Same airport, two very different rides
Since the Elizabeth line opened in 2022, a traveller at Paddington has had a real choice for the airport run. The Heathrow Express leaves from the main station under Brunel's great iron roof and runs nonstop. The Elizabeth line leaves from new platforms deep beneath the station and calls at suburban stops on the way. Both end up at the same terminals, most of the time, yet they feel like different journeys entirely.
Neither is the right answer for everyone. The decision comes down to three questions: how much the minutes matter tonight, how much the fare matters, and how much luggage and fatigue you are carrying. Take them in that order.
Speed: fifteen minutes against roughly double
The Express covers Paddington to Heathrow Central, for Terminals 2 and 3, in around fifteen minutes, with Terminal 5 a few minutes further on. Trains depart every quarter of an hour, so the worst case on the platform is a short wait.
The Elizabeth line takes roughly twice as long, because it stops at stations such as Ealing Broadway, Southall and Hayes and Harlington before turning into the airport tunnel. For a guest counting down to a dinner reservation, that gap is the difference between a relaxed shower and a rushed one. For a guest with an open evening, it hardly registers.
The clock also keeps running at the Paddington end. Express passengers step off at concourse level and can be crossing Praed Street within a few minutes. Elizabeth line passengers arrive far below ground, and the long escalators up to Eastbourne Terrace or the main concourse add a few minutes of their own, more with a heavy case and a crowd ahead of it.
Price: a premium ticket against an ordinary fare
The Express is a premium service and charges like one. Its tickets are usually cheapest bought ahead online and dearest when left to the day, and a return bought in advance brings the cost down further. Business travellers whose company pays rarely think twice about it.
The Elizabeth line is priced as part of the ordinary Transport for London network, and the same airport journey costs a fraction of the Express fare. For two travelling together, or anyone making the trip several times in a week, the saving adds up quickly enough to justify the extra minutes.
Comfort: the calm carriage and the busy one
On the Express, luggage racks sit at the end of every carriage, seats are almost always available, and the passengers are nearly all travellers, so the atmosphere is quiet and nobody is pressed against a suitcase. It feels like the first part of a holiday rather than the end of a commute.
The Elizabeth line trains are new, bright, air-conditioned and long enough to walk through end to end, but they are also a commuter railway. At peak hours the seats fill with office workers, luggage ends up in the doorways, and a large case becomes something to apologise for. Outside those hours, it is a pleasant ride with plenty of room.
Terminal 4, and everywhere past Paddington
Two details can decide the question outright. First, the Express does not serve Terminal 4; the Elizabeth line does, with some of its trains running on to Terminal 4 and others to Terminal 5 after calling at the central terminals. Travel between the Heathrow terminals on either line is free, so a wrong guess costs time rather than money.
Second, the Express ends at Paddington, while the Elizabeth line carries on beneath central London. A guest bound for Bond Street, the City or Canary Wharf can usually stay in the same seat, which removes a change of train and often makes the slower line the quicker door-to-door option for anyone not sleeping in W2.
Which train suits which evening
Put together, the pattern is simple enough to decide on the jet bridge:
Telling the desk which train you took
Whichever you choose, send the departure time from the platform rather than an estimate from the aircraft. The desk counts differently for each: fifteen minutes on an Express, roughly half an hour on an Elizabeth line train, then the short walk from the platforms to your hotel. Her own journey keeps its own clock, about an hour from the desk's confirmation, so a start booked before you fly lines up best, and Vanessa, who lives beside Paddington Station, is a good name to ask for when you do.
Local timing is the strength of the late twenties group, which includes all three companions based in Paddington, Nora among them. More on the Express side of the arrival is in the Heathrow Express plan.
Travelling out together
Some guests would rather have company on the way to the airport than on the way from it. A travel companion booking can start in a W2 hotel and ride either train with you, and anything that finishes at an airport hotel, Heathrow or Gatwick, has a three hour floor with her journey included, £700 on the rates page, as explained in the airport minimum.
Send the flight time, the terminal and the train you prefer, and the booking is built backwards from the departure gate.
The companions named in this guide sit on the late twenties list, one of the types the lineup is sorted by.
Quick answers
The Heathrow Express, at around fifteen minutes to the central terminals. The Elizabeth line takes roughly twice as long because it calls at several stations on the way.
The Elizabeth line, by a wide margin, since it is priced as part of the ordinary Transport for London network. Express tickets cost less when bought ahead online.
No. For Terminal 4, take the Elizabeth line, or ride either train to the central terminals and transfer, since moving between Heathrow terminals on both lines costs nothing.
The usual arrangement is your hotel, a short walk from the platforms. The desk times her arrival from the departure you send, and because her journey takes about an hour from confirmation, a start agreed before you board is the one that lines up with yours.