On 06/05/2016 08:55, Recliner wrote:

Graeme Wall wrote:
On 05/05/2016 13:42, Recliner wrote:
- The Heathrow Airport terminal signs all promote Heathrow Express,
barely mentioning the Tube or Heathrow Connect. But there's never any
mention of the higher fares:

Hardly surprising as the former is owned by the Airport and the last two
abstract revenue from it.

Indeed so, though I think HAL also gets a share of the fares from both of
the latter. I don't know if this is from all terminals, or just T5, as HAL
paid for the Piccadilly Line extension from T23 to T5.

I think the only arrangement is that HAL keeps all the income from LU
ticket sales at T5, in exchange for building (and maintaining?) the
extension and T5 station (and staffing the latter). I'm pretty sure
there's nowt re the other Heathrow LU stations.

Heathrow Connect isn't quite in direct competition with HEx, not least
because it is run by the Heathrow Express Operating Company! There's an
arrangement between HAL/HEOC and the GWML franchisee (currently GWR)
regarding Heathrow Connect providing local train services on the line
from H&H into Paddington.


Nevertheless, it's unfair to air passengers who've not done their research.
Obviously HEx is the right choice for some, but I suspect a fair few others
will be misled.

What I did notice was almost all the pax got off a HEx train arriving at
T23, so it was almost empty for the last part of the journey to T5. I
wonder if T5 BA pax are more savvy, and more likely to use the Tube when
travelling from central London or the western suburbs? Of course, many may
be British and get to the airport by road.