How To Get To London’s busiest Airports By Rail

The UK is well connected to it’s airports and isn’t always too hard to get to.

Being the country’s capital city, London functions as an aerial gateway for the United Kingdom, London’s busiest Airports would be London Heathrow and London Gatwick, serving millions of passengers and stand-out routes.

London Heathrow

A Terminal 5 waiting area. Image: Phebe Williams

It will come as little surprise to anyone who knows about UK aviation that London Heathrow is by far the busiest airport in the country, it even had a popular tv show showing the life of Heathrow.

London Heathrow Airport (LHR) has two mainline rail operators offering direct journeys into central London. The Heathrow Express links Terminals 2 and 3 with London Paddington in as little as 15 minutes, with no stops in between. However, it does command rather high anytime single fares of £25 for the journey.

Meanwhile, the Elizabeth Line offers a slower but cheaper means of getting to and from central London. Stopping several times along the route, it takes 30 minutes to reach Paddington, but it costs just £12.50 when paying via Oyster or contactless.

An even more affordable option is via the London Underground. Traveling from Zone 1 to Heathrow on the Tube costs a fair amount less. However, with all the stops, it can take around an hour as well as a potential hassle of a packed carriage with heavy luggage.

Depending on where you live, you can jump on a bus direct to Terminal 2 and 3 bus station and change to another terminal, if you require.

London Gatwick

Gatwick Airport train station. Image: holakarlos/ Unsplash

London Gatwick Airport (LGW) has a dedicated on-site mainline railway station that sees direct services from London Victoria as well as south via Southern. Operated by Gatwick Express (non-stop) and Southern (via Clapham Junction and East Croydon), these take 31 and 33 minutes from Victoria. Prices can vary depending on location of starting journey and whether you own a rail card or not, they can be as low as £9.10 for a single journey or the Oyster price for a trip from East Croydon to Gatwick is just £6.