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Things you don’t want to have happen when you go to the airport, but I had given myself plenty of time – or at least so I thought.
Anyway, was aiming for the 610pm for a 925pm flight, ended up on the 625pm and finally jumped out of an Uber at 832pm (we were tipped out at Hayes) to get a very hard stare from the EVA check in crew who were ready to go home.
They wanted a document check so I didn’t have a boarding pass on my phone, despite being HBO, which further complicated matters.
Anyway, salutary lesson that this sh1t happens, I guess. Train before us presumably made it to LHR. Train after I could have bailed and made alternative plans.
That sucks but at least you made your flight.
A broken Heathrow Express would have been a pretty easy travel insurance claim though!
I had similar happen to me and missed the last flight home up to Edinburgh ages ago. It certainly wasn’t 1.5 hours but it was just long enough. When the train started moving again I thought I was going to make my flight, but no. We had to all get off the train at T2/3 and wait 15 minutes for another train to get us to T5. Game over. Do not pass go. Do not change underpants as I was only down for the day. Do sleep in the nude.
Grrrrr.
Govt needs to shut down the HEX and instead allow more Lizzie line trains that stop at fewer stations.
At least you weren’t stuck on the Hex ride at Alton Towers, because that is very scary.
The problem with insurance here was I’d have been at the mercy of Amex Plat against an underlying award booking, which might have been an issue. But as noted, I made the flight by a whisker…
Alls well that ends well but if you did miss it in this case they would have just booked a replacement flight if you contacted them or paid for a replacement so the method of payment for the original flight wouldn’t have mattered?
Only an issue if you can’t fly and want to claim back the equivalent value of buying replacement miles?
Apologies, the point I was trying to make was whether there would be an issue that Amex had only seen a £300 transaction go through (TFC on the miles booking), but the cheapest replacement was £1.5k.
I feel for the couple who were headed back to NZ – they were on the same train and had to get over to T4. On the plus side and unlike me they did manage to contact the airline, but I saw their plane (MH) taxi out at the same time as mine and a cab from Hayes wouldn’t have been able to help I reckon…
Most people who “fall” in front of a train don’t pay particular attention to the branding or operator.
Power was shut down so emergency services could attend. Almost everything was cancelled out of Paddington (except Liz line services to Maidenhead) from 18:30 until 22:00(ISH).
A few years ago, similar thing happened to me. Was going to a friends wedding from Gatwick to Malta and got stuck on a train outside of Gatwick for 1h30. Got chucked out at Redhill, mad scramble to get cabs/ubers.
Didn’t make it to the airport in time and the (very helpful) BA staff offered the next available flight however it wouldn’t have made it in time for the wedding which was the next day.
Travel insurance paid out (I was pretty sceptical they would) but lost a friendship over it 🙁
We were lucky: After boarding at T5, our HEX was stopped at T2/T3. The HEX X (Twitter) people were quick to respond that it was going to be a long delay and that all Paddington trains were affected so we got off.
As we were going to Bristol, we tried Nat Express coach, but these were full, so we hiked back to T2 and got a RailAir to Reading (where the station was full of screeching and shouting yoof who seemed to be on something).
Nothing much was going anywhere according to the station staff and we were told to ‘go to the bridge and await announcements’. There were none, but we found a train to Swansea that was leaving in 15 minutes. This got us home only an hour or so later than planned.
The guard told us that the incident was due to someone climbing the iron structure over the power lines at Paddington, but I’ve not seen any reports since. GWR was predicting ‘disruption’ until 2am, so I imagine there were a lot of people stuck all over the place.
The guard told us that the incident was due to someone climbing the iron structure over the power lines at Paddington,
“On the roof of the station, above the cables” was the version we got. Thing is I could hear a lot of shouting going on at Paddington just as the doors closed and thought to myself “glad to have got away from that”. Whether the two were connected I’ll never know…
I also heard there was an issue at/towards Reading.
They really should ignore some disruptive lunatic and let him or her face the consequences of their actions. Appalling if this incident was allowed to continue for in excess of four hours.
“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few… or the one.”Govt needs to shut down the HEX and instead allow more Lizzie line trains that stop at fewer stations.
