In message , at 13:19:27 on Thu, 26
Sep 2019, MissRiaElaine remarked:
There are some 24-hour buses to Heathrow, such as the 140.

Sure, but can all the staff cram onto that one route?

I wonder if there are staff buses that operate overnight?

And do either go where the staff actually live..?

When I was a bus driver in the Birmingham area in the late 90's/early
00's, we had a few staff buses which picked up drivers on the
stupid-o'clock starts, but they only went a limited distance from the
garage (5 miles or so I think) and I lived 7 miles away. So it was
drive or not work. The company had the attitude that it was your
responsibility to get to work and if you couldn't for whatever reason,
tough, find another job...

It's a bit more difficult to have that attitude at a place like
Heathrow. I think their solution is to provide ample staff car parking,
it's not as if they don't have the room.
--
Roland Perry

"tim..." wrote:

after suffering a 20 minute walk from the gate to passport control, at T2
this week, so would I

I agree - that trek is really a pain. Are there any plans to shorten it as the
core is redeveloped?

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 13:19:27 on Thu, 26 Sep
2019, MissRiaElaine remarked:
There are some 24-hour buses to Heathrow, such as the 140.

Sure, but can all the staff cram onto that one route?

I wonder if there are staff buses that operate overnight?

And do either go where the staff actually live..?

When I was a bus driver in the Birmingham area in the late 90's/early
00's, we had a few staff buses which picked up drivers on the
stupid-o'clock starts, but they only went a limited distance from the
garage (5 miles or so I think) and I lived 7 miles away. So it was drive
or not work. The company had the attitude that it was your responsibility
to get to work and if you couldn't for whatever reason, tough, find
another job...

It's a bit more difficult to have that attitude at a place like Heathrow.
I think their solution is to provide ample staff car parking, it's not as
if they don't have the room.

but they do have a mandate to lessen car arrivals at the airport

I doubt that staff travel is exempted from that requirement

yim

On Thu, 26 Sep 2019 08:58:26 -0500, Arthur Conan Doyle
wrote:

"tim..." wrote:

after suffering a 20 minute walk from the gate to passport control, at T2
this week, so would I

I agree - that trek is really a pain. Are there any plans to shorten it as the
core is redeveloped?

One hopes that there will one day be an underground shuttle to the
satellite, as in T5, rather than the long walkway with three
travelators. I think the long-term plan for T2 is to have another
parallel eastern satellite (as well as two western satellites,
replacing T3), and that will certainly require a shuttle.

In message , at 14:51:23 on Thu, 26 Sep
2019, tim... remarked:

Someone I know had to get the first bus of the day to check in from a
perimeter hotel to the central terminals. How would the check in staff
get there.

there are 5 night routes that run from the Northern Perimeter Road
(which IME is where all the hotels are) to the central Terminals and
one to T5

The [hotels along] northern perimeter road are not a point source, nor
are they mopped up by every bus. It's very patchy.
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 15:18:00 on Thu, 26 Sep
2019, tim... remarked:
Sep 2019, MissRiaElaine remarked:
There are some 24-hour buses to Heathrow, such as the 140.

Sure, but can all the staff cram onto that one route?

I wonder if there are staff buses that operate overnight?

And do either go where the staff actually live..?

When I was a bus driver in the Birmingham area in the late 90's/early
00's, we had a few staff buses which picked up drivers on the stupid-
o'clock starts, but they only went a limited distance from the garage
(5 miles or so I think) and I lived 7 miles away. So it was drive or
not work. The company had the attitude that it was your
responsibility to get to work and if you couldn't for whatever
reason, tough, find another job...

It's a bit more difficult to have that attitude at a place like
Heathrow. I think their solution is to provide ample staff car
parking, it's not as if they don't have the room.

but they do have a mandate to lessen car arrivals at the airport

I doubt that staff travel is exempted from that requirement

Which is precisely why Heathrow Connect exists[1]. It's not a back-door
into Heathrow for skinflint passengers, it's for staff.

But not all the staff live on the Heathrow Connect corridor.

[1] Just like Heathrow Express exists only for people rich enough to get
to Central London by taxi, but who can be persuaded to do a least
the 15 miles closest to Heathrow in a train.
--
Roland Perry

On Thu, 26 Sep 2019 15:38:05 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 15:18:00 on Thu, 26 Sep
2019, tim... remarked:
Sep 2019, MissRiaElaine remarked:
There are some 24-hour buses to Heathrow, such as the 140.

