interview
per cent, making Heathrow Express the top Toc. Passenger much the best place for digital advertising in Europe.’ One
numbers have grown by around 15 per cent over the last aim is to grow the leisure market without diluting Heathrow
seven years, but the recession has seen that increase level Express’s attractiveness to business.
off. Unlike most other Tocs, Heathrow Express has a vested Looking to the future, there are plans afoot for further
interest in the mooted third runway. Heathrow’s passenger direct rail connections to Heathrow. There is already an
numbers are not going to see any significant growth without alternative called Heathrow Connect, a slower service run
an additional runway, so neither are Heathrow Express’s. from Paddington to Heathrow in conjunction with First
When it comes to attracting new passengers, ‘added Great Western. Crossrail will take over this service once it
value’ is the strategy. One of Robinson’s first moves was to is up and running, and the frequency will increase from two
make wi-fi free of charge, and electrical sockets to recharge to four trains an hour.
laptops or mobile phones are planned for the future. BAA wants to build a new line to Staines, alongside
Customer service is very important – Heathrow Express the M25, which would be called Airtrack. It would link
staff are trained to be able to answer passengers’ most Heathrow directly with Waterloo and destinations in the
common queries about their onward journeys. south of England, such as Reading. The scheme is currently
Can the impact of wi-fi and free onboard newspapers be in the applications stage, having undergone consultation
measured in ticket sales? earlier this year. If all goes to plan, construction could start
‘We haven’t measured it against ticket sales, but it next year, with services beginning in late 2014.
has rolled through against things like overall passenger Running services to St Pancras is another aim.
satisfaction for the National Passenger Survey and the ‘We would love to run our service to St Pancras. It would
Quality Service Monitor, which is done by BAA throughout expand our market and it would delight an awful lot of
the airport. I don’t think I should be ashamed to say that we customers who at the moment have to transfer somehow
score very highly in just about every category. from King’s Cross to get to Heathrow. Crossrail would be a
‘One of the challenges that we’re meeting head on is how big enabler for that.’
to evolve the passenger experience to add more value. I And with that, we arrive back at Paddington and
know that’s real marketing speak, but if you see Heathrow Robinson heads back to Heathrow Express’s central
Express as a 15 minute shuttle between Paddington and London headquarters.
Heathrow, you set your horizons very differently to if you
see it as a passenger journey between London and getting kRBFatie.silRVSvester@rad ailprRailProo.co.ukJan10:Layout 1 10/12/09 12:41 Page 1
on the plane. That subtle change in definition is something
we’ve been working really hard on, to see how we can use
technology to increase convenience.’
Another first for the UK is that passengers can now
check-in at self-service machines on the platform at
Paddington while they are waiting for the train. This has
only been operational since the beginning of December. In
time, these facilities will be available onboard the train too.
‘Watchwords for taking our brand on are convenience and
certainty; that means being able to get flight information
and being able to check in if you’ve got a few minutes,
although generally you will only have a few minutes before
the next Heathrow Express. We’re really building the feeling
that as soon as you’re at Paddington, you’re certain to get
to Heathrow Airport. We have a very demanding type of
passenger because every single person on this train has got
an absolutely hard deadline in the next hour and a half.’
A typical Heathrow Express passenger is travelling for
business purposes – the majority are male. Just 20 per
cent of passengers are travelling for leisure. This makes
passengers an attractive target for advertisers with its AB1
demographic. Digital advertising in the station at Terminal 5
has had good take up and rows of display panels inside the
tunnels also carry advertising. Despite advertising spend
being down 16 per cent nationally, Heathrow Express
has actually seen an increase in its advertising revenues.
Television screens inside the carriages show BBC news and
weather as well as commercials.
Fortablebookingormoreinformationcontact:
‘We have an absolutely prime London city centre high-
SimonKingatWoodhouseCommunications
end business audience that people are willing to pay to get
Tel:01444221000oremail
Supported by:
simon�woodhousecommunications.co.uk
to,’ says Robinson. ‘Because of our audience and the quality
of our infrastructure, Brand Republic is saying it’s pretty
JANUARY 2010 : rail professional 25
RPJan10 pp22-25 Interview.indd 25 10/12/09 15:27:56
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