Went to the West End last night, so parked up in Abbey Wood. Elizabeth line to Tottenham Court Rd, Northern Line to Leicester Square, all very quick and easy.
Come out of the theatre around 10:20 and need to grab a quick bite to eat, checking train times see the Elizabeth line closes at 11pm. Ended up getting a train from London Bridge, but it's crazy the time they close that line. The Jubilee line into London Bridge was rammed, the streets in central London still teeming.
Went to the West End last night, so parked up in Abbey Wood. Elizabeth line to Tottenham Court Rd, Northern Line to Leicester Square, all very quick and easy.
Come out of the theatre around 10:20 and need to grab a quick bite to eat, checking train times see the Elizabeth line closes at 11pm. Ended up getting a train from London Bridge, but it's crazy the time they close that line. The Jubilee line into London Bridge was rammed, the streets in central London still teeming.
I plan to use it on Wednesday from Woolwich to get to Paddington and then to Heathrow. My sister is happy to drop me off, but she is worried that there are no drop off points nearby where a car can pull in for a moment.
I get out of a cab at Spray Street. It’s a dead end so you can get out and she can turn around. You just need to cross over the main road and go through the gates, a minutes walk.
If the station is in/near the Royal Arsenal/Dial Arch (I think it is) and just across the main road from Beresford Square/market, then she could drop you off towards the bottom of Wellington Street and then you walk down in a straight line for about 2 minutes.
I plan to use it on Wednesday from Woolwich to get to Paddington and then to Heathrow. My sister is happy to drop me off, but she is worried that there are no drop off points nearby where a car can pull in for a moment.
Has anybody successfully done a drop-off there?
@PragueAddick You can drive into the Royal Arsenal and pull in by Duke of Wellington Avenue/Carriage Street. Short walk round the corner then for the station.
Spray Street works very well, thanks for that @Curb_It.
I must say it is all very impressive. I had not realised that at Paddington there are Crossrail trains to Heathrow, just not direct ones from the east side of London yet. So I am one now and saving £25 that I’d have to pay from Heathrow Express. Too bad I am a few weeks early for the direct service but when it starts it will be a game changer. Getting from LHR to Eltham was more knackering than the flight.
I believe the Paddington Tunnel opens on 5th November, which when i come back from Heathrow! If you book Heathrow Express in advance it's £5.50 each way. Interesting to see what happens to it with Crossrail. Makes me laugh that it has a first class for a 15 minute journey, talk about more money than sense!
I believe the Paddington Tunnel opens on 5th November, which when i come back from Heathrow! If you book Heathrow Express in advance it's £5.50 each way. Interesting to see what happens to it with Crossrail. Makes me laugh that it has a first class for a 15 minute journey, talk about more money than sense!
Yeah like months in advance you need for that price.
Bloody thing should be renationalised and run by TFL.
Spray Street works very well, thanks for that @Curb_It.
I must say it is all very impressive. I had not realised that at Paddington there are Crossrail trains to Heathrow, just not direct ones from the east side of London yet. So I am one now and saving £25 that I’d have to pay from Heathrow Express. Too bad I am a few weeks early for the direct service but when it starts it will be a game changer. Getting from LHR to Eltham was more knackering than the flight.
Horribly late project but definitely top class.
May be of no relevamce here but there were always (well, for a long time) Paddington to Heathrow trains run as a tfl service but it was never promoted to my knowledge probably as it competed with the rip off express service. It didn't even come up in tfl journey planner searches.
I believe the Paddington Tunnel opens on 5th November, which when i come back from Heathrow! If you book Heathrow Express in advance it's £5.50 each way. Interesting to see what happens to it with Crossrail. Makes me laugh that it has a first class for a 15 minute journey, talk about more money than sense!
I think first class ticket on Heathrow Express now gives access to fast-track security and other premium services in the airport.
It is owned by Heathrow itself so can make these sort of offers.
Spray Street works very well, thanks for that @Curb_It.
I must say it is all very impressive. I had not realised that at Paddington there are Crossrail trains to Heathrow, just not direct ones from the east side of London yet. So I am one now and saving £25 that I’d have to pay from Heathrow Express. Too bad I am a few weeks early for the direct service but when it starts it will be a game changer. Getting from LHR to Eltham was more knackering than the flight.
Horribly late project but definitely top class.
May be of no relevamce here but there were always (well, for a long time) Paddington to Heathrow trains run as a tfl service but it was never promoted to my knowledge probably as it competed with the rip off express service. It didn't even come up in tfl journey planner searches.
It came out up on journey planner but as it gave the quickest route it would select HEX. You couldn't choose to exclude HEX, only rail which then gave you the Piccadilly line, which thankfully I'll never use again to Heathrow! The TFL services was only 2 or 3 an hour and Paddington wasn't great for SE London.
Pretty sure the TFL service is now Crossrail? HEX is a (very) premium service so no chance of TFL getting involved. It may be owned by Heathrow airport?