Sure, but can all the staff cram onto that one route?

I wonder if there are staff buses that operate overnight?

And do either go where the staff actually live..?

When I was a bus driver in the Birmingham area in the late 90's/early
00's, we had a few staff buses which picked up drivers on the stupid-
o'clock starts, but they only went a limited distance from the garage
(5 miles or so I think) and I lived 7 miles away. So it was drive or
not work. The company had the attitude that it was your
responsibility to get to work and if you couldn't for whatever
reason, tough, find another job...

It's a bit more difficult to have that attitude at a place like
Heathrow. I think their solution is to provide ample staff car
parking, it's not as if they don't have the room.

but they do have a mandate to lessen car arrivals at the airport

I doubt that staff travel is exempted from that requirement

Which is precisely why Heathrow Connect exists[1]. It's not a back-door
into Heathrow for skinflint passengers, it's for staff.

But not all the staff live on the Heathrow Connect corridor.

That may be why it was created, but it doesn't exist any more, of
course.

On 26/09/2019 13:53, Recliner wrote:
On Thu, 26 Sep 2019 13:21:23 +0100, MissRiaElaine

Well, whatever as they say. I would certainly prefer to use Gatwick than
Heathrow any day.

Ah, a retired Aberdonian bus driver prefers Gatwick to Heathrow, so we
need to rush to revise the entire London airports strategy! But
perhaps you need to first persuade your own government that your idea
is better:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-37605123

I doubt anybody could persuade *that* shower of anything.


--
Ria in Aberdeen

[Send address is invalid, use sipsoup at gmail dot com to reply direct]

On Thu, 26 Sep 2019 15:38:05 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 15:18:00 on Thu, 26 Sep
2019, tim... remarked:
Sep 2019, MissRiaElaine remarked:
There are some 24-hour buses to Heathrow, such as the 140.

Sure, but can all the staff cram onto that one route?

I wonder if there are staff buses that operate overnight?

And do either go where the staff actually live..?

When I was a bus driver in the Birmingham area in the late 90's/early
00's, we had a few staff buses which picked up drivers on the stupid-
o'clock starts, but they only went a limited distance from the garage
(5 miles or so I think) and I lived 7 miles away. So it was drive or
not work. The company had the attitude that it was your
responsibility to get to work and if you couldn't for whatever
reason, tough, find another job...

It's a bit more difficult to have that attitude at a place like
Heathrow. I think their solution is to provide ample staff car
parking, it's not as if they don't have the room.

but they do have a mandate to lessen car arrivals at the airport

I doubt that staff travel is exempted from that requirement

Which is precisely why Heathrow Connect exists[1]. It's not a back-door
into Heathrow for skinflint passengers, it's for staff.

Staff are also latgely the reason that bus travel is free in and
around Heathrow (and subsidised to/from Stansted and I suspect other
airports). I've caught service buses from Bath Road to T5 and been
charged a zero fare.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
https://www.avg.com

Trolleybus wrote:
On Thu, 26 Sep 2019 15:38:05 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 15:18:00 on Thu, 26 Sep
2019, tim... remarked:
Sep 2019, MissRiaElaine remarked:
There are some 24-hour buses to Heathrow, such as the 140.

Sure, but can all the staff cram onto that one route?

I wonder if there are staff buses that operate overnight?

And do either go where the staff actually live..?

When I was a bus driver in the Birmingham area in the late 90's/early
00's, we had a few staff buses which picked up drivers on the stupid-
o'clock starts, but they only went a limited distance from the garage
(5 miles or so I think) and I lived 7 miles away. So it was drive or
not work. The company had the attitude that it was your
responsibility to get to work and if you couldn't for whatever
reason, tough, find another job...

It's a bit more difficult to have that attitude at a place like
Heathrow. I think their solution is to provide ample staff car
parking, it's not as if they don't have the room.

but they do have a mandate to lessen car arrivals at the airport

I doubt that staff travel is exempted from that requirement

Which is precisely why Heathrow Connect exists[1]. It's not a back-door
into Heathrow for skinflint passengers, it's for staff.

Staff are also latgely the reason that bus travel is free in and
around Heathrow (and subsidised to/from Stansted and I suspect other
airports). I've caught service buses from Bath Road to T5 and been
charged a zero fare.

Yes, the buses announce when they're about to leave the free zone (eg,
north of the Bath Road). I presume you don't need to touch in if your
journey is entirely within that zone.