Piccadilly Line to Heathrow Terminals

[ACL]

I was just looking at the Heathrow Airport Map of the Rail Routes:

http://www.baa.com/assets/Internet/...oads/Static files/rail_routes_at_Heathrow.pdf

It appears to show two separate lines splitting at Hatton Cross with one going to Terminal 4 and Terminal 1-2-3, and the other one going to Terminal 1-2-3 and Terminal 5. Is this true, and do I have to be mindful of this when going to Heathrow?

Thanks.

 

[yorksrob]

Yes, some serve Terminal 4 and not Terminal 5 whilst for others it's Terminal 5 and not Terminal 4 (all Heathrow trains go to 123). The Platform indicators are fairly clear though.

 

[ACL]

Thank you.

 

[A60K]

Just beware that while all the Heathrow trains do end up at Terminals 1, 2, 3 those that go via Terminal 4 take around 12 minutes longer to get there than those that terminate at Terminal 5. If you're tight on time then that can be a heart-stopping 12 minutes!

The reason for this is that trains pause on the long loop at Terminal 4 station for 7 or 8 minutes, and the loop goes all the way around the western side of the airport - back in the 1980s the plan was for Terminal 5 to be closer to the centre than it eventually was. There's the basic start of a station half way round the loop tunnel.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

One has to wonder why they didn't just build the T5 station as originally planned and link it with travolators in passageways to where they ended up putting the terminal.

Would have been much easier operationally and a lot less confusing for the passengers.

Probably cheaper as well?

 

[DavyCrocket]

One has to wonder why they didn't just build the T5 station as originally planned and link it with travolators in passageways to where they ended up putting the terminal.

Would have been much easier operationally and a lot less confusing for the passengers.

Probably cheaper as well?

Terminal Five is quite some way from both Terminal Four and the CTA (T123 area), plus the line runs under the airfield so it's hardly feasible to build a station there!

Personally I think that the Terminal Four service should have been axed with access improved to Hatton Cross and the existing bus services from there to Terminal Four.

Having said that, Terminal Five LU station would struggle to handle a 12 tph train service.

Also it's not unknown to run a westbound train and serve all the terminals

 

[Dstock7080]

Yes, some serve Terminal 4 and not Terminal 5 whilst for others it's Terminal 5 and not Terminal 4 (all Heathrow trains go to 123). The Platform indicators are fairly clear though.

Except the ones at BARONS COURT and HAMMERSMITH that still unhelpfully just show "HEATHROW".

 

[ACL]

Thanks for all the advice. The Tube is a wonderful system. Never had a problem, except for the night of 22 July when someone decided to become a pedestrian on the Victoria Line.