Heathrow Express
The Heathrow Express is a dedicated airport express service between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport, opened on 23 June 1998 and offering a non-stop 15-minute journey over a purpose-built spur from the Great Western Main Line at Hayes and Harlington into the airport terminals. Owned by Heathrow Airport Holdings and operating with a premium-priced proposition aimed at business travellers, it represented a significant investment in airport rail access at a time when the alternatives were the slower Underground Piccadilly line and road transport in London's notorious terminal approach traffic.
The service operates over an entirely new tunnel section through the airport, branching from the GWR main line and serving Terminal 5 and the central terminal area. The original Class 332 electric multiple units (Siemens, delivered 1997–1998) gave way from 2020 to Class 387 Electrostar units leased from Great Western Railway, as the dedicated fleet aged and the economics of maintaining a separate purpose-built fleet became less attractive. The Heathrow Express tunnel was the scene of a serious construction incident in October 1994 when a partial collapse of the excavation delayed the line's opening by approximately a year.
The opening of the Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) through Paddington to Heathrow from 2022 provided a slower but cheaper alternative to the Heathrow Express, increasing competitive pressure on the premium service and prompting questions about its long-term commercial model alongside the mass-market Elizabeth Line offer.
About
Heathrow Express is a British airport express train service between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport, opened on 23 June 1998. It is owned by Heathrow Airport Holdings and operates a 15-minute non-stop service over an entirely new spur from the Great Western Main Line at Hayes & Harlington.
The service was operated initially with a fleet of dedicated Class 332 EMUs (Siemens, 14 four-car sets), replaced from 2020 by Class 387 'Electrostar' units leased from Great Western Railway, in turn being replaced by Class 345 Aventra units shared with the Elizabeth Line.
The Heathrow Express tunnel was the venue for a serious incident on 20 October 1994, the partial collapse of the New Austrian Tunnelling Method works, which delayed the line's opening by a year.