Heathrow Express was built by the airport. They paid for the tunnelling, so it would cost billions to buy it out. I think the current arrangement of providing a cheap, slower, state-owned option as an alternative to the fast service aimed at the business market and wealthy tourists is probably a sensible arrangement. I don't think any government would realistically have spent the money on the tunnels, given that the airport is the main beneficiary and is a private company, so it was one case where allowing it to be built privately made sense.
We got Network Rail back into public ownership because the old private Railtrack had the decency to go bust when there was a Labour government. We've got most of the passenger franchises back as they went bust during the pandemic or earlier. That's realistically as much as we're going to get back into public ownership any time soon, as the remaining private bits (freight, ownership of a lot of the actual trains, plus various special lines and heritage services) would cost a fortune and not improve life for passengers all that much. Unless Heathrow goes bust at some point, in which case I'm sure any sensible government would want to buy it and keep it operating. We can dream...
I believe the Paddington Tunnel opens on 5th November, which when i come back from Heathrow! If you book Heathrow Express in advance it's £5.50 each way. Interesting to see what happens to it with Crossrail. Makes me laugh that it has a first class for a 15 minute journey, talk about more money than sense!
Yeah like months in advance you need for that price.
Bloody thing should be renationalised and run by TFL.
You can also Apply over 60 railcard to the £5.50. My Heathrow express ticket cost £3.65
@Swindon_Addick Thanks, I had forgotten the history of HEX, although I also now note that it was originally planned as a joint venture between the airport and British Rail, and the airport took the project over when it became clear that BR was to be privatised. And that's the problem. It really irks me that it goes nowhere other than Paddington, and is too small scale to handle anything more than trains for that short run. The list of European airports that have a rail station which is part of the high speed network, is huge. Frankfurt, Cologne/Bonn, CDG, Schipol, CPH, and now Vienna, just the ones that are top of mind. That's what should have been done. Now HEX has literally nowhere else to go, and I wonder how long it will last now. On my Crossrail train there were plenty of tourists. On top of that if you are a bizman working at Canary Wharf, you'll stay on your Crossrail train, there will be no advantage whatsoever to getting off and changing to an HEX.
Actually I have a more nuanced view about private participation in rail nowadays, I spent a lot of time reading about the demise of BR this summer; but I am absolutely sure that what you do not privatise is big city public transport, it needs to be as integrated and non-elitist as possible, and that includes transport to airports.
@Swindon_Addick Thanks, I had forgotten the history of HEX, although I also now note that it was originally planned as a joint venture between the airport and British Rail, and the airport took the project over when it became clear that BR was to be privatised. And that's the problem. It really irks me that it goes nowhere other than Paddington, and is too small scale to handle anything more than trains for that short run. The list of European airports that have a rail station which is part of the high speed network, is huge. Frankfurt, Cologne/Bonn, CDG, Schipol, CPH, and now Vienna, just the ones that are top of mind. That's what should have been done. Now HEX has literally nowhere else to go, and I wonder how long it will last now. On my Crossrail train there were plenty of tourists. On top of that if you are a bizman working at Canary Wharf, you'll stay on your Crossrail train, there will be no advantage whatsoever to getting off and changing to an HEX.
Actually I have a more nuanced view about private participation in rail nowadays, I spent a lot of time reading about the demise of BR this summer; but I am absolutely sure that what you do not privatise is big city public transport, it needs to be as integrated and non-elitist as possible, and that includes transport to airports.
There will be better interchange opportunities with Elizabeth line trains stopping at the new HS2 station at Old Oak Common.
There are also plans for a link to/from Heathrow and the West Country
Sorry for being a bit confused having read all the above. Simple question hopefully, can my tfl over 60 pass now get me from Abbey Wood to Heathrow at no cost, or would I need to pay a supplement before I travel?
Has the Elizabeth line run at all on past strike days? I have to get from Heathrow to Kent on Wednesday 9th November. I'm hoping I can get to Abbey Wood then a lift or Uber but the sites I've looked on say they'll confirm timetables later. Thanks.
Sorry for being a bit confused having read all the above. Simple question hopefully, can my tfl over 60 pass now get me from Abbey Wood to Heathrow at no cost, or would I need to pay a supplement before I travel?
Has the Elizabeth line run at all on past strike days? I have to get from Heathrow to Kent on Wednesday 9th November. I'm hoping I can get to Abbey Wood then a lift or Uber but the sites I've looked on say they'll confirm timetables later. Thanks.
The central section [Abbey Wood/Paddington] will operate a normal service until about 18.00 & then a reduced service until 23.00. Paddington to Heathrow a half hourly service until about 17.10.
@Swindon_Addick Thanks, I had forgotten the history of HEX, although I also now note that it was originally planned as a joint venture between the airport and British Rail, and the airport took the project over when it became clear that BR was to be privatised. And that's the problem. It really irks me that it goes nowhere other than Paddington, and is too small scale to handle anything more than trains for that short run. The list of European airports that have a rail station which is part of the high speed network, is huge. Frankfurt, Cologne/Bonn, CDG, Schipol, CPH, and now Vienna, just the ones that are top of mind. That's what should have been done. Now HEX has literally nowhere else to go, and I wonder how long it will last now. On my Crossrail train there were plenty of tourists. On top of that if you are a bizman working at Canary Wharf, you'll stay on your Crossrail train, there will be no advantage whatsoever to getting off and changing to an HEX.
