On 20/01/2013 18:35, wrote:

Indeed. As I keep saying it's high time the evil nonsense of the BAA (or
whatever it's called this week) monopoly was brought to an end.

Hardly a monopoly.

No doubt they would be willing to discuss being bought out, for a
suitable price - see the various PFIs like Tramlink which TfL has been
buying out. Anyone going to put up the cash?

It should be
incorporated into the London public transport network like pretty well every
other airport train service in the world.

Lots of airport links are distinct from the general city transport
network, whether stand-alone operations like Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok,
pricey-even-by-local-standards like Stockholm or just charging a
supplement like Madrid Metro.

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

In message , at
21:18:04 on Sun, 20 Jan 2013, Arthur Figgis
remarked:

Indeed. As I keep saying it's high time the evil nonsense of the BAA (or
whatever it's called this week) monopoly was brought to an end.

They've already sold Gatwick, and this week a sale of Stansted was
announced. What more can they do (in the London area anyway).
--
Roland Perry

In message of Sun, 20 Jan 2013
17:35:08 in uk.transport.london, Theo Markettos
end.org.uk writes
Heathrow Connect doesn't accept Oyster cards (between Heathrow and
Hayes & Harlington). So what's the recommended method to make a journey
between Heathrow and somewhere in Oysterland, for example Stratford changing
to/from the Central at Ealing Broadway?

[snip]


Any better ideas?

The last time I went to Heathrow, I trained to Hayes and Harlington and
took a bus from there. I find the Piccadilly line trip to LHR from
Central London is longer than I want to spend on the Underground.
It was impressively fast on a Sunday morning.

Live travel information is available at http://m.countdown.tfl.gov.uk/a
rrivals/57303.

I think that stop now has a Countdown display, but can't remember how to
check.

Journey planner information is available at http://journeyplanner.tfl.g
ov.uk/user/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en&sessionID=0&type_or igin=stop&n
ame_origin=Hayes%20and%20Harlington%20Rail%20Stati on&type_destination=st
op&name_destination=Heathrow%20Central%20Bus%20Sta tion

You either take a 140 direct or an H98 towards Hounslow Bus Station and
a second bus from Harlington Corner.

I assume Heathrow Central. Terminals 4 and 5 are different.

I would not do Heathrow via Ealing Broadway and Acton Town as was
advised this weekend. It is step free at Ealing Broadway and there are
lifts at Acton Town.

Central Line to Ealing Broadway and continue to Hayes and Harlington
involves two stairways.
Hayes and Harlington station exit is by a stairway.
--
Walter Briscoe

In article ,
(Theo Markettos) wrote:

wrote:
The Piccadilly Line is only going as far as Acton Town from
Heathrow at weekends this month and I gather some are only going as
far as Northfields. It would have been nice if Heathrow Connect to
Ealing Broadway had been offered as an alternative by extending
Oyster validity for the duration.

Indeed, /and/ the northern Circle/H&C/Met/etc are out too on some days, so
HEx isn't much use either.

The Circle/H&C seemed to be running normally yesterday.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
12:35:23 on Sun, 20 Jan 2013, remarked:
As I keep saying it's high time the evil nonsense of the BAA (or
whatever it's called this week) monopoly was brought to an end. It should
be incorporated into the London public transport network

Given that BAA paid for it to be built, are you prepared to buy it
off them at cost (or some other larger figure)?

Like the PFI companies and Croydon Tramlink? BAA have had an ample return on
their investment by now.

like pretty well every other airport train service in the world.

You are sorely mistaken. Premium (extra cost) services to airports
are very much the norm.

Examples? No premiums to the last two European airports I've used.
Admittedly Berlin Tegel was bus (at standard fare) not rail.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In article ,
(Walter Briscoe) wrote:

I would not do Heathrow via Ealing Broadway and Acton Town as was
advised this weekend. It is step free at Ealing Broadway and there are
lifts at Acton Town.

Central Line to Ealing Broadway and continue to Hayes and Harlington
involves two stairways.
Hayes and Harlington station exit is by a stairway.

Anyone know what the Piccadilly service to and from Heathrow actually is
this weekend?

I tried looking at http://traintimes.org.uk/map/tube/ but loads of the
Heathrow trains seem to have nonsense direction information like "Piccadilly
train to Acton Town [265] (left Northfields, expected South Ealing in 19
minutes)". Still saying that even though nearer South Ealing 5 minutes
later. Some trains have no destinations other than "Piccadilly Train" either.

It's also only showing three trains between Acton Town and Heathrow which
seems on the low side.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

wrote on 20 January 2013 19:14:10 ...
In article ,
(Richard J.) wrote:

Theo Markettos wrote on 20
January 2013 17:35:08 ...
Heathrow Connect doesn't accept Oyster cards (between Heathrow and
Hayes & Harlington). So what's the recommended method to make a journey
between Heathrow and somewhere in Oysterland, for example Stratford
changing to/from the Central at Ealing Broadway?

