There
are direct flights operated by British Airways and/or BMI to Manchester,
Newcastle, Leeds/Bradford and Teeside from Heathrow.
Otherwise transfers are commonly performed by coach or rail. Heathrow
has a major coach station with direct services to many parts of the
United Kingdom.
The only rail link goes into Central London at Paddington Station.
To avoid a tedious rail transfer in Central London where you have
to cross the city to make your connection there are several 'rail
air coaches' which take passengers to a major rail station on the
edge of London. |
| Links
To Regional Page With Detailed Transfer Info |
| UK
Region - Link Page |
Example
Cities & Towns |
| South-East
England |
Dover,
Brighton, Folkstone, Maidstone, Rochester, Gillingham, Brighton, Ashford,
Tonbridge. |
| South
of England |
Portsmouth,
Southampton, Bournemouth, Poole, Weymouth, Dorchester, Salisbury,
Winchester, Yeovil |
South-West,
West
& South Wales |
Bristol,
Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Exeter, Plymouth, Bath, Gloucester, Cheltenham,
Falmouth, Penzance. |
| Midlands |
Birmingham,
Oxford, Banbury, Coventry, Leicester, Wolverhampton, Nottingham, Derby,
Northampton. |
| Northern
England |
Manchester,
Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Carlisle, York, Hull, Middlesborough,
Newcastle |
 |
Terminal
4 Passengers
Terminal 4 passengers should check whether their coach picks up
from Terminal 4. The coach station is situated between Terminals 1,2,3.
but many coaches will be originating from Gatwick Airport and picking
up from Terminal 4 on their way to the coach station.
The Rail Air coach to Reading does not pick up from Terminal 4, the
Virgin bus does. |
Cost
& Frequency
Apart from internal flights available to the main cities in the
north of England, the broad choice for the traveller is between cheaper,
less frequent coaches, more prone to delays through traffic or the
usually much more expensive train option. Train is often more expensive
than air.
The overseas visitor is usually at a disadvantage as many of the cheaper
rail fares have to be booked well in advance, unlike the coach there
are no e-tickets. |
| Rail
Heathrow |
Railways
are privatised in the United Kingdom. You may use several companies
travelling from Heathrow, but all are integrated for ticketing purposes.
Prices are very complex, normally the best fares are advance purchase,
if you pay on the day it can be very expensive.
Use the 'trainline' link right - for timetables and available fares. |
 |
For
overseas visitors the big problem with train tickets is that there
are no true etickets at the moment, so you miss the reasonable advance
purchase fares. Tickets ordered online can only be sent to UK postal
addresses.
There is an option where you can order online and pickup the tickets
on arrival at a special ticket machine. The big problem here is that
there is no such machine at Heathrow, the nearest machine being in
Central London. |
|
