • J says:

      6 Nov6 November 12:13

      Thanks @lumma, will investigate. Although I’m not sure I really want to be driving myself after a 13 hour Christmas Day flight… 😉

  • Paul says:

    6 Nov6 November 13:09

    Not sure about the east and west sections but the Central section of the Elizabeth line will be closed on 26th and 27th to commission a new version of the signalling system software

• rotundo says:

  6 Nov6 November 10:13

  I like the way it improves the connectivity between LHR and the other London airports: one change of train at either Farringdon or Liverpool Street, sounds much better than being on the M25 at peak time. For international travellers it’s not always possible to get a connection in LHR.

  • David says:

    6 Nov6 November 10:44

    Yes, the connectivity to south London via Farringdon and Thameslink will make the journey to Heathrow much more pleasant. And Heathrow to Gatwick, again via Farringdon for ~£20 and 1hr15 journey time is a nice choice to have over the coach connection

    • Londonsteve says:

      6 Nov6 November 13:53

      Is it really any quicker than the direct coach? I’m surprised if £20 is cheaper than the bus but perhaps it’s priced at premium rates by National Express. Personally, I’d rather get on a direct bus with the luggage safe in the hold than to have to travel into central London, keeping the thieves and pickpockets away from my luggage. Despite the EL and the easy interchange at Farringdon, as a rule of thumb central London is always best avoided if a practical alternative presents itself.

  • Andrew says:

    7 Nov7 November 11:23

    I am a regular Thameslink commuter through Farringdon. Ever since Crossrail opened, I’ve noticed a marked increase in groups with baggage piling on and off at Farringdon. More than interchange between the airports, I suspect this is simply people using the better connections here to travel north to Luton, south to Gatwick, west to Heathrow, and back, rather than travelling by another mode or route.

• LeisureFlyer says:

  6 Nov6 November 10:21

  Is this going to be a good (quick/cheap) way to get from LHR to LGW?

  • Alex G says:

    6 Nov6 November 12:43

    Heathrow to Gatwick using the Elizabeth Line and Thameslink is £30.10 for an anytime single, and will take at least 90 minutes.

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