Rant: why is T5 so badly connected?
Jan 6, 2019, 3:24 pm
#47
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Switzerland
Posts: 1,593
I'll be spending a weekend in Brighton some time soon, and my dilemma is to fly BA to LHR (using airmiles and enjoy lounge access with my silver status) or Easyjet into LGW. Gatwick is looking to be the winner unfortunately.
It was around 10 years ago that I went to KL and I took the KLIA, although it only cost around £5 then. A quick google shows it to be £10 now with current exchange rates.
It was around 10 years ago that I went to KL and I took the KLIA, although it only cost around £5 then. A quick google shows it to be £10 now with current exchange rates.
Jan 6, 2019, 3:24 pm
#48
Join Date: Dec 2015
Programs: BAEC Blue
Posts: 247
Jan 6, 2019, 3:29 pm
#49
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Brighton. UK
Programs: BA Gold / VS /IHG Diamond & Ambassador
Posts: 14,204
Crossrail will use the (existing) Great Western Mainline (GWML) from Reading and Heathrow to Paddington (PAD). At PAD it will go onto a new low-level station and enter the new-build tunnel. HEX is planned to continue in existence, and in fact its operation was recently contracted out to Great Western Railway (GWR), who will be converting some of the Class 387 trains they use for current suburban services on the GWML for use on the HEX services, so replace the Class 332s that are currently used. Whether this will survive the commercial reality of a post-Crossrail world is a different story.
HAL have an agreement with Network Rail for HEX to have access paths to the GWML from Airport Junction (where the HEX lines join the main line) to Paddington until 2028
Jan 6, 2019, 3:31 pm
#50
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: London
Programs: Don't even mention it. Grrrrrrr.
Posts: 968
However, T5 was then built in a different location (as you would expect
)
Jan 6, 2019, 4:18 pm
#52
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Gold, IHG Diamond
Posts: 356
The 6TPH off-peak to T5 is not ideal; but usually about the same time as HEX + walk + Central Line; and with more regularity.
Crossrail will be much better when it starts running through the central section to Heathrow on the same train (the Class 345's still cannot traverse the LHR tunnel atm)
Jan 6, 2019, 4:23 pm
#53
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: London, UK and Southern France
Posts: 18,367
Somewhat OT but bus line 8 is hardly new and will get you from Plaza de Mayo straight into the airport without having to walk any distance. Granted it is not the fastest and will take a good couple of hours from central BsAs though the odd dodgy neighbourhood or two en route and you are unlikely to find many foreign tourists in it as they are bound to be in a taxi or Tienda León shuttle, but it is available.
Jan 6, 2019, 4:28 pm
#54
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 285
I attest to this. I’ve done Euston to LHR by tube toting a suitcase, cabin case and a satchel at least three times in recent memory plus return. I’ve done it with Old Mother Jimbo in tow. Done it once to Stanstead (never again) and I’ve done it to LGW twice - although I always drive down to Gatwick now from the NW of England because parking is a steal and staying the night before negates the M40/M25 cluster....
Jan 6, 2019, 4:38 pm
#55
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Argentina
Posts: 40,212
Somewhat OT but bus line 8 is hardly new and will get you from Plaza de Mayo straight into the airport without having to walk any distance. Granted it is not the fastest and will take a good couple of hours from central BsAs though the odd dodgy neighbourhood or two en route and you are unlikely to find many foreign tourists in it as they are bound to be in a taxi or Tienda León shuttle, but it is available.
Jan 6, 2019, 4:42 pm
#56
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: EARTH
Posts: 295
Somewhat OT but bus line 8 is hardly new and will get you from Plaza de Mayo straight into the airport without having to walk any distance. Granted it is not the fastest and will take a good couple of hours from central BsAs though the odd dodgy neighbourhood or two en route and you are unlikely to find many foreign tourists in it as they are bound to be in a taxi or Tienda León shuttle, but it is available.
Jan 6, 2019, 4:55 pm
#57
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, IHG Platinum, Hilton Gold, Marriott Platinum. Aspiring flyer with both feet on the ground.
Posts: 318
As a resident of one of the outermost southern London boroughs (Sutton), I’ve long since had a gripe with T5's accessibility via public transport.
