Heathrow Happenings

There are a number of new routes and service changes happening around Heathrow Airport over the next week or so, including a doubling of the RailAir frequency from Woking (RA2) and a brand new coach route serving several locations in our area (730/731). Some other changes occurring that are not really within our coverage area, but are to be run by operators of other local services, are also included here for completeness. Further changes later in August include new Carlone A60 and 442/X442 enhancement, new Diamond South East 459/556/710/N30 and revised 555, and frequency enhancements to First Beeline routes 4/7/8.

We have previously reported on an enhancement planned for White Bus 446 which would effectively see the current hourly weekday Woking to Chertsey ‘shorts’ extended north to Staines (therefore making the current route half-hourly end-to-end), and then onwards to Hatton Cross via Ashford Hospital and Heathrow Terminal 4 (offering a broadly hourly frequency over this section). Three daily ‘shorts’ between Chertsey and Hatton Cross would run early morning, with three returning late evening. The London Service Permit (LSP) application had a commencement date of Tuesday 29th August for these changes, however at the recent North West Surrey Bus Users Group (NWSBUG) meeting held in Woking, Simon Rowland from the operator said that the early morning/late evening journeys were not going to operate – at least initially – in part due to driver recruitment issues. No further update on the status of the remainder of the extension has, to my knowledge, yet been formally released at the time of writing, and there is no mention of it in the most recent Team Heathrow colleague guide dated 13th August. Diamond South East’s new 556 will see Chertsey and Heathrow Terminal 4 directly linked, with some early morning/late evening journeys starting from/continuing to Heathrow Central via Hatton Cross. With all references to the 446 seemingly disappearing, it could be that the 556 is some sort of replacement for that to link Chertsey with the airport.

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Saturday 19th August

**NEW** H21: Heathrow T4 – Bedfont – Feltham
Operated by: Diamond South East
New daily service running half-hourly between Heathrow Terminal 4 – Bedfont – Feltham. First arrival at Heathrow 0315 and last departure 0009/2354 (Mon-Sat/Sun).

**NEW** Go2Gate: Heathrow T5 to Clewer & Dedworth
Operated by: Thames Valley
New daily service between Heathrow Terminal 5 and Clewer, from where the service will operate on a flexible demand responsive basis around the Dedworth area, before returning back to Heathrow. For the first week of operation, services will operate free of charge. A fleet of four new EVM-bodied Mercedes-Benz Sprinter minibuses will operate the service, numbered 141-144 and registered YA23 ULU, YB23 LRN, YB23 LSJ and YJ23 CLA respectively.

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Sunday 20th August

RA2: Guildford – Woking – Heathrow
Operated by: First Beeline
This ‘RailAir’ coach service currently offers a broadly hourly service with stops at Guildford railway station and The Chase, Mayford, Woking railway station, McLaren Technology Centre, Terminal 5, Compass Centre, Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. Daily departures from Guildford are 0310-2200 and Heathrow T3 at 0430-2315. From this date the current loop of T2 then T3 (which only came into being from 23rd July, having replaced Heathrow Central Bus Station as a stop) will become out-and-back T2-T3-T2. Operating hours will also be extended to 0230-0000 (last journey terminating T5) from Guildford and 0358-0028 from Terminal 3 and, until around 9pm, there will be hourly ‘shorts’ between Woking and Heathrow doubling the frequency to half-hourly over this section.

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Monday 21st August

**NEW** 730: Heathrow T5 – Bagshot – Camberley – Frimley
**NEW** 731: Frimley – Old Basing – Basingstoke
Operated by: Newbury & District
New daily service operating broadly hourly (with some longer gaps) between Heathrow Terminal 5 and Frimley via Camberley and Bagshot as route 730, with the first morning journey in each direction extending to/from Heathrow Central Bus Station. 18 journeys in each direction Monday to Saturday, and 15 on Sunday. Of these, 13 Mon-Sat and 11 Sun journeys continue west of Frimley to/from Basingstoke Railway Station, presumably via the M3 J4 to J5 then the A30 as they make an intermediate stop at Old Basing (The Hatch pub). Departures from Heathrow are 0420-0020, and in the other direction from Basingstoke 0245-2110 and Frimley 0315-2330. For the first fortnight (to 3rd Sept) single tickets will cost just £1, however beyond this date fares will be two prices depending where your board – Bagshot/Camberley/Frimley the first price or Old Basing/Basingstoke the second price. £16/20 single, £20/£25 return valid for one month, £50 group return for up to four people, £76/£95 weekly/daysaver5, and £228/£285 monthly. Fares for ‘Team Heathrow’ staff members will be £40/£50 weekly or £114/£142 monthly. Local fares will also be available, such as Camberley to Basingstoke. Initially the service will launch using ADL Enviro 400MMC double decker buses 760-762 (YY15 OYB/C/D), with the four new Plaxton Panther-bodied Volvo B8R coaches expected in late September for an October entry to service. My rough calculations suggest a peak vehicle requirement of three vehicles, with each vehicle having two drivers over the course of the operating day, swapping between early and late shift driver at Basingstoke. The intermediate Basingstoke turnarounds generally appear long enough and spaced to suitably accommodate driver rest breaks. This is all just my assumption though and so may not be how it is actually operated in reality.

