Here's a brain tickler which may be easy for those "in the know."
I'm arriving Heathrow airport and have business in Guildford, Surrey. I wish to make the journey as rail-centric as possible.
The NationalRail journey planner advises utilizing the Heathrow Central Bus to Woking - a 45 minute journey on a good day. Followed by an 8-minute sojourn on rail. Too much bus, not enough rail.
Please advise of a path , not ridiculous in length, that is all rail from Heathrow to Guildford (include tube if necessary).
Thanks!
GRALISTAIR
Jan 26, 12, 5:40 pm
Rail Heathrow - London Paddington. Tube Paddington- Waterloo. Train Waterloo to Guildford.
GRALISTAIR
Jan 26, 12, 5:57 pm
Interestingly you will use 25KV AC overhead electric trains for the 1st leg. You would use 600V DC 4th rail for underground and then finally 750V DC Third rail electric for the final leg. 3 different types of electric train/electrification systems in quite a short ride. That IMHO is not too bad.
stut
Jan 26, 12, 11:49 pm
If you really, really want lots of rail:
Piccadilly Line to Acton Town
District Line to Turnham Green
District Line to Richmond
Train to Clapham Junction
Train to Guildford
You could also change at Earls Court and West Brompton to take in some fine old tube stations and the London Overground.
Personally, if I didn't fancy the railair bus or Beeline Taxis, I'd get the bus to Feltham, then the train via Clapham Junction from there.
railways
Jan 27, 12, 1:15 am
Rail Heathrow - London Paddington. Tube Paddington- Waterloo. Train Waterloo to Guildford.
If you want an all-train option and have money to spare, then:
Too much bus sounds like you'd accept a little bus-action.
How about:
Heathrow to Feltham Station on the bus
Feltham to Ascot on Rail
Ascot to Guildford on Rail.
You get to see the joys of Aldershot station coming in and going out the same way.
Reason077
Jan 27, 12, 5:03 am
If you really, really want lots of rail:
Piccadilly Line to Acton Town
District Line to Turnham Green
District Line to Richmond
Train to Clapham Junction
Train to Guildford
You could also change at Earls Court and West Brompton to take in some fine old tube stations and the London Overground.
You could also do a variation of this by taking the Heathrow Connect to Ealing Broadway, and picking up the District line there.
meester69
Jan 27, 12, 5:07 am
Here's a brain tickler which may be easy for those "in the know."
I'm arriving Heathrow airport and have business in Guildford, Surrey. I wish to make the journey as rail-centric as possible.
The NationalRail journey planner advises utilizing the Heathrow Central Bus to Woking - a 45 minute journey on a good day. Followed by an 8-minute sojourn on rail. Too much bus, not enough rail.
Please advise of a path , not ridiculous in length, that is all rail from Heathrow to Guildford (include tube if necessary).
Thanks!
National Rail is correct.
The train service from Woking to Guildford is frequent and fast, while the bus from Heathrow to Woking is half-hourly, and really does NOT take any more than 45 minutes. From T5 it's only 30 minutes.
There's a reason it's called Railair, because it makes sense for rail travel to much of southern/southwest england. Woking is on the mainline for many stops.
Heathrow doesn't have a rail station, only a tube.
The route suggestions above are quite ludicrous, compared with taking a direct road journey to Woking, which is on the road to Guildford anyway.
The bus is actually a coach, little used, and much more comfortable than a bus.
What I would suggest, if you don't want to to take the Railair, is to check yell.com for some guildford minicab firms. Ring a few. Not sure the cost, but i guess around £35-£40.
Any route involving going from Paddington to Waterloo, presumably with luggage, lugging up numerous flights of stairs on the tube, is going to be very much more unpleasant than getting on the bus at Heathrow, being helped by the driver with your luggage, where you will be dropped directly outside Woking rail station on the correct side for trains to Guildford
GET THE COACH!!!!!!
Reason077
Jan 27, 12, 5:11 am
Heathrow doesn't have a rail station, only a tube.
It just takes you into London, just like the tube, which is no use if you want to get Guildford.....
Of course they are. But the OP didn't ask for the most direct / fastest route, did he? He already knows what that is!
Yes, but what the OP might not fully appreciate is that the Paddington-Waterloo connection is not much fun fresh off a flight, whereas the Heathrow-Woking bus is quite nice.
meester69
Jan 27, 12, 5:22 am
If you want an all-train option and have money to spare, then:
Heathrow-Hayes & Harlington
Hayes & Harlington-Reading
Reading-Guildford
still much slower and more expensive than the bus, mind.
gnarly
Jan 27, 12, 5:36 am
You could cut out Paddington:
Heathrow-Hayes & Harlington
Hayes & Harlington-Reading
Reading-Guildford
still much slower and more expensive than the bus, mind.
Or...
Heathrow-Hayes & Harlington
Hayes & Harlington-Reading
Reading-Farnborough North
Farnborogh North - walk to Farnborough Main
Farnborough Main - Woking
Woking - Guildford
You could also route from Reading via Basingstoke, but this is starting to get silly.
meester69
Jan 27, 12, 7:31 am
What you could also do is:
Heathrow-Gatwick (coach, 50 minutes from T5, +15 minutes from central)
Gatwick-Guildford (direct, 39 minutes)
It's going to be more pleasant than visiting Hayes & Harlington, for sure.
Swanhunter
Jan 27, 12, 8:12 am
Really, just take the perfectly pleasant coach to Woking. Depending on the time and day some of the trips above could be most unpleasantly crowded.
railways
Jan 27, 12, 8:21 am
You could cut out Paddington:
Heathrow-Hayes & Harlington
Hayes & Harlington-Reading
Reading-Guildford
still much slower and more expensive than the bus, mind.
That takes longer than going via Paddington.
KQ321
Jan 27, 12, 12:03 pm
Although I generally prefer to avoid bus travel, for Heathrow-Guildford I have to agree that the RailAir bus to Woking is probably the most convenient route.
However, if I was doing this journey, and had a choice of arrival airport, I would fly into LCY. NationalRail shows Heathrow-Woking-Guildford as taking 1hr03. From LCY, you can go:
DLR: LCY to Canning Town
Jubilee Line: Canning Town to Waterloo
SWT: Waterloo to Guildford
Journey time 1hr18, or less. However, from landing at LCY, you can probably get as far as Waterloo, in the time an equivalent flight landing at LHR would have taken to find a gate...
I think there's one escalator at both LCY and Canning Town, and a couple of escalators (and a bit of a walk) at Waterloo - but other than, it's fairly straightforward. However, the walk-up fare (£17.90 Anytime single) is a bit more than the walk-up fair via the RailAir bus from LHR (£12.90?).
Aviatrix
Jan 28, 12, 3:04 am
I think there's one escalator at both LCY and Canning Town, and a couple of escalators (and a bit of a walk) at Waterloo - but other than, it's fairly straightforward.
As someone who regularly uses all three stations I can confirm this. At LCY it's a one-minute walk from the baggage hall, with one escalator. At Canning Town the two platforms are, literally, on top of each other - you just down one escalator straight onto the other platform. At Waterloo it's two escalators in the Tube station, and one more to get up to the main departure hall in the train station.