"Heathrow's terminal tangle"

Saturday, August 9, 2003

Heathrow's terminal tangle
BY SIMON CALDER
United Kingdom - The Independent 

 
Seventeen years after it opened, the newest terminal at London's Heathrow
airport is already woefully inadequate. Indeed, so overstretched is Terminal
4 that British Airways is starting to move some of its long- haul flights to
the ancient Terminal 1 inorder to relieve some of the pressure on its main
intercontinental base. 

Five years from now, the much-debated and delayed Terminal 5 is due to open
at Britain's busiest airport. This should allow BA to concentrate its whole
operation at a single terminal. But the consequences for other travellers
using public transport toreach Heathrow will be considerable. 

When Terminal 4 opened in 1986, it was sited a long way away from the rest
of the complex, on the south side of the airport. New tunnels had to be dug
to allow the London Underground network to reach the site. A curious loop
arrangement means that Tubetravellers to the main part of the airport find
their journey stretched by five minutes because of the subterranean detour
around the south of the airport. "The longest five minutes in travel is the
time it takes from Heathrow Terminal 4 to HeathrowCentral on the Piccadilly
Line," says one jaded traveller. Five years ago, when the Heathrow Express
rail link was finally opened, more tunnels had to be dug beneath the runway
to connect the airport's central area with Terminal 4. 

What will happen to both these links when Terminal 5 opens? Look closely at
future maps of the London Underground system, because the western end of the
Piccadilly Line is set take on an extremely odd appearance. 

The good news is that London Underground plans to run 15 trains an hour to
Heathrow, compared with the existing scheduled 12. Those lucky enough to be
travelling to Terminals 1, 2 or 3 should find that there is one Piccadilly
Line train every fourminutes or so. 

But those aiming for Terminal 4 or 5 will be less happy. A spur is to be
built from Heathrow Central to Terminal 5, where trains will terminate. They
will return to Heathrow Central and continue back into London. But which
trains? Only the two out ofthree that London Underground plans to send to
Terminal 5. The remaining third will be sent around the existing loop from
Hatton Cross to Terminal 4, and back to Heathrow Central, where there is
plenty of scope for congestion with the Terminal 5 trains. 

What will worry travellers using Terminal 4, though, is the fear that
Heathrow's new terminal could seriously delay their journey to the airport.
The new arrangements will cut the number of trains per hour from 12 to five.
Given the propensity fordelays, especially on rush- hour services, and the
need to take commuters on the other Piccadilly Line branch to Rayners Lane,
passengers will need to allow much longer for their journeys. 

Travellers heading for the central area on the Tube will be faced with a
conundrum; if the first train is going the long way around via Terminal 4,
should they take it or wait for one behind that will go straight to Heathrow
Central? 

All this is confusing enough for regular users of the Tube, but overseas
arrivals making their first visit to London will find it baffling. The
Tube's operator, meanwhile, says: "The design capacity will enable London
Underground to increase services tomatch future demand when required." 

The Heathrow Express, which is Britain's most expensive railway, has a
simpler scheme: the line from London Paddington, which presently serves
Heathrow Central and then Terminal 4, will be extended to Terminal 5. But
journey times to the new terminalwill be twice as long as the 15 minutes it
now takes from central London to Terminals 1, 2 and 3. At present, the
journey time to Terminal 4 is at least 23 minutes, and this is likely to
extend to half an hour to Terminal 5. 

There is some good news for people travelling between west London and
Heathrow airport; an additional stopping service is planned to run from
Paddington to Heathrow, stopping at Ealing Broadway, West Ealing, Hanwell,
Southall, Hayes and Heathrow Central.But anyone hoping to reach Terminal 4 -
and later, Terminal 5 - will then have to link up with the existing Heathrow
Express service.


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