Heathrow rail link - SEVERE DISRUPTION

The Heathrow Express website states there are signaling problems and only two trains per hour will be operating rather than the usual four.

As of now, the HE website says to expect this to last much of the day.

The TFL website only says there are severe delays on the Elizabeth Line between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow due to a tunnel being closed. They suggest taking the Piccadilly Line.

as at 11:26 local time, from National Rail
Heavily reduced service to / from Heathrow Terminals until the end of the day: Elizabeth line suspended between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow Airport

Service alteration details
Incident reported: Monday 10 August 2026 at 00:10

If you would like to follow this incident on X, please use HeathrowTerminals

Last updated
Monday 10 August 2026 at 11:26

Train operators affected
Elizabeth line
Heathrow Express
Route(s) affected
Elizabeth line services to / from Heathrow Terminals

Heathrow Express between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 5

Description
A tunnel has been closed for safety reasons between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow Terminal 4 / Heathrow Terminal 5. As a result, some lines between these stations are closed, and it is currently having the following impact:

Elizabeth line services will be cancelled or revised, with no trains running between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow Airport

Heathrow Express services will be reduced, with two trains an hour in each direction between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 5

Major disruption is expected until the end of the day.

A visual disruption map video is available.

Elizabeth line customer advice:
To help complete your journey, you can use your ticket at no extra cost on the following:

Heathrow Express (for pre-booked tickets only up until 08:00) to / from Heathrow Terminals - please note, Heathrow Express are also impacted by this disruption

Great Western Railway services via any reasonable route

London Buses on routes:

105

278

350

482

London Underground on the Piccadilly line

Allow extra time to travel as using these alternatives will extend journey times.

Alternative routes:

All Heathrow Terminals: customers can use the Piccadilly line.

Buses for Heathrow Central Terminals: customers can travel to Southall with the Elizabeth line and take the 105 London bus OR travel to Hayes and Harlington and take the 278 London Bus.

Buses for Terminal 5: customers can travel to Hayes and Harlington or West Drayton and take the 350 London Bus.

Buses for Terminals 4 and 5: customers can travel to Southall and take the 482 London Bus.

Customers can also use the free shuttle service at Heathrow to travel to Terminals 4 and 5.

Heathrow Express customer advice:
A reduced service of two trains an hour will run. The following services are expected to run:

From London Paddington at xx:10 and xx:40

From Heathrow Terminal 5 at xx:12 and xx:42

Additional information:
A water leak in the tunnel between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow Terminals means only 1 line is available to be used at present.

12:42 update - no change since 11:26 update

use https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/live-trains/departures/heathrow-terminal-2-3-rail/?slug=HXX&slug=departures to see what is running through Heathrow Central. Message was just amended to catch up with reality.....

The problem is being made worse due to the tunnel closure also causing one of the two platforms at Heathrow Central to be inaccessible.

14:09 UPDATE changes in BOLD

Last updated
Monday 10 August 2026 at 14:09

Train operators affected
Elizabeth line
Heathrow Express
Route(s) affected
Elizabeth line services to / from Heathrow Terminals

Heathrow Express between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 5

Description
A tunnel has been closed for safety reasons between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow Terminal 4 / Heathrow Terminal 5. As a result, some lines between these stations are closed, and services running to / from Heathrow Terminals are heavily reduced. Services may be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised.

Major disruption is expected until the end of the day.

A visual disruption map video is available.

Elizabeth line customer advice:
One train per hour, at xx:54, will run from Abbey Wood to Heathrow Terminal 4 and one train per hour, at xx:15, will run from Heathrow Terminal 4 to Abbey Wood.

To help complete your journey, you can use your ticket at no extra cost on the following:

Great Western Railway services via any reasonable route

London Buses on routes:

105

278

350

482

London Underground on the Piccadilly line

Allow extra time to travel as using these alternatives will extend journey times.

Alternative routes:

All Heathrow Terminals: customers can use the Piccadilly line.

Buses for Heathrow Central Terminals: customers can travel to Southall with the Elizabeth line and take the 105 London bus OR travel to Hayes and Harlington and take the 278 London Bus.

Buses for Terminal 5: customers can travel to Hayes and Harlington or West Drayton and take the 350 London Bus.

Buses for Terminals 4 and 5: customers can travel to Southall and take the 482 London Bus.

Customers can also use the free shuttle service at Heathrow to travel to Terminals 4 and 5.

Heathrow Express customer advice:
A reduced service of two trains an hour will run. The following services are expected to run:
From London Paddington at xx:10 and xx:40
From Heathrow Terminal 5 at xx:12 and xx:42

Some other Elizabeth line Heathrow trains are turning/starting short at Hayes and Harlington in the rarely used Platform 5. There is also a reduced Elizabeth line service in the central core with many Shenfield to Terminal 5 trains only running between Shenfield and Stratford (London), as well as many Shenfield to Paddington services.

According to the Flyer Talk forum a leaking fire suppression system is causing the problem.

Whoever is writing the National Rail updates doesn't know their London bus routes as TfL (and Flyer Talk) say that tickets are being accepted on all relevant London bus routes- from Hayes and Harlington station that includes the SL9 as well as the listed services.

... and now the perfect storm, the Piccadilly Line has severe delays between Heathrow and Acton Town due to signal failure at Osterley, so time to find any alternative bus route to either National Rail or the tube at Uxbridge or elsewhere (or National Express).

So very basic Elizabeth Line, basic Heathrow Express, and little or no tube.

There are many TfL and non TfL bus routes to Heathrow, but all will be very busy, as will taxis.

Tuesday morning update....

As I'm writing this at about 6:45 AM London time, Tuesday morning....

The Heathrow Express is still only operating two trains an hour;

The Elizabeth Line is severly delayed between Harrington & Hayes and Heathrow

The Piccadilly Line is operating as normal (whatever that might be for the Piccadilly Line.)

National Express still has seats available at most times.

If heading to Heathrow, or arriviing and planning to use some form of rail transport, give yourself plenty of time and expect crowded trains.

The tunnel remains closed for the whole of Tuesday- the same very limited Heathrow Express and Elizabeth Line service is running, with ticket acceptance on local bus to Hayes and Harlington and Southall on all local bus routes continuing.

The Piccadilly Line has re-opened.

Heathrow Express services are only for pre-booked passengers, not walk up passengers according to the rather dubious National Rail website, but not according to Heathrow Express. Tickets are still being sold on line for today.

The Elizabeth Line is severly delayed between Harrington & Hayes and Heathrow

That seems doubtful as Harrington is a minor station on the edge of the Lake District, that would be an epic Elizabeth Line journey.