If you have a flight in or out of Stansted Airport that falls on one of the next five weekends, travelling to or from central London might not be as easy as you initially imagined. But don’t panic – there are alternative ways to travel to avoid missing your flight.
The Stansted Express train, which usually provides a direct route between London Stansted Airport and London Liverpool Street (stopping at Tottenham Hale), is set to be out of action for five whole weekends, from February 22 to March 23. The disruption can be blamed on scheduled engineering works between Stansted and Broxbourne, which is another stop along the route.
How to travel to and from Stansted Airport when the trains aren’t running?
The Stansted Express will be offering rail replacement bus services. The train will get you as far as Broxbourne station, where you can then hop on a bus the rest of the way to the airport.
Alternatively, you can book a spot on a coach all the way from London – and National Express are actually adding 25,000 extra seats to counter the issues caused by the train cancellations. The price of a coach ticket currently starts at £17 each way, which is cheaper than the train. Plus, they run all through the night.
Coaches depart from various spots in the city, and the journey time depends where you hop on (naturally). For example, the coach journey takes around 50 minutes-1 hour from London Stratford, up to 1.5 hours from London Liverpool Street, and slightly longer from London Victoria or Marble Arch. Sure, it’s slower than the Stansted Express (which takes about 48 minutes), but still probably the better option vs. the rail replacement, when you account for elbowing your way onto the bus at Broxbourne. See, that’s the best thing about the National Express: you’re guaranteed a seat. (Is this a love letter to National Express? It might be.)
So, if you’re travelling to or from the airport on February 22 or 23, or March 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22 or 23, do bear all of this in mind. And book your coach ticket before all the seats disappear and you’re forced on that dreaded rail replacement.