Happy Or Horrific At Heathrow Part 2B

More Magnificent Maps (Well, One More)

Heathrow Area Bus Diagram

It looks as if someone has found this map somewhere at the back of an electronic cupboard and included it to be helpful.

It isn't! It claims to be ..,.

... but there is no page 2! It offers a link ...

... which simply takes us back to where we began in yesterday's blog.

The idea of a diagram is that it is meant to make things easier for the enquirer.

Even to fbb, who likes to think he can understand bus maps, it degerates into a hyper muddle, especially between Terminals 2/3 and 5.

What's more (what's less?) it is out of date.

Note 4, X26 and X140 and the absence of 730/731.

The Heathrow Area Bus Map (yesterdays blog) does a much netter job. Now fbb has an H30 to add to his "mystery routes" A60 and N30. 

Curiouser and curiouser.

But  Home Counties Bus And Coach Map is good. It is a similar style to yesterday's slightly more local equivalent ...

... but extends further and includes all National Express coach routes.

Sadly it doesn't really sort out the 730/731 drivel.

Essentially this map includes everything that we saw yesterday plus a lot more. Do we really need both. fbb guesses that none of these maps is available at Heathrow in hard copy (who would ever want such a dated set of data? - Actually we almost everybody!) we can always enlarge the on-line PDF.

As you can gather, it also has lots of rail lines, few of which run to Heathrow, but folk might prefer a train with a change in central London to a tedious grind round the M25.

The key is basic ...

It even shows First's renumbered A4 correctly.

And look, there is an fbb mystery route, the A60 which appears to only run FROM Sunnymeads.

Which brings us to Heathrow Free Travel Map.

So, free travel now only applies to trains; and that dotted line?

H30 bus? The mystery again.

Aha? H30 runs every 20 minutes early in the morning. And as part of this map we get more detail about the H30.

And here is the timetable.

An here is the N30 ...

...  the above two operated by Diamond South East and the A60 by Carlone..

fbb thinks these are virtual trains. They fill gaps in the early morning train service pattern to help shift workers get to their labours.

And to confirm ...

Free bus travel within the curtilage of Heathrow was suspended as a result of Covid and is not being re-instated.

But the H30 (NOT a TfL route) ...

... is FREE.

It says so on the stop at Terminal 5.

When fbb is next at Heathrow between 0300 and 0500 (approx) he must go for a ride!

Tomorrow we need to check what information, apart from maps, is available for public transport users searching the Heathrow Airport web site.

Guess!

 Next Heathrow blog : Friday 8th Serptember