London Heathrow Transportation Changes - bad news
 

For reasons that seem well-designed to make it difficult to go into
London from Heathrow by bus, National Express has abandoned the very
convenient A2 Airbus service. It ran from each Heathrow terminal
direct to Central London via Bayswater Road, to Marble Arch and on to
Russell Square (the major concentration of tourist hotels is along this
route). Taxis were easy to flag down from any of the many scheduled
stops.

Now, the only way to get into London by bus from Heathrow is to go to
the Central Bus Station which serves Terminals 1, 2, and 3 from the
center of the airport. This involves a fairly long underground walk
and, in some cases, going down ramps that are not well-designed for
luggage trolleys (too steep, so you use the brake and there is some
risk of the luggage tumbling off the front of the trolley). There, you
take the lift (elevator) to the street level, queue for tickets
(formerly purchased aboard the A2) and wait up to 30 minutes outside
for the next bus, regardless of the weather - last week there was a
very cold wind with snow flurries (the A2 usually stopped in a covered
area, much nicer).

In London, the bus arrives at the Victoria Coach Station (quite a
distance from the Victoria Rail and Underground Station). There are no
luggage trolleys there, although there may be independent porters
available to take you to the taxi rank, which is outside the building.

The only other ways to get into London from Heathrow (other than a
fabulously expensive taxi ride) are the Underground (not useable if you
have several suitcases and no one to help with them) or the more
expensive Heathrow Express train to Paddington. Both of these leave
from the center of the airport, so there is the same rather long walk
from your terminal.

I do not know what services are available from Heathrow Terminal 4
(someone else may be able to advise). But I do know that there is no
Underground service until September 2005, because of construction of
the new Terminal 5. To get to the Underground, there is bus service
from Terminal 4 to Hattons Cross Underground station.

Larry in Kathmandu