Heathrow Tube link to close

Holidaymakers face chaos from tomorrow as a key Heathrow Tube stop is closed for almost two years.

The Terminal 4 station on the Piccadilly line will shut and passengers will have to take a shuttle bus.

Tube trains will still serve Terminals 1, 2 and 3. But the service to Terminal 4 - used by many long-haul passengers - will stop until September 2006 while the Piccadilly line extension to the new £4.2billion Terminal 5 is completed.

Passengers will need to get off the Tube at Hatton Cross and take a free bus service. BAA and London Underground-claim the disruption will only add an extra five minutes to journey times. But at rush hour, traffic congestion is likely to mean longer delays.

Although extra staff will be on duty at Hatton Cross to help passengers, disabled travellers are being advised to take the Underground to Terminals 1, 2, and 3 and then take the Heathrow Express, which will be free for the short journey to Terminal 4.

Piccadilly line general manager Mike Challis said: "Around 2,500 people travel to and from Terminal 4 by Tube each day. Those journeys will take about five minutes longer than now."

Meanwhile, the majority of the 22,000 Tube passengers who use Heathrow each day will actually benefit from a reduction in journey times - as trains run directly into Terminal 1, 2 and 3, rather than first stopping at Terminal 4.

British Airways passengers are in the majority at Terminal 4, although it is also used by KLM, Qantas, Air Malta and some Emirates flights. The £200 million bill for the Underground link to Terminal 5 is being met by airport operator BAA in exchange for a share of ticket receipts on the Piccadilly line for the next 30 years.

Planning permission was granted on condition that Tube links were improved in an effort to reduce chronic congestion around the airport. However, with Heathrow's capacity being increased by 50 per cent, the problem looks certain to get worse.

The disruption tomorrow and Sunday is expected to be much greater than for the subsequent 20-month closure of the Terminal 4 station.

Passengers have three detours to choose from: