Originally Posted by
RanChin
Thanks
HogwartsExpress, are all the Fast Track lanes across terminals (as shown in the picture below) now closed? Last I flew into LHR was in April 2023 when this lane
was still active (I may have incorrectly thought this was active) in T2 (but I flew on LH so no Fast Track anyway).
Edit: Looks like Fast Track at immigration is no longer a thing, but was briefly brought back for a 3 month trial in Jan 2024, as
this article highlights.
That's a pre-Brexit photo. Since the expansion of the e-gates under Philip Hammond (three prime ministers ago!) the signage at arrivals has looked like this
The e-gate expansion has made a major difference in wait times in my experience, by pulling most of the low-risk traffic out of the main lanes and leaving officers free to assist travelers whose arrival may be a bit more complicated (such as visa checks, etc.) The staffed lanes usually have MUCH shorter lines now, and although you can even see a FastTrack sign in the photo above, I'm not sure bringing it back would be that impactful.