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Gatwick Airport | |
Gatwick Airport | |
View across the south side of the platforms | |
Location | |
---|---|
Place | London Gatwick Airport |
Local authority | Crawley, West Sussex |
Coordinates | Template:Coord/display/inline,title |
Grid reference | Template:Gbmapscaled |
Operations | |
Station code | GTW |
Managed by | Southern[1] |
Platforms in use | 6 |
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail | |
Annual rail passenger usage | |
2004/05 * | File:Increase2.svg 7.976 million |
2005/06 * | File:Increase2.svg 8.585 million |
2006/07 * | File:Increase2.svg 11.889 million |
2007/08 * | File:Increase2.svg 12.730 million |
2008/09 * | File:Decrease2.svg 11.888 million |
1891 | Opened (Gatwick) |
1946 | Renamed (Gatwick Racecourse) |
27 May 1958 | Rebuilt and renamed (Gatwick Airport) |
National Rail - UK railway stations | |
Template:Hide in print | |
* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Gatwick Airport from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. | |
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Gatwick Airport station is the railway station at London Gatwick Airport which provides a direct rail connection to London Template:Convert/mi away. The station platforms are located about 70 metres to the east of the airport’s South Terminal, and the ticket office is above the platforms. The station was one of 18 in the United Kingdom to be managed by Network Rail,[2] but on 29 January 2012 day-to-day management was transferred to Southern.[1] Train services are provided by Gatwick Express, Southern, First Capital Connect and First Great Western. When viewed from the air (or in satellite imagery), the present station building's British Rail logo that is etched on the top of the roof is visible.[1]
In terms of passenger entries and exits between April 2010 and March 2011, Gatwick Airport is the tenth-busiest station outside London.[3]
History[]
There have been two Gatwick stations sited approximately Template:Convert/mi from each other.
Present station[]
The station, originally named Gatwick, was built on the present site in September 1891 to serve the Gatwick Racecourse, and which originally operated only on race days. The facilities included passing loops and sidings to hold race trains without impeding the Brighton Main Line.[4] The sidings were extended during the First World War to be able to accommodate munitions trains heading for Newhaven.[5]
From 1946 until 1958 Gatwick station was renamed Gatwick Racecourse, even though racing had been abandoned in 1940 and not been re-instated after the Second World War. In fact the station had fallen out of use following the opening of the nearby Tinsley Green/Gatwick airport station (described below). However, during the early 1950s the airport was expanded and took over the land occupied by the racecourse, and the station was entirely rebuilt and integrated with the new airport terminal. The new buildings opened on 27 May 1958 with a regular train service, and the station took over the name Gatwick Airport.
Tinsley Green/Gatwick Airport Station[]
This was opened on 30 September 1935 and was sited Template:Convert/mi south of the present station. It was originally named Tinsley Green but within a year became Gatwick Airport following the completion of the Beehive airport terminal which had a direct connection to the station. The airport was requisitioned by the Royal Air Force in 1940, but in 1952 the British government decided that it would form London's second airport. The station continued in operation until 27 May 1958 when the new Gatwick Airport station (above) opened. The station has been demolished and the only visible remains of the old station are sections of the former up slow line platform. Sections of the connecting subway between the station and the original terminal building (The Beehive) also survive.
Services[]
Looking south from platform 5
The Gatwick Express operates every 15 minutes to London Victoria plus frequent Southern service to London Victoria and a more limited service to London Bridge. Since December 2008 Gatwick Express services have been extended, during peak hours, to and from Brighton. Southern have timetabled their services to London Victoria so that they arrive after a Gatwick Express train has just left, this discourages passengers transferring from stopping services to Gatwick Express services.
There is a First Capital Connect service every 15 minutes to Bedford, via London Bridge and St Pancras. First Great Western operate to Reading Central via Guildford on the North Downs Line.
Preceding station | ![]() |
Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Horley | Southern Arun Valley Line |
Three Bridges | ||
Redhill or Horley |
Southern Mainline West (via Horsham) |
Three Bridges | ||
East Croydon | Southern Mainline West (via Hove) |
Haywards Heath | ||
East Croydon | Southern Mainline East |
Haywards Heath | ||
East Croydon | Southern Brighton Main Line |
Three Bridges or Burgess Hill | ||
East Croydon or Redhill |
First Capital Connect Thameslink |
Three Bridges | ||
Redhill | First Great Western North Downs Line |
Terminus | ||
London Victoria | style="background:#Template:GatExp colour; border-top:solid 1px gray; " | | Southern Gatwick Express |
style="background:#Template:GatExp colour;border-top:solid 1px gray; " | | Terminus or Haywards Heath |
Redevelopment[]
South facing platforms towards Brighton - visible at Platform 2 is a Gatwick Express train
On 13 October 2010 a £53 million redevelopment of the railway station was announced. With the aim of increasing the number of services passing through and passenger capacity, the project will see a new platform, refurbished concourse, upgraded track and signalling. Construction work is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.[6]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Management of Gatwick Airport railway station transfers to Southern. Retrieved on 30 January 2012.
- ↑ Commercial information. Complete National Rail Timetable. Network Rail (December 2011). Retrieved on 9 January 2012.
- ↑ Template:Cite magazine
- ↑ Turner, John Howard (1979). The London Brighton and South Coast Railway 3 Completion and Maturity. Batsford, 128–9. ISBN 0-7134-1389-1.
- ↑ Pratt, Edwin (1921). British railways and the Great War. Selwyn & Blount, 1038–9.
- ↑ Template:Cite news
External links[]
- Station information on Gatwick Airport railway station from Network Rail
Template:Commons category Template:Crawley Template:UK Airport stations Template:Major railway stations in Britain Template:West Sussex railway stations