Early buses for Heathrow's early birds

Five of the most useful bus routes into Heathrow will start earlier from next week thanks to an initiative between BAA, Transport for London, the London Borough of Hillingdon and British Airways. The four organisations are funding timetable changes to bus routes 350, 423, 482, 490 and 555 so that they start up to an hour and a half earlier, getting both airport workers and passengers to Heathrow for around 4am.
Routes 423 (Hounslow to Terminal 5 via Hatton Cross), 482 (Southall to Terminal 5 via Hounslow West and Terminal 4), 490 (Richmond to Terminal 5 via Twickenham, Feltham and Terminal 4) and 555 (Shepperton to Heathrow Central Bus Station via Sunbury, Ashford and Terminal 4) will now all leave their starting points at around 3.20 each morning beginning on December 5.

Routes 350 (Hayes to Terminal 5 via Stockley Park and West Drayton) will join the early starters on December 19.

The early starts to the routes are considered essential for airport commuters as many shifts at Heathrow start at around 4am. Theo Panayi, Heathrow’s Transport Strategy Manager, said “Heathrow workers and passengers alike have clearly told us that they would like to see bus routes catering for early shifts and early check in
times, and we are delighted that, in conjunction with our partners, we are able to make early morning journeys better by introducing these new timetables. This is yet another reason why airport commuters should ditch the car and seek public transport alternatives – it’s cheaper, greener and more stress-free to take the bus or train.”
In addition to the new earlier buses, there are already several Transport for London bus services running 24 hours a day. These are the 105, 111, 140 and 285. Night bus N9 also runs from Central London to the airport from around midnight to 6 30am.
Bus route 441 has also undergone some route changes. The bus from Egham and Englefield Green has now switched from using the Western Perimeter Road to the A4 Bath Road, meaning increased connectivity between Terminal 5, Waterside, the Compass Centre and the central terminal area. These journeys will still be within the
Heathrow free travel zone, subsidised by BAA.
 

Source: Transportweekly