Network Rail has closed the Heathrow Express fast lines from Paddington for a full 48-hour engineering blockade, beginning 00:01 on 25 December and running through the end of Boxing Day. The £118 million resignalling project is the final stage of an upgrade that will lift speed limits from 70 mph to 90 mph in March 2026.
While the link normally carries about 17,000 passengers a day—many of them time-sensitive business travellers—no replacement bus service is running because the train does not usually operate on Christmas Day. On Boxing Day, however, the closure caught return-journey passengers by surprise: the only rail alternative is the Elizabeth Line, which operates an hourly holiday timetable and adds 30-45 minutes to door-to-door journeys. Taxi ranks at Terminals 2–3 reported queue times exceeding 40 minutes.
![48-Hour Heathrow Express Shutdown Forces Travellers onto Slower Holiday Services]()
Global-mobility coordinators are advising arriving assignees to allow at least an extra hour for the airport-to-city leg and to pre-book fixed-fare cars where possible. Employers with ‘meet-and-assist’ contracts have been reminded to notify chauffeurs of congestion around Heathrow’s central bus station.
The works will bring long-term benefits—cutting three minutes off the Paddington run once complete—but further weekend closures are scheduled for Easter and the early-May bank holiday. Companies planning group relocations should therefore avoid those dates or budget for coach transfers.
While the link normally carries about 17,000 passengers a day—many of them time-sensitive business travellers—no replacement bus service is running because the train does not usually operate on Christmas Day. On Boxing Day, however, the closure caught return-journey passengers by surprise: the only rail alternative is the Elizabeth Line, which operates an hourly holiday timetable and adds 30-45 minutes to door-to-door journeys. Taxi ranks at Terminals 2–3 reported queue times exceeding 40 minutes.
Global-mobility coordinators are advising arriving assignees to allow at least an extra hour for the airport-to-city leg and to pre-book fixed-fare cars where possible. Employers with ‘meet-and-assist’ contracts have been reminded to notify chauffeurs of congestion around Heathrow’s central bus station.
The works will bring long-term benefits—cutting three minutes off the Paddington run once complete—but further weekend closures are scheduled for Easter and the early-May bank holiday. Companies planning group relocations should therefore avoid those dates or budget for coach transfers.
Source: VisaHQ Global Mobility News
