Heathrow Express has offered a premium, fast, reliable service to its business travel customers for 15 years, with 150 shuttles a day between Heathrow and central London. Departing every 15 minutes, the non-stop journey time is also only 15 minutes long, making Heathrow Express the fastest way to travel between the airport and central London.
Highly recommended
Speed and reliability is at the heart of the Heathrow Express proposition. A traffic jam exclusion zone, 98 percent of customers rate the service as reliable and 96 percent say they would recommend it to colleagues or friends.
Since launch, Heathrow Express has improved its services for its 16,000 customers per day through ongoing investment and innovation. On board wi-fi, even in the tunnels, and the introduction of mobile ticket apps were both UK firsts introduced by the business class train service. Heathrow Express also made Paddington the first UK railway station to offer screens displaying live flight information.
As London took centre stage to the world in 2012, the business unveiled a £16m investment programme. A full corporate rebrand and the first fully refurbished trains were unveiled in London ahead of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Customer satisfaction
No small undertaking, ahead of the investment programme extensive passenger research was conducted to ensure that customer satisfaction was at the heart of every change made by Heathrow Express.
The train refurbishment alone involved over 200 suppliers providing in excess of 1,300 new components for the upgraded fleet. With airline travel at the heart of the transformation, the interior was inspired by designs from the industry leaders responsible for British Airway’s first flat bed concept.
The first class carriage now has individual seating; Heathrow Express is the first train company in the UK to introduce this, giving customers more privacy, more space and the option to keep their luggage close by.
Luggage security was a key customer concern so seats now face suitcase stacks and luggage is not visible from outside the train. Overhead luggage racks were removed to minimise the risk of leaving items behind and new trinket tables were introduced to include integrated power and USB sockets, allowing customers to make the most of their time onboard. The Heathrow Express rebrand touched all areas of the business, from website to app and from airport to station, every facet of the estate was involved in its seamless makeover.
In addition to achieving service performance and financial goals, in 2012 Heathrow Express became more integrated with Heathrow Airport than ever before, supporting the airport in its aim to become the UK’s direct connection to the world and Europe’s hub of choice. For customers, speed and reliability is a given; the business class rail service offers business travellers a seamless transition from plane to train to city centre.
Further information
www.heathrowexpress.com