1. Buy paper ticket LHR to Ealing, touch in at Ealing, change to
Central line
2. Paper LHR to H&H, jump off train, touch validator, dive back on again
3. Westbound only: Paper travelcard plus BZ6 to LHR (does that
exist?).[1]
4. Westbound only: Paper travelcard (eg Z1-3) plus Ealing to LHR addon

Where are the 'touch in' points at H&H - is (2) likely to happen without
waiting half an hour for the next train? Similarly, is a 'touch in' at
Ealing easy without coming all the way out of the station and going back
in again?

To make life more confusing, the Network Railcard discount applies to
H.Conn tickets on weekends, but not to Oyster. Presumably there's no
'LHR to BZ6' ticket either (no, can't find one).

[1] Hmm, BZ6 to LHR does exist:
http://www.brfares.com/#fares?orig=0...&rlc=%20%20%20
but it's more expensive (6.00) than H&H to LHR (5.20). OTOH BZ3 to LHR
http://www.brfares.com/#fares?orig=0...&rlc=%20%20%20
is cheaper (6.60 v 7.40) than Ealing to LHR.

And paper travelcards are quite expensive if you're only making one
journey. Would be cheaper to get a paper single, if you can get a Z1-3
single at LHR (and the gates don't complain that it's never been
previously seen)

Any better ideas?

Sigh. If only Heathrow Connect was 'zone 99' or something, would make
life a lot easier.

Why do you want to use Connect anyway? It runs only every 30
minutes, and only from the T1&3 station. Take the Piccadilly Line
from whichever terminal you arrive at and change somewhere, e.g. at
Holborn if you're going to Stratford.

The Piccadilly Line is only going as far as Acton Town from Heathrow at
weekends this month

Actually only at 2 weekends this month (5/6 and 19/20 Jan) and one next
month (9/10 Feb, closed Northfields-Hammersmith and Uxbridge-Hammersmith).
--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

In article ,
(Richard J.) wrote:

The Piccadilly Line is only going as far as Acton Town from Heathrow at
weekends this month

Actually only at 2 weekends this month (5/6 and 19/20 Jan) and one
next month (9/10 Feb, closed Northfields-Hammersmith and
Uxbridge-Hammersmith).

Ouch! How will Heathrow be served via Northfields? Or will they let people
use Heathrow Express/Connect this time?

later Not by the look of it though TfL's Journey Planner only offers HEX
by default. Excluding Rail the only alternative (1) is Piccadilly to
Hammersmith, replacement bus to Boston Manor and Piccadilly from there.

(1) apart from the positively wacky coach 504 from Victoria Coach Station
("TfL tickets and passes are not accepted on this service")

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In article ,
() wrote:

later Not by the look of it though TfL's Journey Planner only
offers HEX by default. Excluding Rail the only alternative (1) is
Piccadilly to Hammersmith, replacement bus to Boston Manor and
Piccadilly from there.

From Kings Cross St Pancras which I was looking at it was actually
H&C/Circle to Hammersmith in fact.

I see there is also a rail replacement bus from Ealing Broadway to Boston
Manor with an impressive 9minute journey time. Another suggestion is to go
via the Met to Uxbridge and take the A30 bus.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

"Theo Markettos" wrote in message
...
Heathrow Connect doesn't accept Oyster cards (between Heathrow and
Hayes & Harlington). So what's the recommended method to make a journey
between Heathrow and somewhere in Oysterland, for example Stratford
changing
to/from the Central at Ealing Broadway?

1. Buy paper ticket LHR to Ealing, touch in at Ealing, change to Central
line
2. Paper LHR to H&H, jump off train, touch validator, dive back on again
3. Westbound only: Paper travelcard plus BZ6 to LHR (does that exist?).[1]
4. Westbound only: Paper travelcard (eg Z1-3) plus Ealing to LHR addon

Where are the 'touch in' points at H&H - is (2) likely to happen without
waiting half an hour for the next train? Similarly, is a 'touch in' at
Ealing easy without coming all the way out of the station and going back
in
again?

To make life more confusing, the Network Railcard discount applies to
H.Conn
tickets on weekends, but not to Oyster. Presumably there's no 'LHR to
BZ6'
ticket either (no, can't find one).

[1] Hmm, BZ6 to LHR does exist:
http://www.brfares.com/#fares?orig=0...&rlc=%20%20%20
but it's more expensive (6.00) than H&H to LHR (5.20). OTOH BZ3 to LHR
http://www.brfares.com/#fares?orig=0...&rlc=%20%20%20
is cheaper (6.60 v 7.40) than Ealing to LHR.

And paper travelcards are quite expensive if you're only making one
journey.
Would be cheaper to get a paper single, if you can get a Z1-3 single at
LHR
(and the gates don't complain that it's never been previously seen)

Any better ideas?

Sigh. If only Heathrow Connect was 'zone 99' or something, would make
life
a lot easier.

Theo

Does Jubilee from Stratford to Waterloo, SWT to Feltham and the appropriate
bus to whichever terminal make any sense for you?