Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 tube station

Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3
Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 Location of Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 in Greater London
Location	Heathrow Airport
Local authority	London Borough of Hillingdon
Managed by	London Underground
Number of platforms	2
Accessible	Yes
Fare zone	6
London Underground annual entry and exit
2012	7.80 million
2013	8.14 million
2014	7.66 million
2015	7.49 million
Railway companies
Original company	London Transport Executive
Key dates
1977	Opened
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
WGS84	51°28′16″N 0°27′07″W / 51.471°N 0.452°W / 51.471; -0.452Coordinates: 51°28′16″N 0°27′07″W / 51.471°N 0.452°W / 51.471; -0.452

Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 is a London Underground station at Heathrow Airport on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly line, and currently serves Heathrow Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. The station was named Heathrow Terminals 1, 2 & 3 until January 2016, when the station was renamed to reflect the closure of Heathrow Terminal 1. The station is situated in Travelcard Zone 6.

The station opened as Heathrow Central on 16 December 1977 as the final phase of the Piccadilly line's extension from Hounslow West to the airport. The preceding station, Hatton Cross, had opened as the interim terminus in 1975. At its opening, the station served as the terminus of what became known as the Heathrow branch of the line — previously it had been the Hounslow branch. It was the first time that an airport had been directly served by an underground railway system.

With the development of the airport's new Terminal 4 underway for which a separate Underground station would be provided, the station was initially renamed Heathrow Central Terminals 1, 2, 3 from 3 September 1983, then renamed Heathrow Terminals 1, 2 & 3 on 12 April 1986 - the same day that services commenced at the Heathrow Terminal 4 station.

The Terminal 4 station is located on a unidirectional single track loop from Hatton Cross to Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3. On the opening of the Terminal 4 station most direct services from Hatton Cross ceased, with most Piccadilly line trains going first to Terminal 4. Some early morning trains still went directly to Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 to the confusion of some passengers, the last westbound train every day still does this.

For the construction of the tunnel to the new Heathrow Terminal 5 station, the loop track and Terminal 4 station closed temporarily on 7 January 2005 and Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 once again became the terminus of the line. This situation continued until 17 September 2006, when the Terminal 5 tunnel works were sufficiently complete for the loop tunnel and Terminal 4 station to reopen.