I will be on vacation in London at the end of this month. I arrive to
Heathrow airport and stay in Bayswater inn hotel. Let's just say that $100
price for the taxi trip seems to be somewhat excessive for this New York
resident . So I figured I can take a tube.
http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk suggested this route (I selected tube only
with least transfers):
=======================
10:00

10:06Heathrow Terminal 2
Walk to Heathrow Terminals 1-2-3
Transfer time:6mins


10:06

10:39Heathrow Terminals 1-2-3 Underground Station
Take the Piccadilly Line towards Arnos Grove
or Piccadilly Line towards Cockfosters

10:45

Earl's Court Underground Station
Take the District Line towards Edgware Road (Circle Line)

Average journey time: 8 mins

10:53Bayswater Underground Station
=======================================

Is this route doable with one large bag on wheels and small backpack? I've
never been to London and don't know how crowded London Tube is. Am I correct
to understand that tube trains run on pre-determined schedule (seems like a
foreign concep to me )?

TIA

vmnvmcxbv wrote:

Is this route doable with one large bag on wheels and small backpack? I've
never been to London and don't know how crowded London Tube is.


At that time of the day neither of these lines are very crowded in my
experience but there can be a lot of people with large bags filling up
Piccadilly Line trains anyway. The change at Earl's Court includes a
change from deep level up to the district platforms but there are both
lifts and escalators so you should be able to choose what is best for
you and your bags.

The change to the District Line at Earl's Court may be a little tricky
to an unexperienced tube user... The station has an eastbound platform
with tracks on both sides and any train to any eastbound destination can
depart from any of the sides so you have to watch destination blinds etc
to catch the right train (destination should be "Edgware Road"). It's
not a big problem if you take the wrong train and the next station you
see is Gloucester Road, you can do an easy cross-plaform change there in
that case and catch a westbound Circle Line train that will take you
directly to Bayswater too.

Am I correct
to understand that tube trains run on pre-determined schedule (seems like a
foreign concep to me )?


They do run on some kind of schedule but they are frequent enough so you
should not have to worry about that.

--
Olof Lagerkvist
ICQ: 724451
Web: http://here.is/olof

"vmnvmcxbv" typed

Is this route doable with one large bag on wheels and small backpack? I've
never been to London and don't know how crowded London Tube is. Am I
correct
to understand that tube trains run on pre-determined schedule (seems like a
foreign concep to me )?

Easily.

Ignore times given; with trains running every 3 minutes or so, you just
take the first that comes, so long as it's not packed. It might be
worthwhile to let a crush-loaded train pass to give yourself a bit of
space.

The rush hour passengers will have passed by the time you travel, though
the 'twirly'[1] brigade may be out in force.

[1] Pensioners whose free passes cannot be used befor a certain time.
"Am I too early for this?"

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

"vmnvmcxbv" wrote in message
news:av48i.48$UD4.21@trndny07
I will be on vacation in London at the end of this month. I arrive to
Heathrow airport and stay in Bayswater inn hotel. Let's just say that
$100 price for the taxi trip seems to be somewhat excessive for this
New York resident . So I figured I can take a tube.
http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk suggested this route (I selected
tube only with least transfers):
=======================
10:00

10:06Heathrow Terminal 2
Walk to Heathrow Terminals 1-2-3
Transfer time:6mins


10:06

10:39Heathrow Terminals 1-2-3 Underground Station
Take the Piccadilly Line towards Arnos Grove
or Piccadilly Line towards Cockfosters

10:45

Earl's Court Underground Station
Take the District Line towards Edgware Road (Circle Line)

Average journey time: 8 mins

10:53Bayswater Underground Station
=======================================

Is this route doable with one large bag on wheels and small backpack?
I've never been to London and don't know how crowded London Tube is.
Am I correct to understand that tube trains run on pre-determined
schedule (seems like a foreign concep to me )?

Tube trains do have a timetable, but for most routes it's not published.
The Journey Planner does know it and uses it, but trains don't stick to
it precisely, except (usually) at the beginning of the route. Most
routes are too frequent for you to have to care.

I would change your route to change twice, but more easily:
Take the Piccadilly Line as suggested, but get off at Hammersmith or
Baron's Court stations. Normally, all Piccadilly Line trains from
Heathrow T123 take this route, so you don't have to worry about looking
at where the train is going.

Walk across the platform and wait for the next District Line train
(it'll usually be there in a couple of minutes or so). Again, you don't
need to look at where it's going. You'll notice that this train is much
larger than the Piccadilly Line train, with much more headroom. It will
probably have green handrails.

When you get to Earl's Court (which will take about five minutes), get
off and take the next train to Edgware Road. It will probably be across
the platform, and you won't usually have to wait more than five minutes
(often, it's already waiting in the platform). To help you spot the
right train, this one will have yellow grab rails, though it's still
called a District Line train (not Circle Line). You will encounter your
first stairs at Bayswater station. I suggest you get in the second car
of the train from Earl's Court to be near the stairs at Bayswater.

