Heathrow T5 Transit

[starrymarkb]

Does anyone have any details of the Transit between T5 A, B & C?

 

[sonic2009]

What information are you looking for?

There is a Video on Youtube here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwIHTJmoYE4

 

[flymo]

I arrived at gates 5C (think it was 563) early Tuesday morning and there is an underground train which goes from the C gates to the A gates stopping at the B gates along the way. Takes about 5 minutes in travelling time but another 10 ~ 15 in mucking about getting down there and back up again.

There were 2 x BA A380 passengers trying to squeeze onto the train I was on and it was not the most comfortable experience i've ever had.

 

[WestCoast]

I've been on it a few times. The journey time from the main terminal/A gates to the B gates is hardly anything. It accelerates like a rocket

What takes the time, as flymo points out, is getting down to the transit plus waiting for it. I remember waiting some time for the transit to arrive full of arriving passengers, unloading, then a member of staff checks nobody has remained on the train and then you board.

I'm unsure about any other details such as who makes the cars, but it's certainly driverless and has platform edge doors. The tunnels are well lit so you can see lots of the infrastructure, especially if you're near the front or rear windows!

Some years ago I was on the Stansted Airport system which I remember being more interesting as it offered great views, then descended into a tunnel. It serves piers A (non-Ryanair International) and B (mostly domestic/Ireland/Islands) IIRC.

 

[radamfi]

Is the Stansted system much different to the one at Gatwick? Certainly the vehicles look the same as the ones replaced at Gatwick a few years ago.

 

[starrymarkb]

I had a ride on it on Wednesday. T5A to B. Was trying to work out if it was rubber tyred and I'm assuming its two independent single lines

 

[stut]

There do also seem to be some travelators in the tunnel below them (which can also be used - escorted or sneaking through - to return from the piers to airside at T5A.

AIUI, the trains can run on both tracks - T5C certainly used to only have one operational platform. The tunnels do overrun, and the plan is to have them link T5, T3 and eventually T2. If you look at the "toastrack" layout of T5, it logically runs into T3.

 

[jopsuk]

the one at Denver has music when a train arrives at a stop. The stops are in a pit open to the main area of the departure lounges. This is as annoying as you might imagine it would be when you've got a 4hr delay!

 

[stut]

The best one for that is Zurich - you get a cowbells and yodelling. Quite surreal after a red-eye long-haul...

Of course, Gatwick used to be guilty of piped music too - the all-pervasive Flower Duet with a voice describing LGW North as "the hub without the hubbub".

 

[gordonthemoron]

The best one for that is Zurich - you get a cowbells and yodelling. Quite surreal after a red-eye long-haul...

I'd forgotten that will have the joy again in October

 

[AndyW33]

There do also seem to be some travelators in the tunnel below them (which can also be used - escorted or sneaking through - to return from the piers to airside at T5A.

AIUI, the trains can run on both tracks - T5C certainly used to only have one operational platform. The tunnels do overrun, and the plan is to have them link T5, T3 and eventually T2. If you look at the "toastrack" layout of T5, it logically runs into T3.

This:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...ays-pictorial-guide-departing-passengers.html
suggests that the tunnel below the transit tracks is now officially available to passengers.