Jump to content

Heathrow Express: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
Line 76: Line 76:
! rowspan="2" |Routes operated
! rowspan="2" |Routes operated
! rowspan="2" |Built
! rowspan="2" |Built
! rowspan="2" |Notes
|- style="background:#f9f9f9;"
|- style="background:#f9f9f9;"
! mph 
! mph 
Line 89: Line 88:
|[[London Paddington station|London Paddington]] – [[Heathrow Terminal 5 station|Heathrow Terminal 5]]
|[[London Paddington station|London Paddington]] – [[Heathrow Terminal 5 station|Heathrow Terminal 5]]
|1997–1998
|1997–1998
|To be transferred to [[South West Trains]] in 2014
|-
|-
| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;"|[[File:Class 332 Heathrow Express Diagram.PNG|600px]]
| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;"|[[File:Class 332 Heathrow Express Diagram.PNG|600px]]
Line 101: Line 99:
|[[Heathrow Central railway station|Heathrow Central]] – [[Heathrow Terminal 4 railway station|Heathrow Terminal 4]]
|[[Heathrow Central railway station|Heathrow Central]] – [[Heathrow Terminal 4 railway station|Heathrow Terminal 4]]
|2004–2005
|2004–2005
|To be transferred to [[South West Trains]] in 2014
|}
|}


Revision as of 20:58, 15 October 2013

Heathrow Express
File:Heathrow express logo.png
Overview
Franchise(s)Not subject to franchising;
service began 23 June 1998
Main route(s)London Paddington – Heathrow Airport
Other route(s)None
Fleet size14 Class 332 sets; 1 Class 360 set
Stations called at4
Stations operated3
Parent companyHeathrow Airport Holdings Limited
Reporting markHX
Other
Websitewww.heathrowexpress.com
Siemens Class 332 No. 332005 at London Paddington
The interior of First Class aboard the Heathrow Express Class 332.
The Standard Class interior aboard the Heathrow Express Class 332.

Heathrow Express is an airport rail link between London Heathrow Airport and London Paddington station. The service opened in 1998 and is operated by the Heathrow Express Operating Authority, a wholly owned subsidiary of Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited. It is not legally part of the National Rail system, even though it shares track with National Rail trains for much of its journey and terminates at a London mainline station.

Service

Trains leave Paddington every 15 minutes from 05.10 until 23.25, and there is a similar quarter-hourly service in the return direction. At Paddington, Heathrow Express trains use two dedicated platforms (6 and 7). There are two stops at Heathrow: Heathrow Central, serving Terminals 1 and 3 (journey time from Paddington 15 minutes), and Heathrow Terminal 5 (journey time 21 minutes). Until the opening of Terminal 5 at Heathrow on 27 March 2008, Heathrow Express also served Terminal 4, but this has now been discontinued and Terminal 4 is now the terminus for the Heathrow Express Terminal 4 'shuttle' and the Heathrow Connect instead.

The service uses Class 332 electric multiple unit trains built by CAF/Siemens. These incorporate video monitors and the ability to use mobile phones throughout the journey—even in tunnels. The monitors are mostly used for advertising purposes and for the broadcast of news and weather updates produced for Heathrow Express by Sky News. Prior to April 2010 news content was provided by BBC World News.

Since its opening, Heathrow Express has been generally well received, not least because steps were taken to reduce the environmental impact of the train line. Measures included disguising ventilation shafts as barns. The service has received some criticism, however, particularly of its high fares. By Summer 2013 all units will have undergone a complete refurbishment inside and out including new seating configurations, luggage storage and at-seat power.

A single Express class fare is £20.00 online or at ticket offices and machines, and £25.00 if purchased on board. A single First class journey is £28.00 and a return £52.00. Carnet tickets (a book of 12 single tickets) are available at £199.80 for Standard class or £279.60 for First class. Railcard discounts are available on Standard class single and return tickets if purchased from a ticket office.[1] Tickets can be purchased at either of the two Heathrow Airport stations, Paddington Station, on board the train, online at www.heathrowexpress.com, or using mobile applications for BlackBerry, Android, iPhone, and iPad devices.[2]

Standard class travel between all terminals is free.

