Heathrow train station

[M&T]

We will be arriving at the Heathrow central bus station. We plan to take the train into London Paddington. Does the train station have lockers (safe) to store luggage? Where is the train station in conjunction with the bus station. Thanks. Marlyne

[Globaliser]

Does the train station have lockers (safe) to store luggage? Where is the train station in conjunction with the bus station.

There are no storage lockers at Heathrow, for reasons which it doesn't take much imagination to realise.

 

However, there is a secure baggage storage facility at each of the terminals - more information on this page. There are clear signs for the route from the bus station to either of the terminals (Terminal 1 or Terminal 3, if you are at the central bus station), and then from the terminal to the Heathrow Express train station (or the Tube station - see below).

 

There is also a baggage storage facility at Paddington station, if you need to take your bags that far - details on the same page.

 

If you are travelling into London without baggage, where are you heading for? If Paddington is not your destination, you may find that the journey to your destination is only a few minutes longer by Tube, but much cheaper. For example, my office is near St Paul's Cathedral. It takes me about 10 minutes more to get to Heathrow by Tube than by Heathrow Express train. But the Tube costs me either £2.40 or £4.20 one-way (depending on time of day); if I took the Tube to Paddington and then the Heathrow Express, it would cost me £1.80 + £18.00 = £19.80 one-way.

[M&T]

We will be coming by bus from Southampton cruise port. Our hotel is near Heathrow. We wanted to save time by storing the luggage and going straight to London instead of going to the hotel first. It probably makes the most sense to go to the hotel and safely store our luggage there. Thanks. Marlyne

[Globaliser]

We wanted to save time by storing the luggage and going straight to London instead of going to the hotel first. It probably makes the most sense to go to the hotel and safely store our luggage there.

Maybe, maybe not - depends on your hotel. Which hotel? How are you going to get between the airport and the hotel? With only one (unusual) exception, there are no conventional hotel shuttles at Heathrow. So if you go to the hotel first and then come back to the airport afterwards, you will have to pay to get from the bus station to the hotel either by taxi or Hotel Hoppa (a service that runs about once every 20-30 minutes); and then you will have to do the same again in reverse to get back to the airport. So depending on which hotel, it may still be more efficient to use one of the baggage storage places at a terminal, so you only have to do the airport-hotel transfer once that day; or you may have a better way of getting into town from your hotel than by going back to the airport.

[M&T]

I thought we would take a taxi. I thought it would be faster. We are staying at comfort inn suites. We got a great rate. What options do you see? Marlyne

[Globaliser]

We are staying at comfort inn suites. We got a great rate.

If you mean the Comfort Hotel Heathrow on Shepistone Lane in Hayes, I reckon that the fastest way to central London would be to walk to Hayes and Harlington station (about 1 miles; so probably about 20 minutes) and take the train to Paddington from there. It's in Zone 5 and you can get normal National Rail trains so you don't have to pay the exorbitant rate for the Heathrow Express.

 

I'm not surprised it was cheap; it's a long way out of the way, although it is on a Hoppa route.

[Globaliser]

And in case you're wondering: during the day on weekdays, there are about 7 trains an hour; each takes 20 minutes to Paddington.

[M&T]

Thanks again. I will consider everything. Marlyne

[julieawill]

Hi Marlyne,

 

It's Julie from the July 10 sailing. We going in to London a week early also, arriving Sunday, 7/4 around noon. After looking at everything, we've opted to hire a private car - turns out that it's cheaper than a taxi (who knew). At only £34 it's almost as cheap as Heathrow Express to Paddington. And, we won't have to struggle with transfers to cab or walk to the hotel. We're staying in Trafalgar Square, so the quote is for that distance, but you might check it out.

 

Julie

[M&T]

What company are you with and is there a website? Thanks. Marlyne

[M&T]

I was thinking I'd use Heathrow Connect. Thanks for all the information. Marlyne

[Globaliser]

I was thinking I'd use Heathrow Connect.

