Gatwick Express-Further Word re Its Future?
 

Earlier this year there was discussion here about the future of the Gatwick Express and whether or not it will be withdrawn.

I'll be in the UK in April '06 and curious if anyone has heard/read anything about the fate of this rail service.

Thanks very much in advance.

National Express has the franchise for this route until 2011.

The debate about the long-term future of the service is roughly around the same timeframe. There's a strong case for abolishing it, since it means near-empty trains are running on highly congested tracks. But if it does disappear, it's unlikely to be for another five years or so. The franchise owner doesn't think it'll die soon: they're still signing contracts to lease equipment for the next few years.

Whatever the future of a non-stop train from Gatwick to Victoria, there's no debate about there continuing to be a very frequent train service from Gatwick to many different destinations in and around London.

There'll be lots of trains into London as long as there's an airport at Gatwick.

If you are concerned about transportation between GTW and Victoria, you should know that Southern Trains run four trains an hour in each direction. Standard adult fare is £9.

Thanks for the update, Flanner, and the reminder, Robespierre.

I know there are alternative services between Gatwick and Victoria. i took a train from Crawley to London this past summer and as we stopped and started at the several intermediate staions along the route, the GEX went whizzing by.

I don't mind paying for the service if it means actually saving time but if there is a significantly cheaper alternative that gets there almost as, if not AS fast, as the GEX, then I'd be very interested in knowing about it.

Any comments on that?

The Gatwick Express is scheduled to take 30 minutes from Gatwick to Victoria. Southern has four trains an hour which average 35 minutes. You can see the schedules on www.nationalrail.co.uk or www.bahn.de.

Thanks, Geoff...I'll check that out.