Will be arriving at Heathrow early AM and plan to take the tube to Euston. Will be burdened with the usual luggage to cart around. Need some opinion on the degree of difficulty traveling with luggage on the train. Can I purchase an Oyster (Pay as you go) pass at Heathrow? Comments appreciated.
MLD

"Paul Corfield" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:18:29 -0400, "MLD" wrote:

Will be arriving at Heathrow early AM and plan to take the tube to Euston.
Will be burdened with the usual luggage to cart around. Need some opinion
on the degree of difficulty traveling with luggage on the train.
Can I purchase an Oyster (Pay as you go) pass at Heathrow? Comments
appreciated.
MLD

You haven't indicated the day on which you will be travelling but
generally the tubes are not too busy if you are on one of the early
arrivals (e.g. 0500 at Heathrow). Once you get to 0630 onwards then the
trains will be very busy as you head in to town and all the way through
the centre. You can buy an Oyster card at Heathrow - either at a travel
information centre or at a ticket office. You may even be able to order
one from abroad before you set off - look at the Oyster part of the TfL
website.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresandtickets/1067.aspx

You should make sure you check if there are any engineering works if you
are travelling at a weekend.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravel...e/default.html and
use the "this date" function on the screen to check.

You have to be able to carry your luggage yourself and not be so laden
down that you have to leave it unattended at the top or bottom of stairs
or escalators. If heading for Euston then I would suggest either of the
following two options.

From Heathrow take the Piccadilly Line to Green Park and follow the way
out signs (NOT the Victoria Line signs). This takes you to an escalator
to the ticket hall where you can then descend down an escalator to the
Victoria Line platforms - take any train from the Northbound platform on
your right. No stairs involved. At Euston you have escalators on each
stage from the tube platform to street / main line station level.
Euston is a bit of warren but follow the "Way Out" signs and you'll be
fine.

Alternatively go to Kings Cross and again follow the way out signs (NOT
the Victoria Line signs) and once in the ticket hall you will see the
escalators down to the Victoria Line on your left. Go down the
escalator and take any train from the southbound platform (on your
left).

*Do not go through the ticket gates at either Green Park or Kings Cross
when making your interchange.*

These are the only two step free routes I can think of for the journey
you suggest. I've certainly done the Kings Cross interchange before
with luggage and it's much better than dragging bags up the short but
cumbersome stairs on the advertised connecting corridor.

Have a safe journey.
--
Paul C - works for LUL

Paul
Thank you for your excellent comments, they will be put to good use.
Scheduled to arrive at Heathrow at 6:30 am on a Saturday--Does this changes
things much? Clarification needed on the following:
Euston is a bit of a "warren"--another way of saying "can be confusing"?
"Engineering works"--Do you mean--"construction or the like going on??
Got another question--after about 6 days in London will be heading to Wigan,
again on a Saturday morning with a return on the following Friday. Plan to
take a train out of Euston station. How much in advance do I need to
purchase tickets? Also, as asked before, will luggage be much of a
handicap? Thanks again.
MLD

"MLD" wrote in message
...

"Paul Corfield" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:18:29 -0400, "MLD" wrote:

Will be arriving at Heathrow early AM and plan to take the tube to
Euston. Will be burdened with the usual luggage to cart around. Need some
opinion on the degree of difficulty traveling with luggage on the train.
Can I purchase an Oyster (Pay as you go) pass at Heathrow? Comments
appreciated.
MLD

You haven't indicated the day on which you will be travelling but
generally the tubes are not too busy if you are on one of the early
arrivals (e.g. 0500 at Heathrow). Once you get to 0630 onwards then the
trains will be very busy as you head in to town and all the way through
the centre. You can buy an Oyster card at Heathrow - either at a travel
information centre or at a ticket office. You may even be able to order
one from abroad before you set off - look at the Oyster part of the TfL
website.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresandtickets/1067.aspx

You should make sure you check if there are any engineering works if you
are travelling at a weekend.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravel...e/default.html and
use the "this date" function on the screen to check.

You have to be able to carry your luggage yourself and not be so laden
down that you have to leave it unattended at the top or bottom of stairs
or escalators. If heading for Euston then I would suggest either of the
following two options.

From Heathrow take the Piccadilly Line to Green Park and follow the way
out signs (NOT the Victoria Line signs). This takes you to an escalator
to the ticket hall where you can then descend down an escalator to the
Victoria Line platforms - take any train from the Northbound platform on
your right. No stairs involved. At Euston you have escalators on each
stage from the tube platform to street / main line station level.
Euston is a bit of warren but follow the "Way Out" signs and you'll be
fine.

Alternatively go to Kings Cross and again follow the way out signs (NOT
the Victoria Line signs) and once in the ticket hall you will see the
escalators down to the Victoria Line on your left. Go down the
escalator and take any train from the southbound platform (on your
left).

*Do not go through the ticket gates at either Green Park or Kings Cross
when making your interchange.*

These are the only two step free routes I can think of for the journey
you suggest. I've certainly done the Kings Cross interchange before
with luggage and it's much better than dragging bags up the short but
cumbersome stairs on the advertised connecting corridor.

