It's from the Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/26/kill-off-heathrow-express-airport-train-third-runway

 


I follow a number of International passenger travel social media feeds, and (something of a co-incidence?) I had stored some elements of a discussion yesterday morning to come back to here on the Coffee Shop.   A member advised


Various interesting responses included










OP reply




Has the Heathrow Express had its day?

The 2026 Heathrow Express is a service and not a line that gives public transport links to places that would not be otherwise connected.   And perhaps it has been superceded by the Elizabeth Line for practical use and is hanging on, charging as much as it dares and not really providing the reach to central London's locations (hotels or homes in Town or in the suburbs) that people want.   Sure, there are places to stay around Paddington, but Paddington is not London.

Persoanally, I have caught it - as far as I can recall - once.    And like most Coffee Shop members live to the west of Heathrow, and would be doubling back in using it. Furthermore, I haven't flown in years - and to/from Heathrow that's for many years.  Can't think when I would use it expect "in extremis".  I suspect that as an element of a travel and transit system considering total journeys of the users, it could be replaced by something better using the paths.  As an income generator, it works but by carrying a significant proportion of people who know no better as well as the people (and there will be some) for whom it's ideal and its loss would be a worsening of their experience.

Looking forward?  I might advocate Heathrow Express paths being given over to an increased frequency of Elizabeth Line services running - on the core to Whitechapel at least - at a true metro frequency. Perhaps some skip-stopping (alternate trains only calling at Acton Main Line or West Ealing, for example) and ongoing services to Shenfield and to Woolwich, and how about to Stansted?     Direct from Heathrow also gives - via the Piccadilly line - a further slew of stations in Central London served, including St Pancras International, and Kings Cross.

Old Oak Common gives (or will give, looking way ahead when it opens) further connectional opportunities, and all of the above mentiones / discusses are to the east of the airport with - still - direct rail links north, south or west absent and not even under construction.   

 
Those quotes... Seven is just plain rude in the usual way. Ten I feel sorry for as they're frequent travellers but need a friend to help them evolve their packing routine. I bet on going through their luggage, you'd find a kitchen sink, induction cooker and goodness knows what else.

 
An issue is going to be the number of train paths that it consumes and I'm not familiar with that... is it taking resources that could be used in a far better way perhaps?

 
For our Singapore trip next month we each paid £6.65 each way for railcard discounted, admittedly purchased in May, HEx journeys. The full price would have been £10.00 each way. The equivalent Elizabeth Line fare is £14.60 according to the TfL website. The apparent claim that a HEx journey always costs £26 seems to support the Grauniad's reputation for accuracy.

Extra paths for Elizabeth Line (EL) services? EL trains run on the Relief Lines. The 345's have a 90mph maximum speed. The HEx 387's can run at up to 110mph and stick to the Fast Lines. The stuff of timetabling nightmares?

 
As I understand it, the current track layout means that HEx paths can't just be used for more Lizzie trains instead, other than for (little needed) non-stop trains to Paddington only. HEx runs on the fast lines into Paddington main line station so taking them away wouldn't help access to the slow lines or the Lizzie core; trying to use the paths for a different purpose might well just add more conflicting moves and make things worse. It might I suppose give a bit more resilience for fast GWR trains. No doubt Heathrow's owners would have cried foul if a different layout had been proposed with an unspoken aim of eventually reducing/removing HEx.

 
I've never understood the apparent antipathy from some which seems to exist towards the Heathrow Express.

Seems to me it's a premium product largely for a specific demographic who are prepared to pay a bit more for speed, comfort and convenience - I have only used it once but was quite impressed.

There's the Piccadilly Line if you're feeling brave/not in a rush, buses and now the Elizabeth Line too - I don't see how the existence of another option impacts them?

Is there something I've missed?

 

Absolutely - a dedicated airport express rail service is a big selling point for premium and business travellers, for whom time, comfort and security are major concerns.

It may sound, and indeed be trivial, but rather like being able to reclaim VAT on your shopping, it is genuinely the sort of thing that pushes the wealthy (and thus high-spending) to say "sod that, I'll go to Stockholm/Paris/Amsterdam/Rome instead".

Paris did it the other way around, since 1981, CDG has been served by the RER. The result? Well heeled travellers tend not to bother with it and take taxis instead, so they are now building an express service into Gare de l'Est.

London is already suffering massively from perceptions of high crime, not being in the Schengen area, high cost of accommodation and restaurants - why hobble it further?

 
HEX key stats from the ORR April 24-25.

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/tlbajaix/heathrow-express-key-stats.pdf

 
A simple division of number of trains run in revenue service versus passenger numbers suggests ~80 passengers per 460 seat capacity HEX train - in context, HEX is a 15 minute frequency service from ~04.30am to a bit before midnight.

 

I've always thought that the arrival of the Elizabeth Line should have heralded the end of Heathrow Express.  Passenger numbers have dropped by a third from the figures for the last year before Covid, to an average of less than 100 passengers per train - approximately 85 if my maths is correct.  All on an 8-car 387 trains which are far less 'premium' than the previous Class 332s they replaced, taking up four departure and arrival paths an hour at Paddington.  

Not a good use of track capacity by any metric.

When the Old Oak Common station opens it will need to stop there, thus further diluting the speed advantage it has over the Elizabeth Line.  In my opinion the paths it could free up would be better allocated to longer distance services operated by either GBR or an open access operator, rather than more Elizabeth Line services.  My opinion on that could be swayed if a way of routing some of the  Elizabeth Line services from the east that currently terminate at Paddington onto the main lines to still give a comparable journey time could be found without crossing them over on the flat, but a grade separated junction would be very expensive.  When Old Oak Common opens the 90mph top speed of the 345s would be less of an issue on the main lines out to Airport Junction as their better acceleration would mean little difference in the sectional running times with that intermediate stop included.

However, in effect, the way the service is structured means it can continue to operate for as long as its owners want it to.

 

They could instead be used by other trains running fast, then switching to the slow / relief lines further out.    South Western has done this for decades with trains running fast to between Berrylands and Surbiton (beyond where the branches to Kingston and via Motspur Park branch off), then switching to slow tracks.  A similar thing happens at Woking with trains to Basingstoke and Alton etc.

The GWR layout of paired by use makes it harder, but there is no reason why high speed crossovers and a flyover (in the Iver / Langley area) wouldn't allow similar too.   There is the speed restricted Dolphin Junction (which doesn't seem to work on a warm summer day) which Network Rail are currently spending £27m upgrading.


Heathrow Express had its track access agreement extended in June 2024, with access granted to continue until June 2028.  Previously there were number of end dates eg 2018, 2021 etc based on estimated Crossrail opening dates.   
As far as I'm aware no further extension has yet been authorised.  Unless it is extended again HEx ends in 21 months time.   

 
I was coming here to say the same  that HEX finishes currently in 2028. It must be costing Heathrow a large sum of money now for these paths & with the third runway in the offing, looking at alternatives? Flying taxi development?

 
This has been the subject of a long discussion on RailUK.  The points made include:

• It is owned by HAL who make a profit from it so why would they want to close it?
• The paths used do not exist West of Airport Junction as they are blocked when the preceding semi fasts either stop at Slough or slow down to transfer to the relief lines
• Elizabeth Line could not use the paths to Paddington and then continue through the core because there is no useable connection at Paddington
• As has been commented above the use of advance tickets substantially reduces the cost.
• These issues could be reduced by significant investment in grade separated junctions.

 

Hmmm - since the drop in passenger numbers? Show me the evidence.

 

A posting yesterday from a respected GWR individual stated that it was less profitable than in the past but not loss making.  There has been a small rise in passengers.