Have you walked the tunnel between Heathrow Terminal 5, T5B and T5C?

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• Nate1309 says:

  22 Nov22 November 08:09

  Unless the kids are with me, I always use the tunnel. Always beat the rest of the plane to passport control.

  • CamFlyer says:

    22 Nov22 November 10:07

    +1

    I did this on Saturday morning after arriving at a C gate – felt great to walk.

    However, I have never bothered taking the tunnels going to the B/C gates. It’s usually too much hassle to get down to the tunnels.

• johnb says:

  22 Nov22 November 08:45

  I wish I had known this months ago, but thanks for the knowledge. In April we flew Heathrow to NYC, and went business class / J so we had lounge access. Because I had read that the train took you past immigration, so you could not get back, we didn’t consider the B lounge, despite knowing it was a lot quieter, and despite expecting we would be gate B; that took a while to confirm on the screens. Hope we get chance to try this for future flights.

• Nick P says:

  22 Nov22 November 08:47

  The tunnel is [or was] one of the best kept T5 secrets; on par with the ‘other’ door to the Concorde lounge.

  • Tom says:

    22 Nov22 November 12:35

    Is that “other door” to the CR still there? Not much need for it now that the First wing dedicated check in and security for First pax gets you into the CR via the First lounge.

    • Nick says:

      22 Nov22 November 12:46

      There’s a huge reason for it to be there if you’re connecting rather than starting in London!

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

      22 Nov22 November 19:10

      Yes it is and was used for example when the F wing was closed for the new scanners to be installed.

• ChrisBCN says:

  22 Nov22 November 08:50

  Pedant note – why do you always talk about the tunnels in the singular? There’s 2 tunnels to be used, one for each direction.

• Barrel for Scraping says:

  22 Nov22 November 08:52

  “If you press the bottom button in the lift in 5A, 5B or 5C then you go below the level of the transit train and into this tunnel”

  Between 5B and 5C the tunnel is on an incline and goes up to the level of the shuttle, so in 5C the shuttle and the walkway are on the same level

• chris w says:

  22 Nov22 November 09:00

  That T5 transfer train has to be the slowest and most infrequent of any major airport I’ve visited. Once it eventually arrives, you have to wait for everyone to get out, then a staff member slowly wanders through each carriage to have a look, then eventually the doors open and people can get on.

  Walking is often quicker and very good exercise for sitting in a confined space for 10 hours, but most people are too lazy to do that.

• john says:

  22 Nov22 November 09:52

  The tunnel is particularly helpful for B-gate arrivals in the morning when widebodies have just dumped a load of passengers at C-gates and the transit train is full. Quicker to walk than wait for space! Also, definitely good to stretch them legs! Be healthy travellers!

• Neil says:

  22 Nov22 November 10:52

  Are the terminals signposted in the tunnel? My capacity to get lost, even on a straight road, is quite remarkable.

  • Nick says:

    22 Nov22 November 11:25

    Yes, there are absolutely enormous signs for the terminal areas, you can’t possibly miss them. There are also loads of ‘you are here’ boards with grossly overestimated walking times along the way.

    The tunnels were tarted up and signage improved when the transit underwent refurbishment a few years ago and one train was out of service for a while, so it no longer feels quite as if you shouldn’t be there. Still often empty though, few people bother. Also the odd jogger on a long layover.

    • Richard says:

      22 Nov22 November 11:33

      If anything, the signs are *too* prominent now. Last time I arrived at 5C, I found myself explaining to a very nice but very confused German visitor that the transit would also take him to baggage reclaim. Having been prompted to look at the signage again as though I’d never been to Heathrow before, I could understand why he thought the tunnel might be compulsory.

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