There is also a stopping service (Heathrow Connect) which takes the same route from Paddington to Heathrow, using the slower relief lines, on which significantly lower fares are charged. This takes approximately 15 minutes longer than Heathrow Express, but offers connections to the London Underground (Central Line and District Line) at Ealing Broadway.

In 2010, Heathrow Express announced that, to improve connections between the terminals at the airport, it would introduce a dedicated shuttle between Heathrow Central and Terminal 4 that would be timed to connect with the main Heathrow Express service to Terminal 5.[3]

Airport workers can get a discount through the Airport Commuter scheme operated by Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited.

Performance

The latest performance figure for Heathrow Express for the first quarter of the 2013 financial year was 94.0% PPM – meaning that 94.0 per cent of trains arrived at their destination within 5 minutes of the scheduled time.

Construction

Heathrow area rail services
Legend
mi-ch
from Paddington
Elizabeth line via Whitechapel
enlarge…
0-00
 Paddington Bakerloo Line Circle line (London Underground) District Line Hammersmith & City Line Elizabeth Line Heathrow Express National Rail
Heathrow Express
Elizabeth line
 Old Oak Common
under
construction
4-21
 Acton Main Line Elizabeth Line
5-56
 Ealing Broadway Central line (London Underground) District Line Elizabeth Line
6-46
 West Ealing Elizabeth Line Greenford line
7-28
 Hanwell Elizabeth Line
9-06
 Southall Elizabeth Line
10-71
 Hayes & Harlington Elizabeth Line
Piccadilly line to Cockfosters
11-10
Airport Junction
Great Western Main Line
to Reading
 Hatton Cross Piccadilly Line
Heathrow Junction closed 1998
 Airport interchange Heathrow Airport:
Terminal 4
Piccadilly Line Airport interchange
16-30
 Terminal 4
Elizabeth Line Airport interchange
 Terminals 2 & 3 Piccadilly Line Airport interchange
14-40
 Terminals 2 & 3 Elizabeth Line Heathrow Express Airport interchange
16-20
 Terminal 5 Piccadilly Line Elizabeth Line Heathrow Express Airport interchange

Construction began in 1993. The principal works were the construction of a 5-mile tunnel and underground stations at Heathrow, and electrification of the Great Western Main Line between Paddington and Airport Junction. A flying junction known as Stockley Flyover was constructed to connect the tunnel to the GWML fast lines.

Beginning in January 1998, an interim service called Heathrow FastTrain ran to a temporary station called Heathrow Junction, where a coach took passengers the rest of the way. The full service opened on 23 June 1998.

Route

The service runs along the Great Western Main Line from Paddington to Airport Junction (Network Rail owned infrastructure). The line from Airport Junction to the airport terminals is owned by Heathrow Airport Holdings but maintained on their behalf by Network Rail. The line is electrified at 25 kV AC overhead and uses Automatic Train Protection (ATP). The controlling signalbox for the entire route is Slough (New) IECC.

Stations

Station Image Time
Paddington 0 mins
Heathrow Central 15 mins
Heathrow Terminal 5 21 mins

Rolling stock

Current fleet

Class Image Type Top speed Number Routes operated Built
 mph   km/h 
Class 332 electric multiple unit 100 160 14 London Paddington – Heathrow Terminal 5 1997–1998
Class 360/2 electric multiple unit 100 160 1 Heathrow Central – Heathrow Terminal 4 2004–2005

See also

References

  1. ^ "Ticket Costs & Prices". Heathrow Express. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  2. ^ "Smartphone Mobile Ticketing". Heathrow Express. 2012.
  3. ^ "UK News In Brief" (PDF). Railway Herald. Scunthorpe. 29 June 2010. p. 6.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Heathrow Express.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heathrow_Express&oldid=577338179"