Fares to rise on Heathrow Express

The most expensive rail fare in Europe - for the non-stop journey between Paddington and Heathrow - is going to cost even more.

From the end of the month, a first-class return ticket for the 15-minute, 15-mile each way trip on the Heathrow Express will rise £2 to £42.

At £1.40 a mile, that works out more expensive than travelling by Concorde which, at £4,500 for the 5,540-mile journey between Heathrow and New York, costs just over £1.23 a mile.

It makes the price of merely getting to the airport and back from Paddington even more expensive than some flights. For instance, bmi is offering one-way winter fares of £39 to Nice and Palma or £29 to Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris from Heathrow. Ryanair is offering Stansted to Shannon, Verona or Brussels from £19.99, to Turin from £24.99 or to Salzburg for £29.99.

Or you could travel via Virgin Trains from Euston to Glasgow for £29 return and Birmingham for £15 return.

Staying at home? Then the cost of the return Heathrow Express would buy two bottles of Moet & Chandon Brut non-vintage from Tesco at £20.47p each or a bottle of Bollinger for £27.99p with enough left over for smoked salmon sandwiches.

Failing that, the £42 would give you four meals - with £2 change - with the Evening Standard special offer to dine out at Marco Pierre White restaurants for only £10 a head.

The dedicated Heathrow Express is owned by airport operator BAA and outside the fare regulations covering other lines. A similar trip from Paddington to the airport by Tube costs £3.60p - 24p a mile - but the journey takes an hour or more.

A spokeswoman for the Express said £1 is also being added to the cost of standard fares making them £13 single or £25 return, the first increase for three years.

She said the service is being upgraded with nine coach trains being introduced at the end of the month compared with the four and eight-car service at present. A total of £13million had been spent on improvements during the last 12 months, including £4 million on upgrading ticket machines for a faster service.

The spokeswoman said the increase "reflects the improvements on offer". There are discount tickets available with 50 per cent reduction for four or more people travelling together at weekends or for those travelling off-peak mid-week.

The line carries between 14,000 and 15,000 people a day with levels now returning to "pre-11 September".

Industry analyst Barry Doe who revealed the increases, due to come into force on 29 September, said he believed building the dedicated rail link was "a mistake".

He said First Great Western, which runs local and long-distance commuter trains into Paddington, had been prevented from adding new services because the Express had taken up all available slots. "The Tube should have been upgraded instead," said Mr Doe.