I did a similar journey yesterday, and it was completely painless. I got
a seat on all three trains, and there was room for baggage, but the
trains from Heathrow are sometimes crowded and full of bags -- there's
extra space around the doors for the bags.

You will need a zone 1-6 ticket, which will be cheaper if you buy either
an Oyster card or a Travelcard.

vmnvmcxbv wrote:
I will be on vacation in London at the end of this month. I arrive to
Heathrow airport and stay in Bayswater inn hotel. Let's just say that
$100 price for the taxi trip seems to be somewhat excessive for this
New York resident . So I figured I can take a tube.
http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk suggested this route (I selected
tube only with least transfers):

To be honest, I wouldn't bother with the Tube. It takes over 40 minutes and
can be quite packed at times.

For about a quarter of the price of your quoted taxi fare you could catch
the Heathrow Express (runs every fifteen minutes) to Paddington mainline
station and then you are within walking distance of Bayswater (or one
Underground stop, if you choose). See http://www.heathrowexpress.com. It
will cost more than the Tube but the trains are comfortable and spacious,
with plenty of luggage space, and the journey only takes fifteen minutes
from Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3 and about twenty from Terminal 4.

On Sat, 2 Jun 2007 10:49:55 +0100, Recliner wrote:

When you get to Earl's Court (which will take about five minutes), get
off and take the next train to Edgware Road. It will probably be across
the platform, and you won't usually have to wait more than five minutes
(often, it's already waiting in the platform).

These trains are every 10 minutes, so you will have to wait more than
five minutes about half the time...

You will need a zone 1-6 ticket, which will be cheaper if you buy either
an Oyster card or a Travelcard.

A Travelcard isn't cheaper than a Z1-6 single (£6.70 vs £4.00).

On Jun 2, 10:49 am, "Recliner" wrote:

Walk across the platform and wait for the next District Line train
(it'll usually be there in a couple of minutes or so). Again, you don't
need to look at where it's going. You'll notice that this train is much
larger than the Piccadilly Line train, with much more headroom. It will
probably have green handrails.

Yeah. Basically the Piccadilly and District stop on opposite sides of
the same platform at Hammersmith and Baron's Court, but by Earl's
Court, the Piccadilly Line is deep underground while the District is
still on the surface. Sadly no District Line trains run from the
Hammersmith branch to the Bayswater branch, so you still need to
change at Earl's Court, but this time there's no walking involved
since all trains call at the same platform.

Tube trains run every 3-10 minutes, no need to memorise schedules.

U

"asdf" wrote in message

On Sat, 2 Jun 2007 10:49:55 +0100, Recliner wrote:

When you get to Earl's Court (which will take about five minutes),
get off and take the next train to Edgware Road. It will probably be
across the platform, and you won't usually have to wait more than
five minutes (often, it's already waiting in the platform).

These trains are every 10 minutes, so you will have to wait more than
five minutes about half the time...

Ah, but they often stand in the platform for a couple of minutes or so,
so while they may only depart every ten minutes, you'll usually see one
in the platform more often than that...


You will need a zone 1-6 ticket, which will be cheaper if you buy
either an Oyster card or a Travelcard.

A Travelcard isn't cheaper than a Z1-6 single (£6.70 vs £4.00).

True, unless he intends to make more journeys that day (quite likely,
I'd have thought, given the arrival time).

So to sum up, your options a

- underground to Bayswater, via Earls Court - 50 minutes - £4.00, or
£2.00 if you buy Oyster (which would be a wise thing to do, unless you
don't use public transport), which costs £3, but it can be refunded
when you leave UK.
- train to Paddington - then you can either walk, or take a bus or go
by underground.
- Heathrow Express - 15 minutes - £14.50
- Heathrow Connect to Paddington (runs every 30 minutes) - 25
minutes - £6.90.

"Jack Taylor" wrote in message

vmnvmcxbv wrote:
I will be on vacation in London at the end of this month. I arrive to
Heathrow airport and stay in Bayswater inn hotel. Let's just say that
$100 price for the taxi trip seems to be somewhat excessive for this
New York resident . So I figured I can take a tube.
http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk suggested this route (I selected
tube only with least transfers):

To be honest, I wouldn't bother with the Tube. It takes over 40
minutes and can be quite packed at times.

For about a quarter of the price of your quoted taxi fare you could
catch the Heathrow Express (runs every fifteen minutes) to Paddington
mainline station and then you are within walking distance of
Bayswater (or one Underground stop, if you choose). See
http://www.heathrowexpress.com. It will cost more than the Tube but
the trains are comfortable and spacious, with plenty of luggage
space, and the journey only takes fifteen minutes from Heathrow
Terminals 1,2,3 and about twenty from Terminal 4.

The OP's hotel is much closer to Bayswater station than Paddington, so
the Tube journey will involve much less walking, won't be much slower
overall, and is about a quarter of the price. It's probably worth
putting up with more cramped trains for that.