Gatwick Airport railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gatwick Airport | |
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| View across the south side of the platforms | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Place | London Gatwick Airport |
| Local authority | Crawley, West Sussex |
| Coordinates | 51°09′23″N 0°09′39″W / 51.1565°N 0.1609°WCoordinates: 51°09′23″N 0°09′39″W / 51.1565°N 0.1609°W |
| Operations | |
| Station code | GTW |
| Managed by | Network Rail |
| Platforms in use | 6 |
| Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail | |
| Annual rail passenger usage | |
| 2004/05 * | 7.976 million |
| 2005/06 * | 8.585 million |
| 2006/07 * | 11.889 million |
| 2007/08 * | 12.730 million |
| History | |
| ? | Opened |
| 1876 | Closed |
| 1891 | Reopened (Gatwick) |
| 1946 | Renamed (Gatwick Racecourse) |
| 27 May 1958 | Rebuilt and renamed (Gatwick Airport) |
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | |
| * 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. | |
Gatwick Airport station is the railway station at London Gatwick Airport that provides a direct rail connection to London 43 km (26¾ miles) away. The station platforms are located directly below the airport’s South Terminal, and the ticket office is adjacent to that terminal’s concourse. The station is currently one of 18 in the United Kingdom to be owned and managed by Network Rail. Train services are provided by Gatwick Express, Southern, First Great Western and First Capital Connect. When viewed from 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]
Contents |
[edit] History
According to the Network Rail website,[1] the first station at Gatwick was opened by the London Brighton and South Coast Railway and was closed in 1876, but the standard histories of the line make no reference to any Gatwick station before 1891, and there is no sign of such a station on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps.
A station named Gatwick was built on the present site in September 1891 to serve the Gatwick Racecourse but originally it only operated on race days. The facilities included passing loops and sidings to hold race trains.[2] The sidings were extended during the First World War to accommodate munitions trains heading for Newhaven.[3] From 1946 until 1958 this station was renamed Gatwick Racecourse, although racing had been abandoned in 1940 and the station had fallen out of use, following the opening of the original 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 rebuilt and integrated with the new airport terminal. The new buildings opened on 27 May 1958 with a regular train service, when the station took over the name Gatwick Airport from the former station with that name.
The first station to be named Gatwick Airport was opened on 30 September 1935 and was sited about half a mile (1 km) south of the present station. It was originally named Tinsley Green but within a year became Gatwick Airport following the completion of a new 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 1935 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.
[edit] Services
[edit] Northbound
The Gatwick Express operates every 15 minutes between Gatwick and 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.
There is a First Capital Connect service every 15 minutes to Central London and beyond to Bedford, via London Bridge and St Pancras. First Great Western operate to Reading via Guildford on the North Downs Line.
[edit] Southbound
There are frequent First Capital Connect and Southern services to Brighton. Southern also run services to Horsham, Hove and Bognor Regis and further afield to Portsmouth, Southampton, Eastbourne, Hastings and Ore.
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horley | Southern Brighton Main Line |
Three Bridges | ||
| East Croydon | First Capital Connect Thameslink |
Three Bridges | ||
| Redhill | First Great Western North Downs Line |
Terminus | ||
| London Victoria | Southern Gatwick Express |
Terminus or Haywards Heath |
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[edit] Future
A major redevelopment of the railway station at Gatwick with Network Rail planning to spend £30 million transforming the transport hub to increase the number of services passing through, along with passenger capacity. The project would see a new platform created for the Gatwick Express service as well as bringing in the airport’s coach service to provide fully integrated public transport. The aim is to complete this in time for the 2012 Olympics.
However plans have now been thrown into jeopardy by the Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR), earmarking only £9 million for the Gatwick Station redevelopment. The ORR will be publishing its conclusions on 30 October.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/843.aspx
- ^ Turner, John Howard (1979). The London Brighton and South Coast Railway 3 Completion and Maturity. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-13819-1. p.128-9.
- ^ Pratt, Edwin (1921). British railways and the Great War. Selwyn & Blount. p.1038-9.
- ^ http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/business/businessnewsbusiness/3225593.__30m_airport_rail_plans_under_threat/
[edit] External links
- Station information on Gatwick Airport railway station from Network Rail
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