Nightmare at Hayes and Harlington - 1

Over the last few weekends - and especially on this last Sunday
afternoon (1-7-2007), Heathrow Connect services have been dumping
passengers for Heathrow at the bay platform 5 at Hayes and Harlington
Station. Usually these are intending flight passengers with heavy
luggage.

Having paid the cheaper than HEX fare - but still exorbitant at £9 -
to go to Heathrow, they are being abandoned at Hayes and Harlington,
told to lug their luggage up the stairs (there are no lifts) and then
to catch a 140 bus into Heathrow (at additional cost). No-one has been
available to help with their luggage - and much of this is composed of
huge suitcases due to BA's stupid one bag per passenger rule.

No announcements are made at Hayes and Harlington Station. And then
the intending passengers have to pay AGAIN at £2 each for the 140 bus
- which doesn't even go to Terminal 4.

Also the destination sign at Platform 5 has been seen to announce
Heathrow Airport as the next stop for the Connect parked there - a
physical impossibility - whilst the actual train displays Paddington
as the destination.

Confused some passengers for Heathrow have been seen boarding the
Connect on platform 5, and then suddenly realising (or been told) that
the train is in fact returning to Paddington.

This has been going on for quite a few weekends now. Yet Connect get
away with it. And even the HEX is stopped at Hayes to pick up
passengers dumped there by Connect.

This cannot be acceptable service - but due to it mainly affecting
tourists leaving the country Connect management seem to be getting
away with it weekend after weekend.

In fact this is gross incompetance, bordering on deliberate fraud - to
charge for the full Connect service to Heathrow and then dump
passengers at Hayes and tell them to pay again on the 140 bus for the
Airport.

CJB.