Actually I have a more nuanced view about private participation in rail nowadays, I spent a lot of time reading about the demise of BR this summer; but I am absolutely sure that what you do not privatise is big city public transport, it needs to be as integrated and non-elitist as possible, and that includes transport to airports.
There will be better interchange opportunities with Elizabeth line trains stopping at the new HS2 station at Old Oak Common.
There are also plans for a link to/from Heathrow and the West Country
That is at least something. Until it collides with the reality of the British approach to strategic transport infrastructure, and the inability to build it quickly. Sorry to turn negative again but I’d worry about what Sunak and Hunt are cooking up to plug the hole, and as for those “plans”, well the Crossrail plan first emerged in 1974.
This is not a party political point. Since I started voting I despaired that my fellow citizens hardly gave transport a thought when voting, and much preferred a penny or two off income tax. Opinion polls show that has not much changed ( re transport, anyway).
@Swindon_Addick Thanks, I had forgotten the history of HEX, although I also now note that it was originally planned as a joint venture between the airport and British Rail, and the airport took the project over when it became clear that BR was to be privatised. And that's the problem. It really irks me that it goes nowhere other than Paddington, and is too small scale to handle anything more than trains for that short run. The list of European airports that have a rail station which is part of the high speed network, is huge. Frankfurt, Cologne/Bonn, CDG, Schipol, CPH, and now Vienna, just the ones that are top of mind. That's what should have been done. Now HEX has literally nowhere else to go, and I wonder how long it will last now. On my Crossrail train there were plenty of tourists. On top of that if you are a bizman working at Canary Wharf, you'll stay on your Crossrail train, there will be no advantage whatsoever to getting off and changing to an HEX.
Actually I have a more nuanced view about private participation in rail nowadays, I spent a lot of time reading about the demise of BR this summer; but I am absolutely sure that what you do not privatise is big city public transport, it needs to be as integrated and non-elitist as possible, and that includes transport to airports.
When (if?) HS2 ever gets going it may be worth having a link into Heathrow for high-speed trains. It is part of the long-term planning to at least make allowances for this in the design.
But HS2 have learnt that if they even mention potential extensions for future decades (or centuries) they will be immediately priced into the cost quoted by the press (currently running at over 200 billion pounds in some papers).
Hs2 will also have a station for Birmingham airport. Will be quicker to get there from central London than to Stanstead
“For”. Not “at” ? “At” means a rail terminal building that is part of the airport . “For” sounds like it involves a bus. Which business travellers would give two fingers to.
Comments
PROS
Spacious, clean trains
Quick, regular services
CONS
Closes at a ridiculously early time
Went to the West End last night, so parked up in Abbey Wood. Elizabeth line to Tottenham Court Rd, Northern Line to Leicester Square, all very quick and easy.
Come out of the theatre around 10:20 and need to grab a quick bite to eat, checking train times see the Elizabeth line closes at 11pm. Ended up getting a train from London Bridge, but it's crazy the time they close that line. The Jubilee line into London Bridge was rammed, the streets in central London still teeming.
The opening date for the Elizabeth line at Bond Street station has been revealed.
The central London station will begin taking passengers from 24 October, subject to final approvals, Transport for London (TfL) said.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-63054287
Bond Street: Opening Monday 24 October 2022
Has anybody successfully done a drop-off there?
Station Progress: Bond Street (October 2022)
It is owned by Heathrow itself so can make these sort of offers.
Pretty sure the TFL service is now Crossrail? HEX is a (very) premium service so no chance of TFL getting involved. It may be owned by Heathrow airport?
We got Network Rail back into public ownership because the old private Railtrack had the decency to go bust when there was a Labour government. We've got most of the passenger franchises back as they went bust during the pandemic or earlier. That's realistically as much as we're going to get back into public ownership any time soon, as the remaining private bits (freight, ownership of a lot of the actual trains, plus various special lines and heritage services) would cost a fortune and not improve life for passengers all that much. Unless Heathrow goes bust at some point, in which case I'm sure any sensible government would want to buy it and keep it operating. We can dream...
Actually I have a more nuanced view about private participation in rail nowadays, I spent a lot of time reading about the demise of BR this summer; but I am absolutely sure that what you do not privatise is big city public transport, it needs to be as integrated and non-elitist as possible, and that includes transport to airports.
There are also plans for a link to/from Heathrow and the West Country
Thanks in advance.
https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/documents/content/60_map.pdf
The central section [Abbey Wood/Paddington] will operate a normal service until about 18.00 & then a reduced service until 23.00.
Paddington to Heathrow a half hourly service until about 17.10.
But HS2 have learnt that if they even mention potential extensions for future decades (or centuries) they will be immediately priced into the cost quoted by the press (currently running at over 200 billion pounds in some papers).