On Mar 19, 9:53*pm, Theo Markettos
wrote:

Mizter T wrote:

The 15 minutes to walk from the Tube station to VCS seems a bit on the
high side, even with luggage.

Last time was with a /very/ heavy bag, so that might have been the reason..
I don't plan to repeat that.

Fair enough. Under more normal conditions, if you know the way (which
you do), and if you're reasonably fit and are not mobility impaired
(both of which seem to apply), then I'd say ten minutes at the most
(if you're not dawdling that is!).


Must say I'm surprised at the apparent dearth of NatEx coach services
from LHR to VCS in the late evening.

It's because they're all inbound from somewhere else. *The last one is from
Taunton or Totnes or somewhere like that at 21.40. *Which might also make
the timekeeping a little variable in case of any traffic upstream.

Indeed. But still a bit surprised that there's nothing that comes
through any later. Actually I'm a bit surprised that there's only 29
services a day - I was under the evidently quite erroneous
misapprehension that NX almost offered a turn up and go coach service
towards central London (well, coaches every half hour or thereabouts).
However I might be getting a bit muddled - read on...


Oddly the TfL planner doesn't seem to know about them. *It's a shame the
GreenLine (or RedArrow or whatever they were) don't run any more.

It was called the "Airbus" - I'm really not an expert on it, so
perhaps others can fill in the blanks. Aha... this webpage has some
information:
http://www.milesfaster.co.uk/informa...ort/airbus.htm

It was originally run by London Transport (and started 1981), then
after privatisation of the bus network in the 90's responsibility
passed to the London United bus company (it was run as a commercial
service). Later it was sold to Airlinks, an NX company, and later
still NX rebranded it, along with other airport related brands (such
as Jetlink and Flightlink that just serve to confuse me) as "National
Express Airport".

However, when the A2 Airbus was ditched in 2004, my recollection is
that NX's spin was something along the lines of 'no worries, there'll
still be plentiful NX coach services from Heathrow to London VCS' -
but it's not quite the same.

The above webpage, run by a London hotel agency, does suggest that
there's some suppressed demand for an Airbus-esque service. But I have
to say it's not really something I'd consider using, the Piccadilly
line does me ok. Given that no other company has stepped into the
breach, I wonder if it's really that viable a market.


Tight connections always add a bit of spice to a journey!

Though if you're heading to Cambridge, perhaps the train from KX is
the way to go. But that would/could be the backup if the coach at VCS
is missed.

Good point, I hadn't thought of that. *That's a bit more annoying at the
Cambridge end, though. *But doable as a backup backup (though 40 mins VCS to
KX with luggage is also tight).

As Colin has said, you could make the decision as to whether catching
the coach is do-able before Barons Court, when you'd have to change
for the District line.

FWIW, I'd say 40 mins VCS to KX is quite doable if you're capable of
shifting it a bit, *and* if the Victoria line is working - 10 mins VCS
to Vic Tube station, Vic to KXSP 20 minutes overall (max 5 mins wait,
10 mins journey, 5 mins subterranean walking), spare 10 minutes to buy
train ticket from machine and find train.