Introduced in its new December timetable, Great Western Railway has doubled the frequency of direct trains running between Reading and Gatwick Airport.
Every day from Monday to Saturday two trains an hour will now operate from Reading to and from Gatwick airport by extending the service that previously terminated at Redhill. By extending the service to Gatwick it transforms the service into a half-hourly direct service from Reading, reflecting the growing increase in passenger numbers using the airport.
To even out the timetable and provide regularly-timed services, they have slightly retimed with departures from Reading now at 24 and 54 minutes past each hour, and at 29 and 59 minutes past each hour from Gatwick.
GWR Station Manager for the North Downs line, Andrew Gallaugher, said: “We are really pleased to be able to further improve the services we offer to and from the airport.
“Supporting the local economy, investing in the railway and enabling more people to make sustainable transport choices is really important to us, and this is another step forward for customers of the North Downs Line.”
Hannah Godfrey, Senior Surface Access Manager, London Gatwick said: “The increased train service between London Gatwick and Reading is fantastic news for passengers and staff, and something we felt important to invest in. More than 600 employees at the airport live directly along this route, making sustainable travel increasingly easy and convenient for them and many others across the region.
“Currently, more than 40% of passengers travel to and from London Gatwick by public transport, thanks to the fantastic connectivity to the airport.
“A train leaves Gatwick every four minutes – as frequent as the London Underground – and we continue to work closely with train operators to improve this even further, particularly with the increased capacity provided by our new station concourse, which opened in November.”
So they’re just restoring the service to the level it was pre-Covid, but spinning it as an almighty improvement?! And the pre-Covid service was always woefully inadequate at the best of times anyway! plus ça change and all that!
There might be 2 trains but they are slower than the former Reading to Gatwick service
To increase capacity, how about using 5 car Hitachi units as oñ trains running through Newbury towards Westbury? Would be a vast improvement on current 30 year old 3 car trains and a far more pleasant journey.
Hopefully more frequent trains mean the three carriage train suffices, as passengers are spread over two trains an hour.
If someone in charge had any sense they’d get the third rail down between Reigate and Shalford and Wokingham and Ash then run electric trains through from Reading to Gatwick and back. Aren’t we supposed to be abandoning the burning of fossil fuels?
If anyone had any sense they would extend North Downs Line to Oxford like suggest in the Surrey County Council report and wire the diesel only sections. Your going to need to use a dual voltage unit anyway so it is easier just to wire the diesel only sections like suggested by Surrey County Council and Network Rail. Wiring the route is safer than third rail and the Surrey County Council report seems to suggest that third rail trains will be slower than the current diesel trains on the North Downs Line.
That’s obviously not going to happen because the DfT are useless as usual. Best we’ll get is a battery unit trial
Unfortunately the laying of more electrified 3rd rail is banned by Network Rail
Still running 2 and 3 car trains which are woefully inadequate for the service!
They don’t have the staff to run the promised timetable now, where are they getting the staff for extra trains?