Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 railway station

Not to be confused with Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 tube station.

Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3
Heathrow Central
Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 railway station platform as seen in June 2022
Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 Location of Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 in Greater London
Location	Heathrow Airport
Local authority	London Borough of Hillingdon
Managed by	Heathrow Express
Owner	Heathrow Airport Holdings
Station code(s)	HXX
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	6 (Elizabeth line only)
National Rail annual entry and exit
2019–20	3.990 million
2020–21	0.142 million
2021–22	1.268 million
2022–23	4.393 million
2023–24	6.884 million
Railway companies
Original company	Heathrow Airport Holdings
Key dates
23 June 1998	Opened
Other information
External links	Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51.471°N 0.454°W / 51.471; -0.454
London transport portal

Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 railway station (also known as Heathrow Central) serves Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 (and formerly Terminal 1 before its closure in 2015) at London Heathrow Airport.

It is served by Heathrow Express trains direct to central London and Elizabeth line trains that stop at local stations. It is 14 miles 50 chains (23.5 km) down-line from London Paddington.

Travelcards from Transport for London are not valid on Express services from the station, although they are valid on the Elizabeth line. Passengers transferring between any of the terminals at Heathrow may use the trains free of charge.

Services

Heathrow area rail services
mi-ch from Paddington Elizabeth line via Whitechapel 0-00 Paddington Heathrow Express Elizabeth line Old Oak Common under construction 4-21 Acton Main Line 5-56 Ealing Broadway 6-46 West Ealing 7-28 Hanwell 9-06 Southall 10-71 Hayes & Harlington Piccadilly line to Cockfosters 11-10 Airport Junction Great Western Main Line to Reading Hatton Cross Heathrow Junction closed 1998 Heathrow Airport: Terminal 4 16-30 Terminal 4 Terminals 2 & 3 14-40 Terminals 2 & 3 16-20 Terminal 5

The station was opened on 23 June 1998 upon the completion of the Heathrow Express Rail Link linking Heathrow Airport with direct non-stop services to Central London. In contrast to the station at Terminal 5, the platforms at Heathrow Central do not lie adjacent to the London Underground Piccadilly line platforms at Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 station. Instead they lie perpendicular, and at a far deeper level. This is because the railway line from Paddington was tunnelled into Heathrow from the north, whereas the Piccadilly line approaches from the east. Access to the station is reached via an underground pedestrian walkway which links Terminal 3 to the Central Bus Station and the Piccadilly line's Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 station.

Trains towards Paddington use the Great Western Main Line, joining it at Airport Junction, just west of Hayes and Harlington. Elizabeth line trains continue beyond Paddington through new tunnels, stopping at stations in the West End and the City of London and on to either Abbey Wood in southeast London via Canary Wharf or, since May 2023, Shenfield on the Great Eastern Main Line.

As of the December 2023 timetable, the typical Monday to Friday off-peak service is:

• 4 tph (trains per hour) westbound to Heathrow Terminal 4 (Elizabeth line)
• 6 tph westbound to Heathrow Terminal 5 (2 tph Elizabeth line, 4 tph Heathrow Express)
• 4 tph eastbound to London Paddington (Heathrow Express)
• 4 tph eastbound to Abbey Wood (Elizabeth line, from Terminal 4)
• 2 tph eastbound to Shenfield (Elizabeth line, from Terminal 5)

Service table

Preceding station	Heathrow Express			Following station
Heathrow Terminal 5 Terminus		Heathrow Express		London Paddington Terminus
Preceding station	Elizabeth line			Following station
Heathrow Terminal 4 Terminus		Elizabeth line		Hayes & Harlington towards Abbey Wood
Heathrow Terminal 5 Terminus				Hayes & Harlington towards Shenfield

Connections

Heathrow Airport tube and rail stations

Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 railway station is close to London Underground Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 tube station where Piccadilly line trains run to Terminals 4 and 5 and to central London.

There are underground walkways connecting to Heathrow Central bus station, which has local and long-distance bus and coach services.

See also

• Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 tube station
• Heathrow Terminal 4 tube station
• Heathrow Terminal 5 tube station

External links

• Train times and station information for Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 railway station from National Rail
• Transport for London (March 2008). "Central London to Heathrow" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 September 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2008. – transport map for Heathrow showing Underground, Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect rail, and the N9 night bus