GWR to take over running of Heathrow Express trains
HEATHROW Express trains will be operated by Great Western Railway from August, under a management contract.
The open access operation is currently operated in-house by Heathrow Airport Ltd. The latter will retain the commercial aspects such as marketing, ticket pricing and revenue, as well as management of the Heathrow stations, while GWR will operate services using 12 refurbished Class 387/1 electric multiple units displaced from GWR.
A new deal for access will last for at least a decade, running until 2028. FirstGroup owns the GWR franchise, and currently has a deal to run it until April 2022 with an expected extension until 2024. Should it no longer operate that franchise after that date, it is expected that HEx would transfer to the new operator.
The new deal also means that HEx no longer needs to build a depot at Langley, to replace the current Old Oak Common depot that must be empty by the end of next year as part of the construction of HS2. Maintenance of the HEx fleet will move to GWR’s Reading depot.
As part of the agreement, new ticket readers will be installed at both Heathrow and London Paddington, allowing users of both HEx and the Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) to use Oystercards.
HEx and First already operate the Heathrow Connect ‘stopper’ service as a joint venture, but this will transfer to TfL Rail from May.
FirstGroup spokesman Rob Kirby said the introduction of these services will “in turn, displace some of the GWR Class 387s, which means that we are able to use them on Heathrow Express services following reconfiguration to the airport-style layout”.
A spokesman for Heathrow Airport confirmed that the 14 Class 332s (built in 1997-98 with additional trailers delivered in 2002) will be “sold off” once the ‘387s’ are in traffic. The ‘332s’ were built by CAF and Siemens. There are five nine-car sets and nine four-car sets.
Once the Elizabeth Line is up and running, the number of trains running between London and Heathrow Airport will rise from 18 trains per hour to 22tph from December 2019, including the introduction of Elizabeth Line trains.
Rail Minister Jo Johnson said: “Improving the provision and frequency of rail services to Heathrow is crucial to our plans.”
Heathrow Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye said: “This agreement secures convenient and reliable public transport journeys to Heathrow in this decade and beyond.”
FirstGroup Chief Executive Tim O’Toole said: “Today’s agreement demonstrates the transport industry working in partnership for the benefit of passengers, allowing fast and convenient connections to continue on this crucial airport link.”
GWR introduced 45 Class 387s between September 2016 and January this year. Some will be made redundant by the introduction of TfL Rail services on the Great Western Main Line, and the transfer of some GWR stopping services to TfL.
It’s also been confirmed that Heathrow, Department for Transport, Transport for London and Network Rail are conducting a joint feasibility study into increasing the frequency of Elizabeth Line trains to 8tph by the mid-2020s. DfT is also monitoring the development of the proposed new western and southern rail links to Heathrow.