UK: Independent rail campaign group Railfuture has called for changes to train services between central London and Gatwick Airport, saying it is time to ’end the fiction of Gatwick Express’ which it believes is currently not working in the interests of passengers.
Gatwick Express is currently a dedicated and premium-priced virtual operator, despite being part of the Govia Thamesink Railway business alongside its Southern and Thameslink-branded services. These also link London wth the airport.
Railfuture’s proposals
Railfuture wants to see Gatwick Express fully integrated into Southern, with all limited-stop trains between London Victoria and Gatwick to be operated by Southern, although carrying the Gatwick Express branding which the group sees as important.
Railfuture also wants there to be a single fare for services between Gatwick and all central London stations with direct services, including on Thameslink routes. Railfuture envisages that this fare would be more than the current cheapest fare on Thameslink, but cheaper than Gatwick Express which currently has higher fares with the aim of creating more space for air travellers with luggage. Railfuture says the current pricing leads to uneven loading on the Brighton Main Line, with Vice-Chair Neil Middleton sayinng ‘anyone with the necessary knowledge avoids Gatwick Express like the plague’, which means ‘the other services that passengers do use can get overcrowded’.
Gatwick Express previously offered four trains per hour non-stop between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria using dedicated rolling stock. However, currently there are only two trains per hour, which are extended to Haywards Heath and Brighton. The branded rolling stock is also used on Southern services, risking passenger confusion.
Middleton said the half-hourly service means ‘if you turn up at Victoria station at any given time in the hour, for 50 min of the time in that hour the fastest way to the airport is to get the next Southern service. And for the short 10 min in the hour when the Gatwick Express is the next fastest service, the saving of just a few minutes can easily cost double the price of the adjacent Southern service.’
He said ‘we think it is time to end the fiction of Gatwick Express and integrate it with other fast services to London, all identified as Gatwick Express’.
Railfuture said this would not be a permanent solution to capacity issues on the line, but would ‘provide some respite and some opportunities whilst the necessary longer term solutions are considered and implemented’.
Responses
Govia Thameslink Railway told Rail Business UK ‘Gatwick Express is a respected brand that offers a premium, great value, non-stop service between the airport and London Victoria’.
GTR said ‘subject to DfT and regulatory approvals, we are looking at options to double the frequency of the service to run every 15 min. It was only ever reduced to create room for the station redevelopment at Gatwick and then delayed being reinstated because the pandemic supressed passenger numbers.’
A spokesperson for the airport said ‘we work closely with train service operators and the government to continue to enhance services not only to key destinations, but to meet passenger and staff needs in terms of timetables, frequency, capacity and value for money. We welcome any conversations to work collaboratively with partners to continue to improve the service.’
