Heathrow Express Slashes Fares

Which is about to rapidly change. You are in the same boat as me.

options to get to Heathrow

1. Tube to kings cross.
2. HEX to Paddington and tube to Kings Cross.
3. Cross rail to Farringdon then train.

I don’t like paying the highest fare in the uk to stand. (Which often happens when a single set is used). 3 is a no brainer.

my office is in the city. People will soon ditch the hex and taxi for a direct train. Hex’s problem is it terminates at Paddington. Cross rail will give people more choice of where they want to go direct (or with a single change). I can see HeX becoming like Gatwick Express. Carting a lot of fresh air around. Would you use Gatwick express?

 

But how many people really want to go to Paddington? Lots will want to be at Liverpool Street for the city or onward rail services.

 

I'm one of those that buy paper travelcards, when i'm in London, as i only visit London a couple of times a year, far better for me to buy paper Travelcard, rather than Oyster, as i'd be using Oyster to the Travelcard limit anyway.

 

Doubt they will be ditching the HEX & taxi to stand on a metro-spec 345 for the long trip to Heathrow with its zero luggage racks and zero toilets

 

we will see. I will. Considering it is no worse than the tube and quicker than a taxi (which also has no toilets). Remember you often don’t get a seat on the HeX. So why pay a fortune to stand.

the journey experience has significantly decreased now the barriers are at either end. Fighting them with baggage isn’t fun.

 

I would imagine almost nobody uses the toilets on a HEx journey. Unless you have special needs in that way they really aren't relevant to such a short journey.

As to standing, they'll stand on the Tube to Paddington, it's little further. Only a fool uses a taxi in London, it is slower and hugely more expensive than other modes.

 

You mean like the adverts at Gatwick Airport North terminal telling you the time of the next Gatwick Express. This isn't, I believe, the time of the next one but the one traveller most likely can catch next, as they needed to make thier way to the South terminal.

 

Are the Elizabeth Line fares going to be much less than the Tfl Rail fares of £12.10/£10.10? Article implies that.

 

If you've had a long flight, I think a lot of people at most airports would consider the fastest train regardless of cost. Maybe they shouldn't, but from the passenger numbers it's obvious they do. [What they then do when getting to Paddington is another matter].

And the people selling tickets all over the airport are very quick to upsell to first class if they see anyone that looks smart. Rather like McDonald's upselling by saying 'Was that a large meal?'.

Whether people are being ripped off is subjective. That's the price. Nobody is being charged above the advertised cost so in that respect it's fully transparent.

 

No. They won't.

 

Looks like the HEx can potentially be cheaper than Crossrail then!

 

Yes however where a person needs to catch a bus or tube at the other end , the Elizabeth line will be cheaper as the cap applies.it will also be cheaper for zonal season ticket holders who will only pay the appropriate extension fare which could be nothing for zone 6 ticket holders. And freedom pass /60+ pass holders who pay nothing

 

Contactless would be cheaper.

 

But there are also ethical issues around pricing. What the market will bear is somewhat simplistic, particularly when there is an element of (deliberate?) confusion out there. Gatwick Express is much worse and harder to defend.

 

Have you seen the ticket queue at Gatwick Airport caused primarily by the volume of passengers and the multitude of ticket options available to give passengers choice?

Just get tourists prepared to pay the premium straight on the dedicated service and make some money. Leave the cheaper options free for those who actuslly bothered to do some reasearch. The information is all there if you know where to look - nothing is hidden.

 

"prepared to pay the premium" "if you know where to look"

Like I said there are ethical issues around pricing. These include transparency and equity. You can call it what you like but I think my preferred phrase for the Heathrow (and Gatwick) Express traditional pricing is "rip-off".

 

Rip off - in your opinion.

Compared to a Taxi from airport to centre, they are not.

 

Yes, it's stupid, the fare should be the same on all trains or if anything GatEx a little cheaper so as to encourage it to be used for those with luggage etc.

 

But despite their marketing waffle it's not equivalent to a taxi - most notably you do not get a private environment nor a direct service to the destination of your choosing. It's a train, it's comparable to another train.

 

Indeed. There are no information of other public transportation till you get to the arrival hall.
GatEx and HEx can get into immigration hall to sell their tickets, which would certainly grab a lot of causal travellers.

 

really?

In a taxi I don’t need to struggle to hold a barcode up to a reader with baggage.
In a taxi I don’t need to stand.
I find door to door a taxi is about the same price with an unpredictable journey time.

The Hex is now better than the Piccadilly line. Once cross rail opens it will have lost any speed advantage. So I will use it as the difference in comfort is minimal and using the same contactless card for the entire journey is a plus.

HeX are clearly worried the have milked us for too long otherwise they wouldn’t be lowering their prices. I can’t wait personally as I will never use HeX again.

 

Part of the reason for the high cost of HEx is that it has to fund the building of Heathrow Tunnel, which was fully funded by Heathrow.

 

GatEx really have lost their key differentiator.

price? Fail
Speed? 2 minutes quicker to Victoria but like HeX many don’t want to go there and Thameslink/ Southern provide direct trains or decent connections to more places.

I will never know how many people have Paddington and Taxi as final destination but when you consider the number of places cross-rail can get you direct or with a single change i still struggle to see why people will continue to use Hex. When I use it a lot of passengers are heading to the tube with me.

 

I think the now more moderate premium of £16.50 for using Heathrow express might save it ,even if it is an advanced ticket but one that should be available to nearly everyone in most circumstances.The margin between the ticket and the TfL rail/Elizabeth line ticket is a lot smaller now.

However in an ideal world to promote sustainable travel and to ensure simplicity for tourists travelling to the airport Heathrow Rail should be on zone 6 for both season tickets and pay as you go purposes.

 

Absolutely agree. Isn't it a shame that the first experience of Britain for many visitors is being fleeced?

 

There is nothing sustainable about travel to an airport (or indeed travel at all).

 

Have you seen the congestion around Heathrow. The masses of Ubers destroying the lives of local residents around the airport by parking ,obstructing residential roads and pissing in people's driveways. Encouraging electric train usage will help allieveate many of the social ills created by the airport and help minimise the impact of pollution created by the airport. People are not going to be put encouraged to fly just because the ticket to the airport is a zone 6 one.

 

Difficult isn't it. You could argue that Heathrow is ripe for a pretty material congestion charge but introducing it would need a strong conviction that it wouldn't just move the problem elsewhere. Just lowering the price of Heathrow Express is unlikely to be the answer as the market for it is probably different from the one that causes most of the congestion.

 

Why should local residents pay a charge to Heathrow for driving to their homes. The Ubers are there because for a family or group of people a taxi is cheaper to central London than than it is to get the Heathrow express

 

Why would they be charged one? They would be exempt just like people who live in Central London have exemptions.