From Heathrow, or from one of the intermediate stations?

 

From Heathrow, I think that Heathrow Connect is probably a waste of money for anyone who isn't finishing the journey at Paddington. The total journey time from Heathrow to Paddington is so slow that you can get to most central London destinations in the same time on the Tube, but at a fraction of the cost.

[M&T]

I was going by the Paddinton Heathrow Connect site. It says Heathrow connect is 7.9 and 25-30 minutes. It says the express is 16.5 for 15-20 minutes. It says the tube is 4.5 and takes 40-60 minutes. I was going to go with the middle option, but what you are saying is that the tube will get us there before the Connect train. Thanks. Marlyne

[Globaliser]

To compare Heathrow Express with Heathrow Connect, you have to look at the overall journey time.

 

Between Heathrow T123 and Paddington, the Heathrow Express takes 15 minutes and runs once every 15 minutes. From station platform to station platform, that's an average journey time of 22.5 minutes.

 

The Heathrow Connect takes 30 minutes and runs once every 30 minutes. Platform-to-platform, that's an average journey time of 45 minutes - ie double that of the Heathrow Express.

 

To get from Paddington to, say, Embankment for sightseeing, you'd need to take the Bakerloo Line 8 stops. From the Heathrow Express/Connect platform at Paddington to street level at Embankment, that will probably be about 25 minutes. So your overall journey time from arriving at the Heathrow T123 station is 47.5 minutes by Heathrow Express, or 70 minutes by Heathrow Connect.

 

If you take the Tube from the Heathrow T123 station to Embankment station, changing once at Barons Court (or Hammersmith if wet or during the morning peak), that will take you about 60-65 minutes from Heathrow platform to Embankment Tube street level.

 

Using a pre-pay Oyster, the Tube will cost £2.40 off-peak.

 

Online HEX + pre-pay Oyster is £16.50 + £1.80 = £18.30.

 

Online Heathrow Connect + pre-pay Oyster is £7.90 + £1.80 = £9.70.

 

If you take everything into account, Heathrow Connect is IMHO undoubtedly the worst value of the three options, because using the Tube all the way is both quicker and cheaper. It is only good if Paddington is your final destination.

 

And using Heathrow Express will save you 10 minutes or so. If those 10 minutes are really important to you, then you might think paying £16 extra is good value. But you might not.

[M&T]

After taking into consideration advise here and on tripadvisor, I changed my hotel to Windsor's Sir Christopher Wrens House. I think we can walk to the train station and go to Staines and from there on to Waterloo. Which type of tickets do you recommend? We want to ride the bus some as well as the tube. We plan to take a canal ride. Thanks for your assistance. Marlyne

[Globaliser]

After taking into consideration advise here and on tripadvisor, I changed my hotel to Windsor's Sir Christopher Wrens House. I think we can walk to the train station and go to Staines and from there on to Waterloo. Which type of tickets do you recommend? We want to ride the bus some as well as the tube. We plan to take a canal ride.

It depends how long you're staying in London and how many days you're thinking of using public transport. Windsor is outside the Transport for London travel zones, so you'll need to buy a train ticket as well as getting either a Travelcard or pre-pay Oyster.

 

Have you worked out how to get from the Heathrow coach station to the hotel? Are they coming to collect you? If not, you may want to look up the advice about how to get to Windsor. The taxis at the airport may well try to rip you off for that trip as (in general) their rules only apply for trips within the Greater London area.

[M&T]

I have the name and phone number for a taxi to pick us up. Is Staines outside zone 6 too? I was thinking of purchasing the one day card for zones 1-6. We will only be in London for one day. That is the only day we will use public transportation except when we fly and we will arrange for that. Marlyne

[M&T]

Actually, I am looking at the Southwest trains. I may purchase the Super off peak day travelcd. It is 25.8 GBP for two. What do you think. M

[Globaliser]

I have the name and phone number for a taxi to pick us up. Is Staines outside zone 6 too?

