Tube to heathrow?

Lychee

just a quick question, to get to heathrow Terminal 3 from St Pancras do i just get a tube ticket to zone 6? Or is heathrow only accessible by bus/rail?

alanrowell

For T3 from Kings Cross/St Pancras then the Piccadilly Line tube to HEATHROW is quicker than getting the Tube to Paddington & the Heathrow Express to Heathrow.

all you do is follow the signs to "Tube", find the ticket machines, press the "Heathrow" button, pay your money, take your ticket, find the barriers for the Piccadilly line, go through them & down the escalator.

Just ensure that the Tube Train you get on is going to HEATHROW and not anywhere else. If it says it's going to Cockfosters then you are on the wrong platform, if it says Uxbridge then wait for one that says Heathrow.

In reality it's a lot easier than this reads

Liverbird

My partner works for the tube and agrees with alanrowell about this. The Heathrow trains are about 5 minutes apart..... and nothing is allowed to disrupt that service.....so should be no delays.

Lychee

Thank you, alanrowell! great advice to look out for tube destination, with my kinda luck I would've ended up on one to Uxbridge :P

Thanks, Liverbird, good to know I won't have to worry about delays...

I assume there's just one stop at Heathrow, rather than one at T1, another at T2 etc... and I've been told to just lookout for T3 signposts. Fingers crossed I get to the arrival gate on time, hehe...

Hunnymonster

There are 2 stops at Heathrow on the tube - one for T4, the other for T1,2&3 - it's blindingly obvious which one you're at... but I don't remember which one you get to first (I think it's T4, but I'm not a regular on the Piccadilly line )

sloth

Hunnymonster wrote:

There are 2 stops at Heathrow on the tube - one for T4, the other for T1,2&3 - it's blindingly obvious which one you're at... but I don't remember which one you get to first (I think it's T4, but I'm not a regular on the Piccadilly line )

T4 tube station is shut at the moment (for about a year) so the only tube station you can get off at for Heathrow is the one for T1, 2 & 3. can't really go wrong as long as you get the tube going in the right direction!!

Nigel1

If you're going to T4, I read somewhere that there's a bus connection from T1/2/3.
T4 tube is shut because they're apparently building T5 tube!

Lychee

Thanks to everyone for their help.

I want to go to Heathrow tomorrow (Saturday). Obviously, due to the events in London, I don't expect I'd be able to take the Piccadilly line straight from St Pancras to Heathrow (assuming I can even get to St Pancras in the first place, Midland Mainline's website is not very helpful).

Would be grateful for any info about the best way to get to Heathrow now...

TIA!

Baz-Bee

The Piccadilly line is running again but the central section is closed as that is where one of the attrocities occurred. The Heathrow section is running but only as far as Hyde Park Corner.


From Kings Cross/St Pancras I would suggest the easiest way to Heathrow is still by the Piccadilly Line, but you will need to use a couple of other lines to access it. The cost will still be the same as the tickets are charged by which Zones you start and finish journey in and travel through and yours will still be the same - a single ticket Zones 1 - 6 is £3.80. At Kings Cross/St Pancras take a southbound Victoria Line tube (normally has Brixton as its destination). Leave the Victoria Line at Victoria and head for the westbound District/ clockwise Circle Line platform (it is the same platform). You have options on which train to take here. I suggest if time is important then you take any of the trains that arrive (District or Circle it does not matter where they are heading) and travel to South Kensington where you should leave the train and join the Piccadilly Line. You will need the westbound Piccadilly Line and should get a train going to Heathrow. They normally run at about 5 - 7 min intervals but with the problems maybe less frequent. At Heathrow only the central area underground station is open that serves Terminals 1, 2 and 3. The terminals are all well signposted from the underground and you do not need to leave the “subway” complex, although it can be a bit of a walk. It is very safe and there are always plenty of people about. Normally I would say allow 1 hour from Kings Cross but with the extra changes and possible delays due to the problems I would allow at least an hour and a half.

As stated above the tube is currently not serving Terminal 4 and is not programmed to do so again until September 2006 (contractors permitting!!!). This is to allow the works to extend it to the new Terminal 5 to be undertaken. If you need to travel to Terminal 4 there are a couple of options. The quickest is the official way which is to leave the Piccadilly Line at Hatton Cross and use the special replacement bus service (allow about 10 - 15 mins from Hatton Cross to Terminal 4). The other option is to stay on the tube to the Heathrow Central Station and then jump on a Heathrow Express train going to Terminal 4. The Heathrow Express is still serving Terminal 4 and Journeys (although not well advertised) between Heathrow Central and Terminal 4 (and vice versa) are FREE. You only pay if you travel to or from Paddington! However, this can add 20 - 25 mins to your journey time after you leave the Piccadilly Line.

The Heathrow Express, of course, is another option from Paddington, although to get to Paddington at the moment from Kings Cross/St Pancras is difficult as the tube line connection is closed through Edgware Road as that is whre one of the explosions occurred (bastar*s). Also the cost is, IMO, ridiculous at about £14 for a single journey.

There is also the new Heathrow Connect Service from Paddington which follows the same route as the Heathrow Express but calls at intermediate stations on the way and takes approx 30 mins. A single is, I believe, about £9.50.

So my advice is take the tube as outlined above. It will take approx 75 - 90 mins (less than 60 had Piccadilly Line been fully operational) and will cost you £3.80 single (Zones 1 - 6 ticket).

Enjoy your trip and I hope you do not suffer any delays or probelems.

alanrowell

According to http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/service_realtime_all.shtml the only part of the Tube open at KX/St Pancras is the Metropolitan Line and a quick search of the http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/user/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en&ptOptionsActive=1 suggests getting the bus to Paddington & Heathrow Express to Heathrow.

If you use the advanced search options to ignore the HE, then you end up with a bunch of weird and wacky routes to Heathrow that involve up 3 changes of Tube / bus or take you to Uxbridge on the Metropolitan Line & the 724 bus to Heathrow.

I'd suggest finding a bus down to the Thames (eg 45 or 63 to Blackfriars) and pick up the District Line changing at South Kensington or Earls Court for Heathrow.

Buses on that route are frequent so you won't have to wait long.