Gatwick Express
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| Overview | |
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| Franchise(s): | Gatwick Trains 28 April 1996 – 22 June 2008 Part of the South Central franchise 22 June 2008 – 19 September 2009 20 September 2009 – 25 July 2015 Part of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise 26 July 2015 – September 2021 |
| Main Route(s): | London Victoria - Gatwick Airport |
| Other Route(s): | Brighton |
| Fleet size: |
27 Class 387 1 Class 73 |
| Stations called at: | 8 |
| Stations operated: | 0 |
| Route km operated: | 43.3 |
| National Rail abbreviation: | GX |
| Parent company: | Govia Thameslink Railway |
| Website: | www.gatwickexpress.com |
27 Class 387
Gatwick Express is a high-frequency rail passenger service between London Victoria, Gatwick Airport, and Brighton in South East England. It is the brand name used by the Govia Thameslink Railway train operating company on the Gatwick Express route of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise.
The service began in May 1984 with air-conditioned InterCity carriages operated by British Rail. When it was privatised in April 1996, National Express took over the franchise. In June 2008, Gatwick Express ceased to exist as a separate franchise, when it was merged into the Southern train operating company, although it continues to be maintained as a separate identity. In July 2015, Southern including the Gatwick Express service was merged into Govia Thameslink Railway.
Oyster cards and contactless payment cards have been accepted for travel between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport since January 2016.
Gatwick Airport railway station opened in June 1958. Initially the rail service was provided entirely by London to Brighton stopping services, but more trains began to call with the introduction of the summer timetable in June 1958. One of the key elements of this was the extension of Three Bridges to Bognor Regis stopping services to start and terminate at London Victoria. These trains would run through a reversible platform at Gatwick where a portion would detach and wait in the platform for passengers until the next up train from Bognor Regis was attached and the train would depart for Victoria. For this service British Rail used a small batch of seven Class 402 2HALs in order to work with the trains used on the Bognor Regis services, suitable for airport link use because of their larger luggage space.
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