Actually, I am looking at the Southwest trains. I may purchase the Super off peak day travelcd. It is 25.8 GBP for two.

For only one day, that's probably the best way of doing it.

 

Staines is also outside the zones. There are actually more than 6 zones, but I believe that Staines and Windsor aren't in any of them.

 

If you are staying in Windsor, are you still sure that you want to take a coach to Heathrow? Are you coming from Southampton? You might be better off taking a train from Southampton to Waterloo, storing your luggage for the day there, and then taking it to Windsor on the train at the end of the day. You will lose a lot of sightseeing time in your one day by doing a shuffle via Heathrow.

[M&T]

I already purchased a round trip coach ticket to Southampton. I don't know if I can change it. I will check into it. Thanks. M

[M&T]

What would be the best train deal leaving Southampton around 7-730 going to Waterloo? It looks like the price for just the ticket is 30.7, and that does not give us the transportation within London and out to Windsor. I'm thinking outloud. We would save the taxi cost from Heathrow to Windsor. Maybe single tickets is all we need for a bus to the tower. We will be walking most of the time. We want to take the canal trip from the Tower to Waterloo just before taking the train to Windsor. After we get to Waterloo, would it make sense to get the Super off peak day travelcd. It is 25.8 GBP for two which would get us back to Windsor? Hope I'm not confusing you. I do appreciate your ideas. I can cancel my other ticket, but it is 5GBP each. Marlyne

[M&T]

Also, do you know how much it costs to store the luggage at Waterloo? M

[Globaliser]

What would be the best train deal leaving Southampton around 7-730 going to Waterloo?

Virtually all of the tickets for Southampton to Waterloo are walk-up fares, so you can just buy a ticket and get on the next fast train to depart after you get to Southampton Central station.

Maybe single tickets is all we need for a bus to the tower. We will be walking most of the time. We want to take the canal trip from the Tower to Waterloo just before taking the train to Windsor. After we get to Waterloo, would it make sense to get the Super off peak day travelcd. It is 25.8 GBP for two which would get us back to Windsor?

You might be best off getting a one-day Travelcard when you arrive at Waterloo.

 

There are two obvious ways of doing this, which you should price up separately to see which is better value.

 

One is to buy a Zone 1-2 off-peak one-day Travelcard. This will cover all bus, Tube, train and DLR travel within those zones for one day, although the Travelcard is not valid before 0930 on weekdays (which is unlikely to be a problem for you). You are not actually thinking of a canal trip. There are canal trips in London, but not on the mighty River Thames. There are riverboat services in central London, and your Travelcard will get you a one-third discount off the normal fares on them. When you are going to Windsor, you will just need to buy a single ticket (or, technically, a extension ticket from the edge of Zone 2 to Windsor, as you Travelcard covers the rail travel to the edge of Zone 2).

 

The other way is to buy a Zones 1-6 Travelcard, and then an extension ticket from the edge of Zone 6 to Windsor. This might work out cheaper, although my gut feeling is that the former will be. There's unlikely to be much in it.

Also, do you know how much it costs to store the luggage at Waterloo?

Everything you need to know about luggage storage is on this page - click on the section for London stations.

[M&T]

Thanks. I am still working on which of the two tickets to purchase, but we have determined that we will take the train and store the luggage. What I haven't figured out is how to get and how much the extension ticket would be. Do I put it in as if I am at the last stop in Zone 2 with destination to Windsor? Also, there is more than one waterloo station that pops up WAE and WAT. Thanks again for your assistance. M

[Globaliser]

What I haven't figured out is how to get and how much the extension ticket would be. Do I put it in as if I am at the last stop in Zone 2 with destination to Windsor?

It will certainly cost no more than that.

Also, there is more than one waterloo station that pops up WAE and WAT.

Ignore WAE (Waterloo East). You need WAT, which is the main station at Waterloo.

 

Glad to have been able to help!