Home / London /Heathrow / Heathrow Express vs Elizabeth line and DLR to London City Airport

LHR → London · head to head

Heathrow ExpressorElizabeth line and DLR to London City Airport?

The short answer

These do not go to the same place, so price is not the comparison. The Heathrow Express reaches Paddington, and the whole of Zone 1 beyond it; the Elizabeth line and DLR to London City Airport does not. The other airport, not the city. For a connection between Heathrow and London City; for central London take the Elizabeth line to Paddington or Bond Street.

The Heathrow Express is quicker: 15 min against 1 h. The Elizabeth line and DLR to London City Airport varies between 58 and 62 minutes.

Heathrow Express: hours not recorded. Elizabeth line and DLR to London City Airport: 05:21–23:06.

Priced against each other

Whole-party totals · adult fares
What each costs for the whole party, in GBP. The cheaper of the two is marked on every row.
TravelersHeathrow ExpressElizabeth line and DLR to London City AirportDifference
1£26£15.50£10.50
2£52£31£21
3£78£46.50£31.50
4£104£62£42
5£130£77.50£52.50
6£156£93£63
7£182£108.50£73.50
8£208£124£84

Side by side

Where each one leaves you
Heathrow Express · Heathrow ExpressHeathrow Express
From
Terminals 2 & 3 and Terminal 5; Terminal 4 by a free four-minute transfer train
To
London Paddington, and nowhere else
Luggage
Racks throughout; it is built as an airport train.
Journey
15–21 min

£26.00 against £5.90 on the Underground is 4.4 times the fare to save about 35 minutes — roughly £34 an hour, before you count what the cap would have saved you.

It does not count towards the daily cap. TfL states that Heathrow Express journeys "are not included in caps and Travelcards", so a same-day return is £52.00 and caps at nothing.

It goes to Paddington and nowhere else. If Paddington is not your destination, add a further journey and its fare to everything above.

Terminal 5 adds five or six minutes to the quoted fifteen — the operator says six, the airport says five.

The first departure from the airport is not stated here: the operator publishes the first train from Paddington at 04:34 Monday to Saturday and the last from Terminal 5 at 23:57, but does not publish a first departure from the airport itself.

Heathrow Express: price for every party size

Check fares with Heathrow Express
ElizabethDLR · Transport for LondonElizabeth line and DLR to London City Airport
From
Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 rail station, or Terminal 4; changing at Woolwich
To
London City Airport DLR station, changing at Woolwich for Woolwich Arsenal
Luggage
Racks at the ends of the Elizabeth line carriages; the DLR has open space for bags.
Runs
05:21–23:06
Journey
58–62 min

Take it from Terminals 2 and 3 or Terminal 4: those Elizabeth line trains run to Abbey Wood through Woolwich. Terminal 5's trains run to Shenfield, and TfL's planner sends those passengers via Stratford and the Jubilee line, three trains.

TfL counts the nine-minute walk between Woolwich station and Woolwich Arsenal DLR station as part of the trip. At some hours its planner leaves the Elizabeth line at Canary Wharf for a short walk to Poplar and the DLR instead.

Elizabeth line and DLR to London City Airport: price for every party size

Check the fare with TfL

This compares two of 19 options. See all of them ranked for your party size

The other comparisons at Heathrow

Strictly necessary

This choice, kept on your device so we do not ask again. Nothing else.

Always on
Full details