Have a safe journey.
--
Paul C - works for LUL

Paul
Thank you for your excellent comments, they will be put to good use.
Scheduled to arrive at Heathrow at 6:30 am on a Saturday--Does this
changes things much? Clarification needed on the following:
Euston is a bit of a "warren"--another way of saying "can be confusing"?

yes

"Engineering works"--Do you mean--"construction or the like going on??

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravel...offset=weekend

Note that you can change the date to the one you want

Got another question--after about 6 days in London will be heading to
Wigan, again on a Saturday morning with a return on the following Friday.
Plan to take a train out of Euston station. How much in advance do I need
to purchase tickets?

If you want an advanced purchase ticket, the earlier you buy it, the cheaper
it will be. But if you do buy an AP (actually you need 2 APs as they are
one way tickets) they are valid only on the exact train(s) that you booked
for and are worthless if you don't catch that train (unless this is because
you were delayed by a *national rail* connection).

Alternatively, you can buy an "off peak" return ticket for 66.40 GBP. This
will be valid on any train on the Saturday but is not valid for early
morning trains for return on Friday.

Also, as asked before, will luggage be much of a handicap? Thanks again.

Same as before. If you can carry it, it won't be a problem.

tim

Euston may not be on the Piccadilly line but King's Cross - St.
Pancras station is very close to it. I would suggest you get on a
Piccadilly line train from Heathrow (completely step-free) and just
stay on all the way to King's Cross - St. Pancras. There you go up the
escalator and walk to the exit. From there it's a very short 5 minute
walk along the Euston Road to Euston Station. This saves you the extra
interchange with your luggage, and it's probably faster than changing
again anyway.

Here's the walking route, it's 0.4 miles according to Google.
http://tinyurl.com/cafjty

On Mar 24, 11:12*pm, "MLD" wrote:
"Paul Corfield" wrote in message

...





On Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:18:29 -0400, "MLD" wrote:

Will be arriving at Heathrow early AM and plan to take the tube to Euston.
Will be burdened with the usual luggage to cart around. Need some opinion
on the degree of difficulty traveling with luggage on the train.
Can I purchase an Oyster (Pay as you go) pass at Heathrow? *Comments
appreciated.
MLD

You haven't indicated the day on which you will be travelling but
generally the tubes are not too busy if you are on one of the early
arrivals (e.g. 0500 at Heathrow). Once you get to 0630 onwards then the
trains will be very busy as you head in to town and all the way through
the centre. You can buy an Oyster card at Heathrow - either at a travel
information centre or at a ticket office. *You may even be able to order
one from abroad before you set off - look at the Oyster part of the TfL
website.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresandtickets/1067.aspx

You should make sure you check if there are any engineering works if you
are travelling at a weekend.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravel...fault.html*and
use the "this date" function on the screen to check.

You have to be able to carry your luggage yourself and not be so laden
down that you have to leave it unattended at the top or bottom of stairs
or escalators. *If heading for Euston then I would suggest either of the
following two options.

From Heathrow take the Piccadilly Line to Green Park and follow the way
out signs (NOT the Victoria Line signs). *This takes you to an escalator
to the ticket hall where you can then descend down an escalator to the
Victoria Line platforms - take any train from the Northbound platform on
your right. No stairs involved. At Euston you have escalators on each
stage from the tube platform to street / main line station level.
Euston is a bit of warren but follow the "Way Out" signs and you'll be
fine.

Alternatively go to Kings Cross and again follow the way out signs (NOT
the Victoria Line signs) and once in the ticket hall you will see the
escalators down to the Victoria Line on your left. *Go down the
escalator and take any train from the southbound platform (on your
left).

*Do not go through the ticket gates at either Green Park or Kings Cross
when making your interchange.*

These are the only two step free routes I can think of for the journey
you suggest. *I've certainly done the Kings Cross interchange before
with luggage and it's much better than dragging bags up the short but
cumbersome stairs on the advertised connecting corridor.

Have a safe journey.
--
Paul C - works for LUL

Paul
Thank you for your excellent comments, they will be put to good use.
Scheduled to arrive at Heathrow at 6:30 am on a Saturday--Does this changes
things much? *Clarification needed on the following:
Euston is a bit of a "warren"--another way of saying "can be confusing"?
"Engineering works"--Do you mean--"construction or the like going on??
Got another question--after about 6 days in London will be heading to Wigan,
again on a Saturday morning with a return on the following Friday. *Plan to
take a train out of Euston station. *How much in advance do I need to
purchase tickets? *Also, as asked before, will luggage be much of a
handicap? *Thanks again.
MLD

Euston - yes it can be a bit confusing due to the network of
corridors. As I said just follow the "Way Out" signs consistently and
you'll be OK.

Engineering works - at weekends and evenings there can be
construction / renewal / upgrade works which mean either sections of
line and / or stations are closed. It is important that you check the
TfL website for the dates you may be travelling. The Victoria Line,
in particular, is subject to a lot of large scale (often the whole
line) closures at weekends. This would affect the advice I provided
to you.