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Saturday 26th August

**NEW** 459: Iver Heath to Heathrow T5
Operated by: Diamond South East
New daily early morning service running Iver Heath – Iver – West Drayton – Central Bus Station – Terminal 5 in that direction only. Buses depart Iver Heath at 0315/0415/0515, arriving at Heathrow Terminal 5 at 0350/0450/0550.

555: Whiteley Village to Heathrow Central
**NEW** 556: Chertsey to Heathrow Terminal 4
Operated by: Diamond South East
Existing 555 service to remain broadly hourly end-to-end across the day, with the current 555 ‘shorts’ between Heathrow Terminal 4 and Ashford extended southwards to Chertsey and carrying the number 556. These will shadow the 555 Heathrow T4 – Ashford – Sunbury Cross (omitting Sunbury Tesco), before running direct to Shepperton as opposed to the 555’s longer route via Sunbury. After briefly meeting in Shepperton, the 556 will diverge away from the 555 again to Chertsey town centre and railway station (Eastworth Road stops). The 556 will essentially follow the route of the Sunbury to Addlestone route 557, over the Sunbury Cross – Shepperton – (Renfree Way rather than Old Shepperton) – Chertsey section, a route that is being lost by Diamond to Falcon from the same date following Surrey County Council retendering. The 556s are generally hourly as per the current 555 shorts, with a similar daytime gap to as now (i.e. no 1205/1305/1405/1505 from Chertsey or 1100/1200/1300/1400 from Heathrow T4). The first pair of early morning/late evening route 556 journeys will start from/continue to Heathrow Central Bus Station respectively (0400/0500 Heathrow Central to Chertsey and 2120/2220 Chertsey to Heathrow Central, all with an exactly one hour journey time).

**NEW** 710: Chesham – Amersham – Heathrow
Operated by: Diamond South East
New daily early morning service linking the areas around various north western Metropolitan Line stations with Heathrow Airport. Times are Chesham (0250/0450) – Amersham (0257/047) – Chalfont & Latimer (0307/0507) – Chorleywood (0313/0513) – Heathrow Terminal 5 (0338/0538) – Compass Centre (0343/0543) – Heathrow Central Bus Station (0350/0550) in that direction only.

**NEW** H30: Heathrow T4 – Cargo Area – Heathrow T5
Operated by: BM Coaches
New daily service operating every 20 minutes between Heathrow Terminal 4 and Heathrow Terminal 5 via the Cargo Area. First/last departures from T4 are 0503/2343, and from T5 are 0520/2325.

**NEW** N30: Heathrow Central – T5 – T4 – Acton
Operated by: Diamond South East
New Mon-Sat service running hourly overnight Central Bus Station – Terminal 5 – Cargo Area – Terminal 4 in both directions, with weekdays seeing journeys continue beyond T4 to/from Hatton Cross, Osterley, South Ealing and Acton. Weekday departures from Heathrow 0125-0425, and from Acton 0119-0419 plus a 0047 Terminal 4 to Central short journey. Saturday departures are 0125-0425 from Heathrow Central and 0047-0447 from Heathrow Terminal 4.

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Sunday 27th August

4: Heathrow Central – Slough – Cippenham
Operated by: First Beeline
Renumbered A4, weekday daytime service increased from half-hourly to every 15 minutes, and overnight services now serve Cippenham rather than just Slough to Heathrow.

7: Heathrow T5 – Slough – Britwell
Operated by: First Beeline
New 0330 Britwell to Slough (0343) journey, connecting with the 0402 Slough to Heathrow Central route A4 journey.

8: Heathrow T5 – Staines – Slough
Operated by: First Beeline
Saturday service sees the 1745 Slough to Egham retimed to depart at 1800 and extended to Heathrow Terminal 5, resulting in a new later 1927 Heathrow T5 to Slough journey. The Saturday timetable will also now apply on Sundays and Public Holidays, essentially doubling the Sunday/PH frequency from hourly to half-hourly.

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Monday 28th August

**NEW** A60: Sunnymeads – Wraysbury – Heathrow
Operated by: Carlone Limited
New early morning service offering three journeys at 0324/0424/0514 running Sunnymeads – Wraysbury – (non-stop) – Heathrow T5 – Compass Centre – Heathrow Central (arriving 0352/0452/0542).

442: Staines – Ashford – Stanwell – Heathrow T5
X442: Staines – Heathrow T5
Operated by: Carlone Limited
The 442 has a revised timetable including additional trips throughout the day and more evening journeys continuing beyond Staines to Egham and Englefield Green. The X442 variant is heavily increased from just a daily single trip in each direction to a generally half-hourly service all week, from early morning to the evening. Route will operate Staines Bus Station – Laleham Road – Worple Road – Staines Railway Station – Stanwell Moor Road – Heathrow Terminal 5.

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