SE23 Forum

Has anyone used the Heathrow Connect service from Paddington?

This is a different service from the Heathrow Express service. Heathrow Connect runs half hourly and takes about 22-25 minutes from Paddington to terminal 1-3. Apparently you can then use the Heathrow Express service between terminals.

Cost is only £10 (about half Heathrow Express), but if you have the right travel card or a freedom pass (thank you tax payers) your travel to the last stop Hayes and Harlington would be covered by that so it would cost only £6 from Hayes and H onwards.

It interests me is that the railway information services seem to keep very quiet about this service. It is hardly advertised and quite difficult to find. I asked about it at Forest Hill station this morning. Nothing comes up on the national fares system unless you start the journey from an intermediate station such as Hayes and Harlington. Another oddity is that the fare quoted on the national system fro H & H is £6, but if you ask for a senior fair using a senior railcard, it jumps to £13! Also, most of the information on this service quotes 30-35 minutes as the journey time, which is much longer than shown on the timetable.

I might try it next time I have the misfortune to have to go to Heathrow, but I'm intrigued to know why such a useful service is given such a low profile and runs only every half hour.

I can only agree.

I used it in 2013 when the Piccadilly line was closed over a week-end. I eventually found a website (forgotten where now) to buy an advance ticket.

The trouble getting a ticket was only part of the problem. I couldn't find the platform at Paddington. It wasn't sign posted and I couldn't find any displays. In contrast, you can't miss the expensive Heathrow Express for all the signs.

Eventually I found the platform hidden away on the extreme right of the station and seemingly hidden around a corner.

I think a lot of people who work at Heathrow use it in preference to the slow tube and the costly Heathrow Express.

Thanks for the tip - very useful to know in case the Piccadilly line isn't working!

The website is: https://www.heathrowconnect.com/home

I've just had a quick look on southernrailway.com too (where I buy most of my train tickets from) and can also see this ticket option available there (described as Anytime Day Single Not Via Heathrow Express).

It looks like Network cards etc also discount this further, so you can get to HRW from £6.65 from Padds. I guess this is really just the same as getting the National Rail from Gatwick rather than paying more to use the Gatwick Express.

Gaz