New links for Hampshire-Surrey border and Heathrow

Thursday 24th August 2023

After an understandable Covid inspired lull, Heathrow Airport is back on a bus route funding roll again on its mission to increase the modal split in favour of public transport among staff and passengers travelling to and from the airport.

The latest initiative funded by the Airport is operated by Newbury & District (part of Reading Buses) and provides a fast express coach link from Basingstoke, Frimley, Camberley and Bagshot direct to Terminal 5 where onward connections are available to other Terminals, the Central Bus Station and on to the National Rail and Underground networks as well as other express coaches.

I originally thought this new set up was two separate bus routes to Heathrow when I first heard about route 730 from Basingstoke and route 731 from Frimley Camberley and Bagshot, but it’s the same route with buses changing route number at Frimley.

Quite why this unnecessary complication has been added to the mix is a mystery. End to end mileage is not much over 50 kilometres which although necessitates the registration is split in Frimley, most bus companies keep the same route number for both parts of ‘through journeys’ to minimise confusion in such circumstances

In any event it’s high time this anomaly was removed, seven years on from the Brexit vote which I thought was supposed to herald a “bonfire of red tape” such as this.

It’s true that four of the 18 daily journeys work short between Frimley and Heathrow but that’s hardly a justification for taking a separate route number for that end of the route.

The timetable is an impressive almost round-the-clock affair with the first journey from Basingstoke at 02:45 (arriving Heathrow at 03:55 – Central Bus Station) and the last one at night leaves Terminal 5 at 00:20 arriving Basingstoke at 01:32. The Sunday timetable is almost the same as weekdays and Saturdays.

There’s an approximate hourly frequency, widening in the peaks to as much as 100 minutes between 17:00 and 18:40 from Heathrow, with two hour gaps from Basingstoke when those four journeys turn short at Frimley.

The route/s has/have a peak vehicle requirement of three and will eventually be operated by new coaches with smart Flightline branding – four Volvo B8R/Plaxton Panther 53 seaters are on order – but until these arrive in a few weeks, double deck buses are on the road as a temporary measure.

An attractive promotional leaflet gives details of times as well as fares, tickets and maps showing where the bus stops served in each town are located. I understand it’s been distributed in some of the areas served but there weren’t any on the bus I travelled on on Tuesday, which was a shame.

Single fares to Heathrow are £16 from Frimley, Camberley and Bagshot (£20 return) and £20 from Basingstoke (£25 return). There’s a £50 group return for four travelling together from any stop.

Staff working at Heathrow can get a 50% discount on weekly and monthly tickets and there’s a special £1 fare for the first two weeks. Concessionary passes are valid after 09:30 as normal.

Cheaper fares are available for journeys between intermediate stops with discounts also for young people with appropriate ID cards.

I caught the 11:45 departure from Basingstoke on Tuesday and came across blog readers Emma and Michael who live locally and were looking forward to a day taking photographs of buses and enjoying the experience of the new route.

It’s a pleasant ride as the bus crosses the border between Hampshire and Surrey along the A30 before passing through Hook Common to reach the M3.

No one joined us until Frimley where Les, a friend of Emma and Michael, came aboard as well as another passenger trying the route out. We picked up two more ‘ordinary passengers’ at Bagshot making for seven of us to Heathrow. Emma reported around ten passengers had been spotted on the previous 10:45 departure leaving Basingstoke which is not bad for only the third day of an intensive service.

The bus we travelled on was one inherited from Weavaway. It performed well on the M3 and M25 and although we left Basingstoke six minutes late at 11:51 we pulled into Terminal Five at 12:56 having taken just 65 minutes.

Buses only stop at the timing points identified in the timetable and use the M3 between Junctions 5 and 4 and from Junction 3 then the M25 to Junction 14 for Heathrow Terminal 5. All told, 20 minutes of the journey was on the motorway giving the impression of a fast service to the airport.

The timetable allows for a five minute pause in Frimley which helped us recover the initial six minute delay but we were still able to pause for four minutes to keep to time in Bagshot.

During the day the timetable allows for 15 minutes stand time at Heathrow and eight minutes at Basingstoke. The timings look very doable ….. provided the M3 and M25 are behaving themselves but sadly the latter in particular is very prone to congestion even on Sundays where it can be severe across the entire day on the south west section approaching Heathrow. Hopefully that won’t cause too much disruption to timekeeping.

While waiting for the bus to arrive from its previous journey in Basingstoke, outside the station, a Newbury & District coach appeared which we thought might be entering service, but it turned out was acting as a ferry vehicle for a driver swap from the Newbury base 16 miles away.

It gave a taste of what the service might look like when the new coaches arrive which will certainly raise the profile of the service.

Full marks to Heathrow Airport for ensuring timetable information was available at the departure stand at Terminal 5 …

… as well as the service being listed on the departure board….

… but sadly at the Basingstoke end of the route there was nothing on display.

As well as providing new quick links to Heathrow from towns along the route, the new service fills gaps in the bus network between Basingstoke and Frimley and Basingstoke and Camberley which I’m sure will be welcomed by passengers once they find out about it.

Although the main summer holiday season is coming to and end, with rail strikes continuing to cause disruption it’s a very opportune time to be launching a service of this kind which offers a realistic alternative for commuters in this part of Hampshire and Surrey wanting to get to London and back.

It looks like it’ll be a success.

Roger French

Comments are welcome in the box below. It would be appreciated if you could add a name/identifier at the end of your comment until WordPress fix the bug in the software which normally asks you for this information automatically. Thanks.

Blogging timetable: 06:00 TThS and Su DRT extras.