As others have indicated the earlier you book then the cheaper a
ticket will be for the train to Wigan. The Virgin Trains website can
show the discounted tickets that are available per train. Note that
cheap tickets are train specific and NOT valid for other trains. Other
ticket options may be a bit more expensive but may give you some more
flexibility as to which train you can catch. You should be able to
transport luggage on the main line trains without too much issue
although the Pendolino trains Virgin use on the route don't have very
big overhead racks although there are other luggage stacks. Note that
Fridays can be extremely busy in terms of people travelling -
especially afternoons onwards. It is important that you check as to
whether engineering works may affect your planned trip on the Saturday
- www.nationalrail.co.uk is the link to the National Rail website
which will allow you to plan your times and find out if there are
planned engineering works.

--
Paul C via Google

In message
, at
05:04:00 on Wed, 25 Mar 2009, sweek
remarked:
Euston may not be on the Piccadilly line but King's Cross - St.
Pancras station is very close to it. I would suggest you get on a
Piccadilly line train from Heathrow (completely step-free) and just
stay on all the way to King's Cross - St. Pancras. There you go up the
escalator and walk to the exit.

At the top of the escalator at Kings Cross, go through the barriers then
look to your left. In the corner is a very small lift, which will take
you up to street level.

And here's another set of options:

Rather than taking the tube from Heathrow, what about using Heathrow
Connect? It's a relatively new service that's cheaper than Heathrow
Express (but runs the same route, more slowly), £6.90.

At Paddington, the simplest thing would be to take the short escalators
down to the Underground ticket hall, then it's level to the clockwise
Circle Line platform. Get off at Euston Square (but this involves
steps). Or stay on until Kings Cross, there's a pair of lifts (one each
side of the barriers) to street level then walk (OK if you have luggage
with wheels, perhaps, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it).

My own "extreme stepless" route would be Bakerloo Line from Paddington
to Piccadilly Circus, cross platform to northbound (I hope...), then
cross platform to Victoria Line at Oxford Circus, Victoria Line exit at
Euston.
--
Roland Perry

On Mar 25, 1:48*pm, Roland Perry wrote:
My own "extreme stepless" route would be Bakerloo Line from Paddington
to Piccadilly Circus, cross platform to northbound (I hope...), then
cross platform to Victoria Line at Oxford Circus, Victoria Line exit at
Euston.

I don't think southbound Bakerloo to northbound Bakerloo is step-free
at Piccadilly Circus. Perhaps Roland meant to write Charing Cross.

John

In message
, at
09:06:04 on Wed, 25 Mar 2009, "John @ home"
remarked:
My own "extreme stepless" route would be Bakerloo Line from Paddington
to Piccadilly Circus, cross platform to northbound (I hope...), then
cross platform to Victoria Line at Oxford Circus, Victoria Line exit at
Euston.

I don't think southbound Bakerloo to northbound Bakerloo is step-free
at Piccadilly Circus. Perhaps Roland meant to write Charing Cross.

I was guessing that it was stepless at Piccadilly Circus, but now you
come to mention it, I think it's not an island platform because there's
a crossover. Is Charing Cross the closest island platform?
--
Roland Perry

On 25 Mar, 16:57, Roland Perry wrote:
In message
, at
09:06:04 on Wed, 25 Mar 2009, "John @ home"
remarked:

My own "extreme stepless" route would be Bakerloo Line from Paddington
to Piccadilly Circus, cross platform to northbound (I hope...), then
cross platform to Victoria Line at Oxford Circus, Victoria Line exit at
Euston.

I don't think southbound Bakerloo to northbound Bakerloo is step-free
at Piccadilly Circus. Perhaps Roland meant to write Charing Cross.

I was guessing that it was stepless at Piccadilly Circus, but now you
come to mention it, I think it's not an island platform because there's
a crossover. Is Charing Cross the closest island platform?
--
Roland Perry

Yes it would be.

The island platforms on the original Bakerloo seem to have been
Paddington, Trafalgar Square and Elephant & Castle. The terminuses I
can understand, due to using both sides. I don't know why Trafalgar
Square (now Charing Cross) was different from the rest.

On 25 Mar, 16:57, Roland Perry wrote:
In message
, at
09:06:04 on Wed, 25 Mar 2009, "John @ home"
remarked:

My own "extreme stepless" route would be Bakerloo Line from Paddington
to Piccadilly Circus, cross platform to northbound (I hope...), then
cross platform to Victoria Line at Oxford Circus, Victoria Line exit at
Euston.

I don't think southbound Bakerloo to northbound Bakerloo is step-free
at Piccadilly Circus. Perhaps Roland meant to write Charing Cross.

I was guessing that it was stepless at Piccadilly Circus, but now you
come to mention it, I think it's not an island platform because there's
a crossover. Is Charing Cross the closest island platform?
--
Roland Perry

Just thinking that you could do it with less mileage by changing to
the Victoria southbound, then doing a cross-platform at Green Park.