Flixing over to London and the joy of the Elizabeth Line
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It’s 6 am at the flat. That means – on what is intended to be a bank holiday weekend – I’m getting ready to leave the flat instead of sleeping in.
I really could have done sleeping in.
For the first leg of this journey, I’m going to do something a little different – I’m going to walk to the coach stop for the Flixbus to London. For me, it’s around a 20-minute walk from the front door of the flat, to the Flixbus stop – because even I am not that lazy to catch an Uber to go up a road (unless I have my Chicago travel kit).
And if you missed it from last year, the bus where Flixbus departs from is a bus stop. No fancy terminal, just… a bus stand.
Especially in the wet, it’s less than ideal if you’re hanging around. It is slightly outside the city centre – but the stop is located just off one of the main entryways in and out of the city – the A38.
Still, an early morning walk is fun enough. Enough to motivate my body to get moving, and keep things pumping and not having to rely on an Uber to get me to the other side of the city is no bad thing.
Arriving at the bus stop, the familiar green Flixbus coach was waiting for me. I wasted no time and checked in with the driver. With the ticket valid for travel, I dumped my suitcase in the luggage locker and headed aboard
FlixBus 020 Birmingham Great Charles Street to Finsbury Park Station
£4.99 Single (Fare, £2, Seat £0.99, Extra Seat £1, Booking fee £1)
For this trip, I’ve chosen to pay for a little luxury, given that it’s a 2-hour and 30-minute run to London. Unlike National Express, where only the first few rows of seats are available for reservation, FlixBus will assign you a seat on the coach when you book a ticket.
And sometimes, it can be a less-than-desirable experience, depending on how busy the coach is. Given that seat assignments are 99p a throw, I thought I would spend extra. I’ve chosen the seats near the stairs to the small room. And given the seat next to me was £1 extra… I’ll luxuriate without others sitting next to me.
All in for £4.99? I’m not objecting.
Inside the FlixBus, it’s a modern interior, with fabric seat covers being the order of the day, compared to the leather covers of National Express
Before I boarded the coach, I ensured that I could retrieve my bags at Finchley Road instead of Victoria. I blame onward travel choices for this.
I kept an open mind on how to get to Heathrow during the daytime – mainly, it’s down to what train lines are open – or not. There are three main ways to Heathrow from London – take the Piccadilly Line (which I prefer, believe it or not – if I’m not in a rush and it’s a little bit cheaper), The Elizabeth Line (running through London) and of course, the Heathrow Express.
I’ve long since given up on the Heathrow Express unless a desperate dash across London is required. The Elizabeth Line is perfectly acceptable for the cost versus time difference.
And as I said about the Piccadilly Line, if time isn’t an issue, I’ll take it.
Sadly, one choice was removed from my list, mainly as Piccadilly Line was closed between Kings Cross St Pancras and Acton Town – that’s a large lump of the line between London and Heathrow.
That means, there is minimal time difference between getting off the coach at Finchely Road or Victoria. Running the numbers through the TfL Route planner, the easiest way would be to get off at Finchley Road, take the Jubilee Line to Bond Street, and then take a train straight to Heathrow Terminal 5.
That’s simple enough.
The bus was busy – so having two seats to myself was a benefit. It also provided some space from the general chitter chatter that was going on. Thankfully a pair of earbuds isolates most of the noise.
As for comfort, the seats installed were fabric-covered. More than comfortable for the short journey ahead (Considering Flixbus operates services to Europe. No, I won’t do that unless it is the last possible option… doing Eurolines once to Brussels at night was painful).
There was on-bus Wi-Fi too – and it was active. The speeds weren’t brilliant (throttled to 5Mbps down per device).
With an early morning run like this direct to London, it’s as simple for the coach as heading onto the M6, then down onto the M1 to the Brent Cross Roundabout, before taking the North Circular Road and peeling onto the Finchley Road.
A motorway, The West Coast Main Line and the Grand Union Canal (South of the Watford Gap)
The end of the M1
North London.
Whilst the coach would continue to Victoria, I jumped out at Finchley Road Coach Stop to save a few minutes that otherwise would be spent going through Central London, walking back to Victoria, and trying to intercede with the Elizabeth Line somewhere along the route.
Collecting a bag…
The Finchley Road at 8 am in the morning on a Sunday. Still busy.
Grabbing my suitcase, I headed to the underpass and under Finchley Road to the Underground station.
TfL Underground to Bond Street, Elizabeth Line to Heathrow Terminal 5
Cost: £13.10
I headed through the barriers to see a tube train arrive – that was packed. With another train one minute behind, I took the easy option – and waited for the next train that was near enough empty.
In the medium term, I hoped my “one minute for comfort” didn’t backfire on me.
Getting off at Bond Street, it was time to navigate the station and find the Elizabeth Line platforms. It’s amazing as you walk through the station, it changes from the classic Bond Street to the “new” station.
Going to the platforms, it is once again the cavernous stations that the Elizabeth Line is famous for.
What was more impressive, was that my timing was good for once- and that a train to Heathrow Terminal 5 was a few minutes away – the next one to Heathrow being nearly 30 minutes away (because with a 30-minute wait, I would heading to the surface to grab a coffee, then head back down).
Boarding the train, it was clear that the majority of people were heading to the airport – given the amount of people with suitcases occupying the carriages. That’s brilliant – it shows that the Elizabeth Line is taking its place in the transportation solution that is London Travel. It means however the Class 345s that are built for this line may not be the right solution for airport travel.
However, if you add luggage storage space, you remove precious standing space – and at peak, these are ultimately people movers – not luggage movers.
With the train running out of seats. I found the first seat I could and parked up.
With 40 minutes on the clock between Bond Street and Heathrow T5, the train was running more than a little fast, with a number of stops skipped, thus the train was held on a few occasions for timing purposes.
Still, the train made good time, making it into the Heathrow tunnels and to Central Station, where the train emptied out of most of its passengers. It then continued to the short run to Terminal 5.
With the train there, I grabbed my suitcase and wheeled my way to the barrier.
For £13.10 or so, it’s still as good value as always – not as great as the Tube, but better than the Heathrow Express.
Exiting the barrier and the station, I headed to departures. There is one good thing for premium passengers, with Zone A and B now having Club check-in.
It was at this point I decided to check my seat assignment for my flight. Maybe I haven’t learned, but I always lived by the line of “set and forget. So, it was time for me to pay the price with the set-shifting monsters needing a good feed.
What was a lovely window seat 3F had suffered an equipment swap from an A320 to an A321neo, and in the process assigning me 10D in the back of Club Europe.
Sigh, I cannot win at this game.
At least it was for a short-haul flight. If it was a longer flight, I would have been much more annoyed. Ask me how I felt when it hit last time.
With my bag checked in, I headed over to security. Fast Track security was genuinely fast with the process done and dusted in under 5 minutes.
Even without the fancy 3D scanners.
With the formalities complete and nothing to get in Duty-Free, I felt the urge for breakfast.
Lets lounge. And double-lounge even.
Next:
North or South Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5? It doesn’t matter if they’re both full…
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