The station was opened on 23 June 1998 upon the completion of the Heathrow Express Rail Link linking Heathrow Airport with direct non-stop services to
Central London. In contrast to the station at Terminal 5, the platforms at Heathrow Central do not lie adjacent to the London Underground
Piccadilly line platforms at
Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 station. Instead they lie perpendicular, and at a far deeper level. This is because the railway line from Paddington was tunnelled into Heathrow from the north, whereas the Piccadilly line approaches from the east. Access to the station is reached via an underground pedestrian walkway which links
Terminal 3 to the
Central Bus Station and the Piccadilly line's Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 station. Trains towards Paddington use the
Great Western Main Line, joining it at Airport Junction, just west of . Elizabeth line trains continue beyond Paddington through new tunnels, stopping at stations in the West End and the City of London and on to either
Abbey Wood in southeast London via Canary Wharf or, since May 2023,
Shenfield on the
Great Eastern Main Line. As of the December 2023 timetable, the typical Monday to Friday off-peak service is: • 4 tph (trains per hour) westbound to
Heathrow Terminal 4 (Elizabeth line) • 6 tph westbound to
Heathrow Terminal 5 (2 tph Elizabeth line, 4 tph Heathrow Express) • 4 tph eastbound to
London Paddington (Heathrow Express) • 4 tph eastbound to
Abbey Wood (Elizabeth line, from Terminal 4) • 2 tph eastbound to
Shenfield (Elizabeth line, from Terminal 5)
Service table ==Connections==