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Direct buses from Paddington to Luton/Stansted/Ikea

London Locals helping visitors and locals alike
DiamondEcho
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Direct buses from Paddington to Luton/Stansted/Ikea

#178201

Postby DiamondEcho » November 5th, 2018, 12:07 pm

I was travelling via Paddington yesterday and used a short-cut down a flight of steps* to access the station from 'behind' on Bishop's Bridge Road. With the ongoing major Crossrail works the access to the west side (Eastbourne Terrace) is closed, and the only other way in, to the south at Praed Street, is a long walk, especially if you have luggage.

Emerging onto this fly-over yesterday I noticed a set of bus stops I hadn't paid much attention to previously. The A2 and A6 are National Express routes.
46 - a local route
A2 - to Luton airport
A6 - to Stantsted airport
332 - to Brent Park. IKEA and a Tesco mega-store.

Given how these bus routes could simplify the journeys from west London to those airports (and IKEA) I thought I'd mention them here. If you happened to be travelling into Paddington and heading for either of them they could be a God-send! Why they are so under-signed in the immediate vicinity is most odd. I saw the airport buses waiting there and people boarding with luggage, so the stops are definitely operating. The top of the steps is right next to the access road for taxis in/out of the north-side of the station but it's highly obscure until you're right in front of them! A few days earlier I'd looked for these steps, got to this taxi access road, and seen zero trace. So I walked allllll the way down to the Praed Street entrance and asked on the station concourse whether the access route at the rear still existed, and then following the route explained back out to the north.

Previously I usually would prefer to travel via LHR, and then LGW. But these A2/A6 coaches really open up my options for simple, economic, reliable, transfers to/from these other airports, which can otherwise be a time-consuming and stressful multi-leg journey from the west.

I'll x-post a link to this on the Airport Lounge board.

* From the station concourse follow the signs for the taxi rank which is on the east side. When at the taxi rank walk north with the canal on your right say 60-70M. You'll see a low 'fly-over' bridge, and as you near it the steps up/down will become apparent. It can be a VERY handy short-cut.

Alaric
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Re: Direct buses from Paddington to Luton/Stansted/Ikea

#178206

Postby Alaric » November 5th, 2018, 12:22 pm

DiamondEcho wrote: If you happened to be travelling into Paddington and heading for either of them they could be a God-send!


Not the fastest of journeys though. The Stansted one is scheduled for a shade under two hours.

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Re: Direct buses from Paddington to Luton/Stansted/Ikea

#178328

Postby Spet0789 » November 5th, 2018, 8:31 pm

Stops in a load of places on the way (St Albans, Hatfield, Stevenage, Hertford, Harlow etc). But a good option if time is not a constraint and your bags make the tube a pain.

DiamondEcho
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Re: Direct buses from Paddington to Luton/Stansted/Ikea

#178351

Postby DiamondEcho » November 5th, 2018, 11:32 pm

Alaric wrote:Not the fastest of journeys though. The Stansted one is scheduled for a shade under two hours.


Good point, I hadn't looked at the journey time. A random timetable choice for this Friday lunchtime [Paddington> Stansted] gives the same, just under 2 hours. That said I like the idea it's point-to-point, rather than BR>tube>BR>airport, and even at c2hrs wonder if it's slower than going by train via such a latter route. IDK, I expect we'll try the buses and when we do I'll report back. With forward planning I expect in pre-trip stress-mode we might be ok compromising a bit of time on a coach for a simpler journey. We'll see!

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Re: Direct buses from Paddington to Luton/Stansted/Ikea

#178353

Postby Alaric » November 6th, 2018, 12:25 am

DiamondEcho wrote: That said I like the idea it's point-to-point, rather than BR>tube>BR>airport


From Paddington to Liverpool Street it's the Circle/ Hammersmith & City, so the main line sized "subsurface" trains and limited need to use stairs or escalators.

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Re: Direct buses from Paddington to Luton/Stansted/Ikea

#178356

Postby DiamondEcho » November 6th, 2018, 12:38 am

[quote="Alaric"]From Paddington to Liverpool Street it's the Circle/ Hammersmith & City, so the main line sized "subsurface" trains and limited need to use stairs or escalators.[/quote

... you might have far more faith in London/regional transport than I do; esp. the Tube. Which I loath getting in between some booked connectng on-connection.

tjh290633
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Re: Direct buses from Paddington to Luton/Stansted/Ikea

#178424

Postby tjh290633 » November 6th, 2018, 9:42 am

DiamondEcho wrote:
Alaric wrote:From Paddington to Liverpool Street it's the Circle/ Hammersmith & City, so the main line sized "subsurface" trains and limited need to use stairs or escalators.


... you might have far more faith in London/regional transport than I do; esp. the Tube. Which I loath getting in between some booked connectng on-connection.

You need to allow a sensible time if you are using the Underground between main line trains. London Bridge and Victoria both involve long walks. However, Paddington to H&C is easy and Thameslink to it even easier at Farringdon, both involving a short walk over the bridge. H&C to Liverpool Street is even easier, as you walk straight out onto the concourse.

Incidentally, don't take the Circle at Paddington, because it only goes to Edgware Road. The trains reverse there and go back round the Circle then onto the H&C, so you get both Circle and H&C to Barking from the H&C platform.

TJH

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Re: Direct buses from Paddington to Luton/Stansted/Ikea

#178471

Postby Alaric » November 6th, 2018, 11:23 am

tjh290633 wrote: However, Paddington to H&C is easy and Thameslink to it even easier at Farringdon, both involving a short walk over the bridge.


During a relatively recent rebuild, the direct bridge at Paddington to the H&C platforms was blocked off, so what should be an easy transfer becomes a longish walk via the outside taxi rank. You're halfway to the bus stops mentioned earlier.

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Re: Direct buses from Paddington to Luton/Stansted/Ikea

#178524

Postby tjh290633 » November 6th, 2018, 1:40 pm

Alaric wrote:
tjh290633 wrote: However, Paddington to H&C is easy and Thameslink to it even easier at Farringdon, both involving a short walk over the bridge.


During a relatively recent rebuild, the direct bridge at Paddington to the H&C platforms was blocked off, so what should be an easy transfer becomes a longish walk via the outside taxi rank. You're halfway to the bus stops mentioned earlier.

How recent was that? I have used it in the past in both directions.

TJH

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Re: Direct buses from Paddington to Luton/Stansted/Ikea

#178569

Postby Alaric » November 6th, 2018, 4:20 pm

tjh290633 wrote:How recent was that?


At least five years. There was a build of a new ticket office for the H&C which may have coincided with the switch of the Circle into a Hammersmith to Edgware Road spiral. It's particularly annoying when you come in at platform 12 or 14 on a local train. Platform 13 is no more and is now part of platform 12.

tjh290633
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Re: Direct buses from Paddington to Luton/Stansted/Ikea

#178652

Postby tjh290633 » November 7th, 2018, 12:03 am

Alaric wrote:
tjh290633 wrote:How recent was that?


At least five years. There was a build of a new ticket office for the H&C which may have coincided with the switch of the Circle into a Hammersmith to Edgware Road spiral. It's particularly annoying when you come in at platform 12 or 14 on a local train. Platform 13 is no more and is now part of platform 12.

It's more recent than that when I used it, as I know I rode on one of the new S6 trains.

TJH


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