Fares
Fares between Paddington and Hayes & Harlington are the same as for First Great Western services, but the single fare between Hayes and Heathrow is £5.20. Oyster cards, Travelcards and Freedom Passes are not valid between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow, but can be used throughout the rest of the route. When the service was first introduced in 2005, the fare for the 3-mile (4.8 km) journey from Hayes to Heathrow was £6, which at £2 per mile made it one of the most expensive train journeys in the world.
The service was designed principally for the use of BAA staff and West London residents for travel to Heathrow. With a staff ID card, discounted fares are available for the journey between Hayes and Heathrow.
Originally it was not intended to be used as a cheaper (but slower) alternative to the Heathrow Express service from Paddington to Heathrow: every Connect service is overtaken by an Express service en route, and at Paddington trains were originally advertised on departure boards as running to Hayes & Harlington only.
Now however, Heathrow Connect is marketed as a much cheaper way to reach Paddington from Heathrow and vice versa, with a single fare of £9.10 (just over half the Heathrow Express fare) and a journey time of 25 minutes against the Express time of 15 minutes.
Standard class travel between Terminal 4 and Terminals 1, 2 and 3 is free.
Read more about this topic: Heathrow Connect
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