The Anonymous Widower

Travelling Between Heathrow Airport And Staines Station

Staines Station and Heathrow Airport are not far apart, as this OpenRailwayMap shows.

Note.

1. The mauve lines in the bottom half of the map are South West Trains services out of Waterloo.
2. Waterloo via Feltham, Twickenham and Richmond to name but three stations , is to the East.
3. Reading is to the South-West
4. Windsor is to the North-West.
5. The blue arrow indicates Staines station.
6. Heathrow Terminal 5 is in the North-East corner of the map.
7. The pink tracks are the Piccadilly Lines
8. The red tracks are for the Elizabeth Line and Heathrow Express.
9. This OpenRailwayMap shows Terminal 5 to a larger scale.

 

Note.

1. The pink tracks are the Piccadilly Line.
2. The red tracks are for the Elizabeth Line and Heathrow Express.
3. In front of the red tracks is what looks like a circular walkway or emergency exit, with a rectangular block to its West.
4. The rectangular block is the lift tower to get from the railway station to the Departures and Arrivals floors of Terminal 5.

I asked Google AI if it would it be possible in the future to extend the Elizabeth Line to the West out of the Western end of Terminal 5 and received this reply.

Extending the Elizabeth line west from Terminal 5 is technically possible and has been proposed, notably as part of a potential westward rail link to Staines or to support airport expansion, but it is not currently funded. Terminal 5 was designed with future expansion in mind, potentially allowing a connection to Staines to create a “southern rail link” for better connections.

Perhaps there are two tunnels under the lift shafts?

How many trains per hour (tph) terminate in those two platforms?

• 4 tph – Heathrow Express
• 2 tph – Elizabeth Line to Shenfield.

Note.

1. Only six trains in two platforms is easily managed.
2. Because, Heathrow Express services appear to use both platforms, when I visited yesterday, the system seems to confuse passengers.
3. The services surely need to be evened up, so that there are four tph  of each service, with each service having a dedicated platform.
4. But terminating eight trains in two platforms could be troublesome.
5. Platforms are numbered 1 to 6 from the South.
6. Platforms 1 and 2 have not been built yet.

Although four tph for  Heathrow Express in one platform, should be easy with digital signalling, as you see it every day in London, it may be difficult on two platforms, at the same time.

In Is More Capacity Between Heathrow Airport And Central London, Needed On The Elizabeth Line?, I said this.

Currently, the Elizabeth line provides up to 12 trains per hour (including Elizabeth line and Heathrow Express) on the relief lines, making it nearly at capacity.

Note.

1. When I use the Elizabeth Line, I deliberately avoid trains going to and from Heathrow, unless I’m going that way, as they are too crowded with passengers and their oversized cases.
2. High Speed Two, the West London Orbital Railway and the North London Line will bring passengers for Heathrow Airport to Old Oak Common station.
3. Surely, as Heathrow Airport gets bigger and increases its passenger numbers. the Elizabeth Line will need to be increased in capacity.

I believe Elizabeth Line capacity needs to be increased soon.

The only feasible plan I’ve seen is Heathrow Southern Railways plan, which included.

1. Construction of a bay platform 0 at Staines alongside the Staines to Windsor line.
2. A step-free bridge across the tracks.
3. Construction of a single-track railway with 25 KVAC overhead electrification and a passing looop, between the new platform 0 at Staines and Platform 3 at Heathrow Terminal 5 station.
4. Run four trains per hour in both directions between  Heathrow Terminal 5 and Staines stations.
5. This plan would would add two trains per hour through the Central Tunnel.

Various Journeys Would Be As Follows

This OpenRailwayMap shows Staines junction and the positions of the three platforms.

Note.

1. The Windsor Line goes North-West.
2. The Reading Line goes West.
3. The Waterloo Line Goes East.
4. Platform 1 is on the North side of the tracks.
5. Platform 2 is on the South side of the tracks.
6. The bay platform, which I’ve numbered 0, will be on the North side of the tracks towards Windsor.
7. I suspect the step-free bridge will be over the tracks and replace the current rickety structure.
8. The bridge would be a short walk from all three platforms.

Interchanges would be as follows.

• Windsor to Heathrow – Walk between Platforms 1 and 0.
• Reading to Heathrow – Walk between Platforms 1 and 0.
• Heathrow to Windsor – Cross the bridge between Platforms 0 and 2.
• Heathrow to Reading – Cross the bridge between Platforms 0 and 2.
• Waterloo to Heathrow – Cross the bridge between Platforms 2 and 0.
• Heathrow to Waterloo – Walk between Platforms 0 and 1.

Note.

1. All trains to or from Heathrow use Platform 0.
2. All trains to Waterloo use Platform 1.
3. All trains going away from Waterloo use Platform 2.
4. Reading and Heathrow gain a step-free route at 2 tph.
5. All interchanges at Staines station would be step-free.
6. A train like London Crosslink, which used to go between Feltham and Woking, would use Platform 1 going towards Feltham and Platform 2 going towards Woking.

Staines station would gain step-free access to all Heathrow terminals,  all Elizabeth Line and High Speed Two stations.

Could Anglia Railways’ London Crosslink Be Recreated As Part Of The London Overground?

I like the idea of the London Crosslink service, that ran for a few years between East Anglia and Hampshire via the North London Line and Staines.

My arguments for its restoration are described in Could Anglia Railways’ London Crosslink Be Recreated As Part Of The London Overground?

At various times in my life, it would have been very useful.

Today, as I live about fifteen minutes from Highbury and Islington station, I could use London Crosslink for the following reasons.

• Visiting friends and family in Hampshire.
• Going to Heathrow Airport, especially Terminal 5.
• Visiting friends in East Anglia.
• Going to football at Ipswich.
• Exploring new parts of England.
• I would wait at home and time my departure to catch a booked train at a fully step-free station.

Conclusions

Extending the Elizabeth Line to Staines gives these advantages.

• Staff at Heathrow, who live in the Staines area get easy access to the airport.
• Buses and coaches between Heathrow and the local area may be reviewed.
• Less cars will be used to get to and from the airport.
• Reading and Heathrow gain a step-free route at 2 tph.
• A lot of stations would gain a step-free route to all terminals at Heathrow, and all Elizabeth Line and High Speed Two stations.

There may well be other advantages.

 

March 13, 2026 - Posted by AnonW | Artificial Intelligence, Transport/Travel | Elizabeth Line, Google AI, Heathrow Airport, heathrow Terminal 5 Station, Highbury And Islington Station, London Crosslink, Old Oak Common Station, Reading Station, Shenfield Station, South Western Railway, Staines Station, Step-Free