2-879-152 - Historic England Archive/Heritage Images

Heathrow Airport, Heathrow, Hillingdon, London, 29/07/1998. Passengers boarding a train at platform 1 of the Heathrow Express rail link. The Heathrow Express rail link was a £350m investment by the British Airports Authority aiming to raise the proportion of passengers travelling to Heathrow Airport by public transport from 34% to 50%. Built between 1995 and 1998, by 2001 it was carrying 14,000 passengers a day taking an estimated 3,000 cars off the roads to improve traffic congestion. High speed trains leaving every 15min complete the journey from Paddington Station in 15min. Balfour Beatty bored the 11km tunnels and Tarmac laid the track whilst Laing in a joint venture with NG Bailey Design were responsible for the installation of all mechanical and electrical services in the tunnels and the construction of two underground stations, one serving the Central Terminal Area for Terminals 1-3, the other serving Terminal 4.