There is no rail option that I know of, and the nearest tube option would translate into a bus ride to Morden, with long ride into London and then back out west again after changing at Green Park or thereabouts.
There is a very good direct bus service (X26) which takes you to the central bus station, and really, T2 is literally there. To get to T5 from the central bus station, I could go to the T2/3 underground and then go one stop down. I’ve been quite unlucky every time I’ve tried that, with waits averaging about 10 minutes. There was this one time that I was told that the next Piccadilly train would be 25 (!) minutes. Moving between terminals via HEX is out as it involves a bit more walking.
I could change from the X26 at Hatton Cross and get on to another bus to T5 from there, but this goes to T4 first and you’re looking at another 20 minutes at best while making all the glamorous stops down the Southern Perimeter road. I once spent 45 minutes on the way to T5 from Hatton Cross as the roads around T4 were positively rammed.
Outside rush hour, the X26 and whatever option I choose onwards takes just a bit less than two hours to get me to T5. A taxi ride is 40-45 minutes, and this has been my preferred option, especially during the early hours of the morning when I know traffic won’t be an issue.
I will definitely give Crossrail a go once it’s all up and running for comparison purposes, as on paper, it may be able to get me there in about an hour and 10 minutes if I were to get to Farrigdon via thameslink and then onwards to T5, which would be perfectly acceptable (but I may be overly optimistic in my calculations).
My long preferred solution for the southern belt folk, would be a rail connection from Clapham Junction. I’m pretty sure that would suit a lot of people…
For comparison, it’s faster for me to get to LCY and LGW via public transport, than LHR, but the latter is actually, my closest airport in terms of distance…
Go figure.
There is no rail option that I know of, and the nearest tube option would translate into a bus ride to Morden, with long ride into London and then back out west again after changing at Green Park or thereabouts.
There is a very good direct bus service (X26) which takes you to the central bus station, and really, T2 is literally there. To get to T5 from the central bus station, I could go to the T2/3 underground and then go one stop down. I’ve been quite unlucky every time I’ve tried that, with waits averaging about 10 minutes. There was this one time that I was told that the next Piccadilly train would be 25 (!) minutes. Moving between terminals via HEX is out as it involves a bit more walking.
I could change from the X26 at Hatton Cross and get on to another bus to T5 from there, but this goes to T4 first and you’re looking at another 20 minutes at best while making all the glamorous stops down the Southern Perimeter road. I once spent 45 minutes on the way to T5 from Hatton Cross as the roads around T4 were positively rammed.
Outside rush hour, the X26 and whatever option I choose onwards takes just a bit less than two hours to get me to T5. A taxi ride is 40-45 minutes, and this has been my preferred option, especially during the early hours of the morning when I know traffic won’t be an issue.
I will definitely give Crossrail a go once it’s all up and running for comparison purposes, as on paper, it may be able to get me there in about an hour and 10 minutes if I were to get to Farrigdon via thameslink and then onwards to T5, which would be perfectly acceptable (but I may be overly optimistic in my calculations).
My long preferred solution for the southern belt folk, would be a rail connection from Clapham Junction. I’m pretty sure that would suit a lot of people…
For comparison, it’s faster for me to get to LCY and LGW via public transport, than LHR, but the latter is actually, my closest airport in terms of distance…
Go figure.
Jan 6, 2019, 5:03 pm
#58
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS
Programs: AA, DL, TK
Posts: 230
The KLIA Express with LRT/MRT connection if required is certainly under an hour to downtown KL. Faster and cheaper than even the budget taxi; comparable to HEX/tube combination despite a more remote airport location.
Jan 6, 2019, 5:03 pm
#59
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: London, UK and Southern France
Posts: 18,367
That is not new. I have been taking it occasionally for years and it already went all the way to the airport. What is new is that they now have "semi-fast" services that use the motorway whereas before the semi-fast terminated in Liniers and the ones going all the way to the airport were all slow services. As Yemona says, however, it can be very slooooooow.
Jan 6, 2019, 5:22 pm
#60
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Argentina
Posts: 40,212
That is not new. I have been taking it occasionally for years and it already went all the way to the airport. What is new is that they now have "semi-fast" services that use the motorway whereas before the semi-fast terminated in Liniers and the ones going all the way to the airport were all slow services. As Yemona says, however, it can be very slooooooow.