Heathrow T5 to Penzance on a Friday evening

[jj1314]

Hi all.

I'm flying into London Heathrow (Terminal 5) landing at about 17:00 on Friday 6th November. I need to be in Penzance by 10:00 the following morning but would ideally arrive on the 00:40 service.

I've only flown into Heathrow a few times and I've only then travelled east by rail (Paddington; Piccadilly line). It looks like I'll have to be fairly swift (and hope the flight's not delayed) but there's potential to hop on a Railair coach at 18:25 and join the last daytime Penzance train at Reading. Otherwise I'll perhaps have to risk a seated coach on the Sleeper.

Can anyone recommend alternatives? I've a 16-25 railcard.

Is there a big saving getting the combined rail-and-coach fare for £48.20 or other connecting coach companies worth looking into?

Much obliged - cheers!

 

[FenMan]

I'd be unsure of a trip along the M4 at that time on a Friday. It could be a very stressful experience.

If the flight is reasonably on time then you ought to be able to make the 19:03 from Paddington via HEX with something to spare.

 

[Be3G]

Otherwise I'll perhaps have to risk a seated coach on the Sleeper.

What is the ‘risk’ you're worried about? It may be something we can help with. If the concern is whether or not there'd be a spare seat for you on the sleeper, there'd be nothing stopping you from reserving a seat just in case you need it; the £48.20 ticket you mention is just a standard rail ticket (albeit with the RailAir coach included too) so you can book the ticket with a seat reservation on the sleeper, and if you're in time to catch the last daytime train, just use that instead.

(It'd be good etiquette though to cancel the sleeper reservation if you're in time to do so and still catch the daytime train, as I imagine a Friday night westbound sleeper would be very popular.)

Edit to add: just checked, and there is still at least one seat available for reservation on the sleeper.

 

[LexyBoy]

It's a tight connexion on the 1825, given Friday traffic - the 1805 would be better but I don't know if that's realistic. There are alternatives like train/bus via Hayes, or Heathrow Express via Paddington, but there's no real time advantage.


There's no cheap Sleeper fares on offer, being a Friday, but the seated coach would be more comfortable than a coach (IMO). It's probably wise to get a reservation in case you do end up relying on it. The combined fare is fairly good I think.

There's a 2340 National Express coach from T5 to Penzance, arriving 0855 - currently £28.30 (adult fare).

I guess it depends how much £20 is worth versus the chance of making it to Penzance much earlier. I'd also rather be stuck in Reading waiting for the Sleeper than in Heathrow, but I would say that

 

[miami]

Assuming you have a european biometric passport you *shouldn't* take more than half an hour from plane door to baggage belt. If you have bags you *should* be able to get a heathrow express or railair bus from 1800 onwards. You'll need the 1827 Heathrow Express.

However Heathrow can be really bad for no discernable reason. You'd have to be unlucky not to get the 1805 bus or 1812 Heathrow express though, unless
* Your plane is late
* Your bag is delayed
* There's an immigration meltdown
* The Heathrow Express is broken

If you're on a long haul, and are at the back of an A380 or 747 I believe it can take 15 minutes or so from doors open to getting off the plane. Even on a short haul plane like an A320 I believe it can take over 5 minutes.

My longest delay into T5 was 19 hours, but then I got £420 in compensation for that.

Any non-flexible ticket you buy will be a risk though, but under typical circumstances (say 19 in 20) I think you'd make it, certainly on the 1827 Hex (arrive Paddington 1848, giving 15 minutes to move platform)

Ignoring the sleeper, there are trains as far as Plymouth until 20:35 from Paddington (arr 0011), allowing an overnight in Plymouth before the 06:28 to Penzance.

However given you're a student/young person who is concerned about price, I suspect that the Heathrow Express (something like £20 one way) will not be something you'd be keen on.

You could aim for the 1805 bus, but if it did go pete-tong and you got out of customs at 1820, you could get the 1827 heathrow express to paddington (£14.20), then buy a single to Reading (£12), and continue your journey (break of journey at reading, thus starting short, is allowed, not that they'd know).

You wouldn't need to do this in advance. If you come out after 1825 you won't make the 1827, so unless the 1903 is running late you'll have missed it, so you could either get a bus into reading and go to the pub, or get a tube to paddington and then buy a single to reading from there.

The upfront cost via Hex/Paddington is £40.90 + £14.20 so £55, £7 more than via Reading, but would mean saving £26 if you exited customs between 1800 and 1820.

 

[Be3G]

Ignoring the sleeper, there are trains as far as Plymouth until 20:35 from Paddington (arr 0011), allowing an overnight in Plymouth before the 06:28 to Penzance.

Good thinking. I'll add to this that the super off-peak single (SSS) the OP is looking at buying would be valid to continue the journey from Plymouth to Penzance the following morning, so this option doesn't increase the rail fare.

The upfront cost via Hex/Paddington is £40.90 + £14.20 so £55

This is actually available as one ticket (albeit for exactly the same price): an SSS from Heathrow Rail to Penzance, route any permitted, for £55.10.

 

[LexyBoy]

Trying to buy a Paddington-Reading single in a hurry could be problematic as there's likely to be big queues at that time on a Friday (you won't be able to get it at Heathrow). They would need a SDS at £15 rather than the £11.90 CDS by the way.

This is actually available as one ticket (albeit for exactly the same price): an SSS from Heathrow Rail to Penzance, route any permitted, for £55.10.

That's not a bad call - though not valid on the RailAir bus AFAIK. Reserving a seat on the sleeper as a backup would still be prudent - using HeX doesn't really give a time advantage on the bus, but won't suffer from traffic. I note that it's scheduled to take 55 minutes at that time, which certainly includes a generous allowance for traffic.

 

[Be3G]

That's not a bad call - though not valid on the RailAir bus AFAIK.

That would be my belief too, as the RailAir tickets have an origin of Heathrow Bus rather than Heathrow Rail.