Heathrow Terminal 4 is a

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

station at

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

on the Heathrow branch of the

Piccadilly line The Piccadilly line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the north to the west of London. It has two branches, which split at Acton Town, and serves 53 stations. The line serves Heathrow Airport, and some of its stations are n ...

. The station is situated in

Travelcard Zone 6 Fare zone 6 is an outer zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway, National Rail services (since 2007), and the El ...

History

The station opened on 12 April 1986 to serve the then recently opened

Heathrow Terminal 4 Heathrow Terminal 4 is an airport terminal at Heathrow Airport, the main airport serving London, England, situated to the south of the southern runway, next to the cargo terminal. It is connected to Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3 by the vehicular ...

. It is situated on a unidirectional loop tunnel which was constructed between the existing

Hatton Cross Hatton including Hatton Cross is a small settlement and locality in the London boroughs of Hillingdon and Hounslow, on the south-eastern edge of London Heathrow Airport and straddling the A30 road. Priot to 1965 it was in the county of Middlese ...

and Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 stations. The station is one of four on the London Underground with only one platform, and is the only one with one-way train service. It is adjacent to

Heathrow Terminal 4 railway station Heathrow Terminal 4 is a railway station at Terminal 4 of London Heathrow Airport served by the Elizabeth line. The separate Heathrow Terminal 4 Underground station on the Piccadilly line is adjacent to this station. Journeys to and from He ...

used by

Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line is a high-frequency hybrid Urban rail, urban–suburban rail service in London and its suburbs. It runs services on dedicated infrastructure in central London from the Great Western Main Line west of London Paddington statio ...

services that travel through the newer mainline tunnel. In-service routing took trains from Hatton Cross to Terminal 4 then Terminals 2 & 3 and back to Hatton Cross. On 7 January 2005, both the loop track and the station were closed temporarily in order to allow the construction of a new rail junction to link to the new

Heathrow Terminal 5 station Heathrow Terminal 5 is a shared railway and London Underground station serving Heathrow Terminal 5. It serves as a terminus for Heathrow Express services to Paddington, and for Elizabeth line and London Underground Piccadilly line services to ...

. All trains reverted to using the original westbound track from Hatton Cross direct to Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 which was used prior to the opening of Heathrow Terminal 4. For passengers travelling to or from Heathrow Terminal 4, a shuttle bus was provided from Hatton Cross tube station. This situation continued until 17 September 2006 when the loop line and station were reopened after construction finished, with new security and customer announcement technologies in place at the station.

Current routing

Heathrow Terminal 4 tube station is located on a unidirectional

clockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back up to the top. The opposite ...

loop that branches off after Hatton Cross westbound, and rejoins the Heathrow branch eastbound to the west of Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3. Since the opening of

, alternate Heathrow branch trains run via the Terminal 4 loop, with the other alternate trains run directly to Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3, and Heathrow Terminal 5. Until 2012, free transfer was not possible between terminals, in contrast to the

Heathrow Express Heathrow Express is a high-frequency airport rail link operating between London Heathrow Airport and . Opened in 1998, trains run non-stop, with a journey time of 15 minutes. The service is operated jointly by Great Western Railway and Heathrow ...

. In January 2012, free travel was introduced for

Oyster card The Oyster card is a payment method for public transport in London (and certain areas around it) in England, United Kingdom. A standard Oyster card is a blue credit-card-sized stored-value contactless smart card. It is promoted by Transport ...

holders between the three Heathrow stations. But to travel from Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 or Terminal 5 to Terminal 4 one must change trains at Hatton Cross. This journey is free, despite Hatton Cross itself not being part of the free travel zone. On 9 May 2020, Heathrow Terminal 4 station closed temporarily until 14 June 2022, due to the closure of the airport's Terminal 4 during the

COVID-19 pandemic in London The first case relating to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in London, England, was confirmed on 12 February 2020 in a woman who had recently arrived from China. By mid-March, there had been almost 500 confirmed cases in the city, and 23 deaths; a ...

. On 14 June 2022, this station reopened for passenger service.

Connections

Two

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

routes serve the station:

482 Year 482 (Roman numerals, CDLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severinus and Illus (or, less frequently, year 123 ...

and 490.

Gallery

Image:Heathrow Terminal 4 tube look east.JPG, Looking east along the only platform (initially westbound); from here trains head to Terminals 2 & 3 and then to central London. Image:Heathrow Terminal 4 tube roundel.JPG, Roundel on platform Image:Heathrow Terminal 4 tube stn look west.JPG, Looking west along the platform.

References

External links