Well unless you feel it appropriate for the government to just abandon freely entered commercial contracts that’s not going to happen
The current open access contract runs until 2028 which is also when HALs contract with GWR (who actually provide the service) ends. It’s also when the concession to operate the service ends.
But aside from that the incident on Saturday affected GWR, Lizzie and Hex services so ownership / provider of the services would have made zero difference.
But actually given the apparent increasing demand there is a need for more slow trains than fast ones. Fast trains block train paths for longer so mean less overall services.
Lizzie also provides important local services that would cause other issues if they were ended.
And finally it should be remembered that Lizzie was never designed to serve LHR in the first place. It’s primary reasons for existence is improving east-west cross London accessibility and relieving the Central line. LHR is very much a late addition and going to T5 an even later one.
Landed in LHR today at 8:30am. Didn’t make it to Paddington until past 10am due to HEX delays.
The only positive is that I shifty got a refund to the ticket I bought online.
But I just wonder what image people have of the UK when landing at T5 there is only a train every 30min thst costs £25 and never runs in time. What about those switching terminals!
I just wonder what image people have of the UK when landing at T5 there is only a train every 30min thst costs £25 and never runs in time
Frankly, an accurate one 🙂
Travel insurance paid out (I was pretty sceptical they would) but lost a friendship over it 🙁
Probably for the better, if the friend was so petty that they got upset with you because of something you had no control over.
It would be better for all if HEX pathways were handed over to the Elizabeth line to run some fast services from Paddington to Heathrow alongside the existing stoppers. The fare revenue would thus end up with TFL and not HAL for whom HEX (and the railway tunnel) is another cashcow. Heathrow travellers could elect to target the non-stop trains, leaving the stoppers for commuters and Heathrow workers, whereas at the moment luggage and EL commuters have an unhappy marriage.
It would be better for all if HEX pathways were handed over to the Elizabeth line to run some fast services from Paddington to Heathrow alongside the existing stoppers. The fare revenue would thus end up with TFL and not HAL for whom HEX (and the railway tunnel) is another cashcow. Heathrow travellers could elect to target the non-stop trains, leaving the stoppers for commuters and Heathrow workers, whereas at the moment luggage and EL commuters have an unhappy marriage.
@Londonsteve – I’m not sure that the “cashcow” terminology is strictly correct when rail revenues go into the single till and thus reduce the passenger service charge. If you somehow removed the rail revenue, you would have a higher passenger service charge.One doesn’t necessarily follow the other. If HAL didn’t operate HEX their costs would also be reduced. Profits from the operation go into the central pot, but its presence doesn’t automatically serve to reduce PSC in the same way that if HEX didn’t exist, PSC wouldn’t necessarily be higher than it presently is. PSC levels should be determined idependently from HEX profits as it’s for the provision of airport services and not ground transportation.
HEX generates a profit and serves to increase dividends for HAL shareholders. Per se there’s nothing wrong with this of course, but HEX trains remove valuable pathways from all Paddington bound services, therefore it doesn’t just impact on Heathrow rail services but the entire western rail region.
I always plan to arrive at the airport 3 hours before a flight as that is what’s specified in my travel insurance, and I take a screenshot of the travel plans I intend to do. That way even if I end up on a slightly later journey I can evidence my plans and the insurance company will have a hard time arguing about the 3 hour rule stated in my policy.
Fortunately, I’ve only ever been in the cancelled train situation once. Jumped the check in queue and got checked in with 1 min to spare. It’s not fun at all, glad you made it!
I always plan to arrive at the airport 3 hours before a flight
That’s all well and good, but I had planned for 3hrs 10mins. First problem was a connecting train that was so busy I couldn’t get on, so I missed the target connection at Paddington, so 15 mins plus a 90 minute delay, plus a taxi from Hayes and suddenly there’s your contingency that was so generous many a check in counter won’t even be open when you get to the airport gone.
Not sure what the solution is? Plan to arrive 5 or 6 hrs before a flight? Perhaps Greta is onto something.
The only sensible answer is to avoid Heathrow at all costs. Even if it means connecting in Europe. I do.
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